“If you’re pitching your product or service to an NBA marketing executive in January, my guess is that you’ll hear crickets. Thinking about sending an email to an MLS team marketing rep who’s team is poised to enter the playoffs? Yea, don’t do it. ”
Most marketers know who their target customers are. They know their job titles, their age demographics, estimated household income, the list goes on. But what I like to think about as a content strategist is what my target readers actually DO. What does their day look like? When do they read articles? Morning, afternoon, evening? On weekends? Maybe there is even a time of year that a specific group of readers do most of their reading… Think about that for a second.
In the inaugural post of my original content series Pitching the Sports Industry, I provide an inside look at the behaviors and preferences of the in-demand executives that power the business of sports. Why am I qualified to offer this perspective? Well, at one time, I was one of them! And so, I get it. And let me tell you up front, it’s different!
Seasonality drives the sports business (and its executives.)
The sports industry is a seasonal business. And this is fairly obvious to most people — whether or not they have come in close contact with this insulated world in their career.
Why?
Because of the sports calendar.
The professional baseball season doesn’t run all year long, right? The same goes for the other sports — football, basketball, hockey, cricket, soccer. All of these sports operate on a calendar, and believe me, a sports industry executive’s calendar looks a lot different during the season than in the offseason.
In sports, August is A LOT DIFFERENT than July.
For sports industry executives, workloads ebb and flow as the year goes on in a pretty clear cut pattern. Baseball gets going in March, heats up in May and turns down in October. The NCAA basketball championship will always be in March, and the Super Bowl is the cliff between the NFL and its audience between February and August. Then, post summer, fall and winter sports begin their audience climb.
Why am I telling you this?
Because the people who work on these businesses follow the same patterns.
In-season, front office executives have no spare time… none!
I’m really not kidding. Sure, they take a lunch on most days, and some of them take vacations. But because this industry is seasonal, when a sport is in season, the front office is strapped for time. This industry runs things on a shoestring. Especially on the team side. They HAVE to keep their budgets tight, because they have no way of controlling the outcome on the field, court, ice, pitch… you get it. If a team does well and makes the playoffs, great! More money that year. If a team tanks or goes through a rebuilding phase…. ugh. So as a rule of thumb, there are not “extra bodies” sitting around to pick up slack. The bodies that are in the front office are THE bodies. There are only so many of them, and they. are. busy.
Plan to wait at least a calendar year before they’ll be ready to TEST your product.
Look, there are always exceptions to this rule, but when you’re pitching a sports team a new tech product, you’ve got to anticipate that it will take them a decent amount of time to FIND TIME to 1) meet with you 2) learn about your product 3) understand how it fits into their model 4) determine whether it is affordable and 5) decide if they need it. If they don’t need it… well, they won’t buy it. So… why do they need it? Please tell me you’ve got that elevator pitch on lock. But I digress, that’s for another post.
Time your pitch around the sports calendar.
What I’m trying to say is this.
If you’re pitching your product or service to an NBA marketing executive in January, my guess is that you’ll hear crickets. Thinking about sending an email to an MLS team marketing rep who’s team is poised to enter the playoffs? Yea, don’t do it. Wait. Wait because they aren’t going to have time to evaluate your product. They might even get irritated that you reached out to them at a busy time. In their world, everyone should know that in-season is not the time to pitch.
“This industry runs things on a shoestring. Especially on the team side. They HAVE to keep their budgets tight, because they have no way of controlling the outcome on the field, court, ice, pitch… ”
But don’t forget about the fiscal calendar. (That’s different, too!)
When I got my first job in sports working for the National Hockey League in New York City, not only was I green to the business, but I was a total stranger to the idea of a non-traditional fiscal calendar. The NHL’s fiscal year BEGINS on July 1 and ends on June 30. And so, like I said, this business is different, because it is structured around the individual sports calendars.
So, now that you’re clear on that, what time of year makes the most sense to pitch a new product to the NHL with the hope of getting budget dollars from the next calendar year?
Then again, do you really have to wait to pitch the sports industry?
Well, yes, you should hold off on sending that email or making that cold call. You should also hold off on asking for that warm introduction while a season is underway.
But, what you don’t have to wait to do is create a piece of content of value to share with your network on LinkedIn. Because maybe your target sports industry customer is IN your LinkedIn network. Maybe they’re connected to you in one of your groups. And maybe they’ll just read your posts.
You see, with content, you don’t actually have to make the awkward call.
You simply share pieces of content that set the stage for the big sale. One piece at a time. A slow drip if you will.
Your goal in doing this is to get your foot into the door of that sports industry decision-maker’s office — despite their busy schedule — through great content. Then, when that sales lead you are following enters the cool down period for his or her sport, you gear up for the big sale. And you use some of that content you created during the season to support your pitch.
So, what are you waiting for? It’s time to start creating content that sells!
If you need help getting started, download my Guide to Creating an Original Content Series That Sells for your startup. Or, if you’re juiced enough about this idea that you’re ready to get going today, schedule a call and we’ll talk through it!
Next: What the tech? RFID: Here, there and everywhere on the football field.
