Just over a month ago, we kicked off the fall season and the first NACMA Young Professionals Webinar of the season with “Have You Thought About That Yet?” Lauren Taylor from University of Maryland, Austin Anderson from Kansas State and myself discussed a variety of topics to begin the planning process for Winter and Spring sport seasons and in case you missed it, here is a quick recap!
First and most important, is your Overall Program Marketing for each one of your sports. This includes everything from graphic templates, campus meetings, photo shoots and of course new ideas! Start working on as many of these items as you can to set a great foundation. We suggest spending time in these areas to strategize the best way to accomplish all of the different tasks and remember it is never too early to start! Before you know it, you will blink and March will be in full swing. Look to update your graphic templates and plan what you need for each game week. What unique campus groups are there that you can reach out to and work to build a mutually beneficial partnership? Set those meetings up now and give yourself as much time to make those successful! Find time to invest in brainstorming new ideas. If you can, gather your entire marketing department to go off site for a half a day and brainstorm some different ideas for big promotions. It may be hard to find the time but it can reap lots of benefits feeding off each other and coming up with your next big thing!
After you have your foundation set, start working on the fan and game day experience. Start finding new music to add to your playlists and new contests to spice up sponsorship activations. With this you can also begin scheduling your in-game recognitions along with staffing that will be with the special groups. Be sure to connect your game day staff to ensure all of you are on the same page. This may take a little extra time to type it all out and have a check list for everyone but will save you many headaches on game day.
While all these events and things are constantly adding to your to do list, remember your internship program and working with them. Make sure they have proper training for the sports they will be working and schedule a run through for introductions, contests and anything else that they may need to know so they are prepared on game day. You can also determine if they need to work office hours along with events to help execute bigger projects and give them more ownership of the tasks they are responsible for. Investing in your internship program can help take your department to the next level!
Finally, continue to look ahead. It is never too early to begin planning for the upcoming season and begin the ground work. This can include meeting with your external units in the off season to begin planning out the season, working on advertising and sales calendars and any other special things you want to do. Of course it can also help you hit your goals faster and earlier for revenue and attendance by planning ahead and having all your support staff that on the same page.
If you missed the webinar, you can rewatch it on NACMA’s website to gain more insight about what is being done at each of the different campuses by clicking here. Good luck this season!