Marketing & Communication Guide

Key Pointers This is a brief summary of the guide, please read on for more detailed information and suggestions

Social Media:

Your social media should be used as a place to drum up club support rather

than offer extensive information.

Update it frequently, particularly with photos and match results and always

ensure content complies with club values and ethics.

Website:

Your website should be the hub of all your club information, including club

history, contact information, FAQs, results and fixtures.

Ensure you follow the ‘5 click rule’ to make your website as accessible as

possible and include visible links to your social media sites.

Press and PR:

Build a relationship with your local media and get to know their print

deadlines to ensure information is relevant at time of publishing.

Send them concise match round-ups with high-resolution photos to increase

chances of publication.

Internal Communication:

Set up a club database with members e-mail addresses and phone numbers

to simplify club communications.

Create a regular online club newsletter with exclusive content as well as

recent news, results and fixtures.

Social Media Social media allows your club to interact and engage with existing members and the

wider public, including possible new members. It is an important complimentary tool

to your clubs website. Social media offers your club the ability to communicate with

your stakeholders in the present moment) as well as becoming more connected and

tangible to fans. Stakeholders are anyone who comes into contact with your club or

has an interest in it e.g. players, members, volunteers, parents, coaches. Some of

the most popular social media platforms are Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Vine,

Snapchat and LinkedIn. While it is not essential to have a presence on all of them, it

is important to be an active user of at least 1 or 2.

Social media by its very nature is public and has the potential to go viral; hence it is a

good idea for your club to have a social media policy or a list of best practices that

may include some of the following points:

Guidelines- It is important that those producing content for the clubs social

media outlets have a clear understanding of what is acceptable and how the club

wishes to portray itself. It is essential to clearly explain what type of photos, videos,

links, posts etc are acceptable. Those in charge of social content should be acutely

aware of what (club) information is confidential and should not be shared online.

Club Values- Interaction with any stakeholder on social media must be in line

with your clubs values, for example you should not upload posts gloating or boasting

over a rival. The benefit of social media, real time interaction, can be also be a

pitfall. Stakeholders expect prompt responses but it is important not to respond too

hastily because once the communication has been made it cannot be taken back and

is represented as the clubs opinion.

Issues-Don’t get drawn into an argument, issues should not be dealt with in a

public forum. If needs be then private messaging is a useful alternative in solving any

issues.

Content is King! - Content should be interesting, relevant and updated

frequently. Uploading content simply for the sake of doing so can have a negative

effect as people view it as similar to spam; everything you post should have a

purpose. A Facebook page, for example, should not be used to just post fixtures.

Facebook is ideal for posting pictures in real time or a link to an article that may

interest your club members, such as pre/post training stretches or healthy snacks.

Advertising- Social media also offers a low cost advertising option, specifically

Facebook. Your club can target the age, gender, location etc of the Facebook users

that they would like to see their advert, which could prove useful in recruiting new

members at the beginning of the season.

Ethics- It is important to remember that everything uploaded to public social

media pages is accessible by everyone. Thus it is essential to be aware of ethical

issues that may arise, such as uploading pictures of junior members or offensive

posts. Please see the following document for more ethics guidelines

Loreto Hockey Club offers an example of a club utilising

social media effectively. They update their social media

platforms regularly with relevant, user friendly

information. For example, they advertise/ remind

members of club events while also promoting match

fixtures and increasing user engagement. They

regularly upload pictures and keep posts short which

are good practices for social media.

The club use Twitter in conjunction with Facebook but

tailor the content to make it Twitter-appropriate, for

example match scores are tweeted in real time. The

club also use the hashtag #loveloreto to build club

spirit and increase awareness.

Website A club’s website is the main source of information for existing, new and potential

members. A general rule of thumb suggests that visitors to your clubs website

should be able to find whatever they’re looking for in ‘5 clicks’. Making your website

easy to navigate and user-friendly will encourage users to visit and interact with

your website more frequently.

A club’s website has several key objectives/functions:

Values and Ethos - The entire website should reflect the clubs values and ethos.

However, a section devoted to the club’s history and future goals is an ideal, specific

section to devote to your clubs core message.

Information/FAQ section- This section should answer any questions a new or

potential member might have. Elements to include are the structure of the club,

such as the number of men’s and women’s teams, as well as the youth system in the

club. This section could also include any training information, kit information, fees,

committee members, contact information etc. The site can also include a section

that provides members with information on club policies and the code of ethics.

Clubmark clubs Limerick and Avoca Hockey Clubs both have extensive club policy

sections with documents such as Garda Vetting forms, membership forms, club

policy, code of ethics, volunteer policy and code of conduct.

Update Regularly- It is essential that the website is kept up to date, particularly

with fixtures and results. Having frequently updated news and stories, as well as

events, can draw visitors to your website more frequently. Your website can also act

as a portal by which members can sign up for your EZine.

Social Media- The website should offer links to all the clubs social media pages.

Think of your clubs website as the base and social media as stemming from and

complimenting this, the website should be far more detailed than your social media

pages.

Promotion- Your website can be used to promote the clubs benefits to the local

community and any sponsorship deals it has. Likewise having a website that has a

high number of unique visitors will appeal to sponsors and increase your clubs

sponsorship opportunities.

Sales Tool- Your website can act as a sales tool for your club merchandise or club

programmes. The website can also facilitate a payment system to make it easier for

members to pay registration fees or other club costs. It is your shopfront 24/7.

Page Rank- It is important to think about your website’s page

rank. A site’s page-rank and score relates to how high up a search

page it will appear, meaning if someone Googles ‘Irish Hockey

Clubs’ then you would like your club to appear as high up the results page as

possible. Suggestions to increase your sites page-rank include using key words, have

relevant links, a well-structured and labelled/named site, and pictures.

Lisnagarvey Hockey Club’s

website is well structured,

regularly updated with scores,

fixtures and featured stories,

links to social media, has the

optimal amount of relevant key

words, has featured Google Ads,

highlights the club sponsor, and

has a rotating picture banner as

the focal point.

Press & PRBuilding a relationship with the press can have huge benefits for your club.

Increased press coverage can help build awareness of your club, increase the

reputation of the club, enhances the value for sponsors and thus increases

sponsorship opportunities, and raise the profile of hockey as a whole.

PR/Media Officer-It is necessary to appoint a club PR/Media Officer to act as a

point of contact with the media. The appointed member should have a clear

understanding of the role’s duties and responsibilities. They should ideally have PR

experience, or at least aspire to work in the industry.

Building Relationships-It is beneficial to build up and maintain a good

relationship with your local media, as well as at a national level when necessary.

Regular mentions and updates in the media help maintain a link with the club’s

community and, ensure that locals feel connected and aware of the clubs

achievements and events. The club member appointed to the role should familiarise

themselves with print and news deadlines to ensure the club’s stories and

results/fixtures are relevant for the time of publishing. It is also an idea to invite the

media to important matches or club events and inform them of any significant

happenings, such as a club member receiving an international cap or a high profile

new coach. If your club finds it difficult to gain media coverage then try writing brief

stories and posting or linking them on social media. Tagging journalists, media

outlets or asking for retweets may help build a relationship and recognition.

Local Media-While it is important to build up relationships with traditional media

agencies, it is also useful to gain contacts on a more focused and local level. Clubs

may have a better chance of getting featured more frequently in local newspapers.

Local papers and radio stations can be great for building goodwill towards the club

and its achievements, as well as recruiting new members. For example, Clonakilty

Hockey Club features regularly in The Southern Star newspaper. Local papers may

not have the resources to report on hockey but would be hugely welcoming of

concise copy and high resolution photos.

Sponsors-Media coverage offers many benefits to a club; attracting new members

and increasing local good-will towards the club, but it can also make the club appear

more attractive to sponsors. A club that is regularly featured in the media will be far

more appealing to a sponsor as they can use the opportunity to increase their brand

awareness while also associating their company to the values of the club and the

benefits of sport.

Monkstown Hockey Club offer a good example of a club that

recognised the mutual benefit a sponsorship deal can offer and are

sponsored by 98FM. The brand gains recognition via the club’s

social media sites, as well as the club’s jerseys.

Banbridge Hockey Club (Clubmark awarded) also have an excellent

sponsorship section on their website that promotes their current

sponsors as well as detailing sponsorship packages and costings for

future sponsors.

Internal Communication

Superior external communication should spark the public’s interest in your club, but

it’s important to maintain good communication once they have joined the club.

Internal communication is key to keeping your members engaged and committed to

the club. Communicating with members on a regular basis and in a meaningful way

will help them feel more connected to the club.

It is important to remember that most clubs have a wide array of stakeholders that

can require different forms of communication. It is not as simple as communicating

with just your teams; you need to consider that there are coaches, volunteers, junior

members, parents, and players of all ages and ability. A one size fits all approach

won’t work for all communication and it’s important to tailor the communication

channel when necessary.

Database- Establishing a database of members information is a necessity to build

up strong communication links. The club should have contact information for all

members, with phone and email addresses being imperative. Members should be

assured that their details won’t be used for any purposes other than club

communication. Details should be kept as up to date as possible and updated at the

beginning of every season. While communicating with members who have moved

on to another club and don’t wish to be contacted is something to consider, there is

huge potential for members who have left the club due to unforeseen circumstances

but still feel a connection to it and may be eager to attend events/matches or just

support the club in general.

Facebook Group- Your clubs Facebook page is both an external and internal

source of communication. However, it might be an idea to have a specific Facebook

group for your clubs committee, for example. Having a Facebook group makes it

easier for members to communicate and arrange meetings. A Facebook Group is

also private and only accessible by those invited to the group so can be used for

internal communication and is separate from your clubs public Facebook page.

Direct Mail/Club Newsletter/EZine- Creating a regular newsletter is a

great way to keep members up to date with news, fixtures, results, events and club

activities. The success of your EZine will depend on the size of your clubs database

and the quality of information being included in the newsletter. The frequency at

which you send out your EZine should be judged appropriately and will depend on

your club, for example the club might have enough interesting information to send

out an EZine once a fortnight or your may prefer to make it a monthly

communication tool. The content of the EZine should be relevant with some unique

information in order to keep open rates high, it is not enough to regurgitate

information already on your clubs website or social media platforms. It may be an

idea to include offers in your EZine for your club café or merchandise, this

encourages members to open the letter and support the club.

Avoca HC (Clubmark awarded) offers a good example. They have a

club newsletter, which website visitors can sign up to and receive

regular updates.

Cork Harlequins make signing up for their club newsletter simple

and easy as the sign up portal is featured on their websites home

page.

I.H.A. Office

Newstead

University College Dublin

Belfield

Dublin 4

Telephone: 01 716 3261

Emarketing@hockey.ie