Club Communications

THE FUNDAMENTALS OF SOCIAL MEDIA

For many of us, social media plays an enormous part in the way we communicate. It allows us to converse and interact with so many people, so much more effectively than ever before, in so many different formats.

However, for others, social media is a complete mystery. It can look overwhelming, even intimidating.

Regardless of the size of your club or is strategic goals, every karting club should be dedicating resources to social media.

Social media can make it easy to achieve all your communication goals, whether it be:

Increasing the size of your clubs audience, or the number of people with whom your club has a relationship
Creating depth within these relationships, culminating with the each individual feeling a strong sense of belonging with your club.
Engaging future participants
Supporting the delivery of club objectives

CREATE A SENSE OF BELONGING

Having strong, effective and most importantly consistent communication engages people who are then much more likely to contribute to the running of the club and its goals.

Appoint your communications team early
One of the very first thing that needs to be established each year is the club’s communications team.

We say communications team, not person, because the time required to undertake all the communications activities is too big for one person, even in the smallest of clubs.

How to create a communication strategy

Many struggle to work out how, what and when to communicate. The answer relates to who your specific audience is and what do you want them to do.

The best way to do this is to imagine you have to go overseas in the middle of the racing calendar.

What information about the club would you want?
When would you want it?
How would you want it?
Would you want to know the results throughout the racing day?
Would you like to see photos and videos of key moments?
Would you actually like to see the race live?
Would you like to know who won what race?
Would you like to know what is happening at the major social event that is happening while you are away?

Just because people are not at the physically at the club does not mean they are not interested.

Just because people are not located in your suburb, town, state or territory or even country doesn’t mean they are not interested. Just because people haven’t raced for many years at your club doesn’t mean they are not interested.

They absolutely are and if we engage them and create a strong sense of belonging between them and your club they will continue to help and support the club in anyway they can!

1: Everybody loves a good story

Storytelling is the ultimate key to social media success. By telling a story, you build a sense of belonging and a relationship with your audience. As that relationship builds, so does engagement!

2: Events

Use Facebook events to ensure all members know about upcoming social and I draining events. This also allows you to track propel who have said they are coming and perhaps haven’t purchased tickets or people who have said no but should be attending. Make sure to make appropriate events public on Facebook so members can tag their mates and share it with others outside the club.

3: Sell your club on social

Social media now has lots of functionality to be selling things on behalf of your club. Instagram and Facebook now allow you to set up a store and tag your products, so make sure you tag your club’s beanie when you post a picture of your club’s BOG wearing one!

4: Video is the most engaging content

If you’re not posting or sharing video content on social media, then you’re not using it to its full potential. Video is one of the most successful content types on social media, receives some of the best engagement rates, and helps you tell your club stories really, really well.

Your videos could be on anything – anything you want to post on social, can be told in a video.

5: Go LIVE!

What’s better than a video? a LIVE VIDEO! Take advantage of going live at your next club event, competition or awards night. Going live on social media invites your audience into the room with you, meaning they’re as engaged and interested as they’ll ever be.

5 EASY HACKS FOR YOUR CLUB'S SOCIAL MEDIA

SO WHAT'S IN A NEWSLETTER?

A club newsletter can keep club members up to date on current events, showcase the talents of individual members and record the achievements of the club. However, a club newsletter is only useful if people read it. An effective club newsletter will be interesting and relevant to the members of the club.

What is important is that your communications reach your Members - not just their in-boxes. When you send the right message at the right time - its not just email marketing, it's more like an email between friends.

Member of the Month

Create a monthly feature that highlights a particular member of the club. People enjoy seeing their names in print and the feeling of being appreciated, so this can be a good incentive for people to read the club newsletter and actively participate in the club.

Interview the member of the month for relevant quotes, and list her accomplishments, background and credentials. This is especially useful if it is a professional or networking club and could help the members gain more contacts and opportunities. Include a professional picture of the member in the feature.

Club Funds

Keep the club up to date with how much club funds are available, and exactly how the funds are spent. This will make the activities of the club visible to all members and visitors and increase club accountability. It can also be a good way to show how the club helps the community or improves its usefulness to members, if the funds are being used correctly.

In this section you may also wish to provide a club wish list, with the amount of funds needed for each item, so that members have to look forward to and an incentive to donate money.

Feature Articles

Give club members the opportunity to showcase their talents and knowledge by asking them to write feature articles for the newsletter. The articles can give useful tips, describe life experiences, or explain how to perform a specific karting task.

All the articles should be related to the main theme of the club. In order to better showcase individual members you may wish to limit the feature articles to one or two per monthly newsletter. This will make sure there isn't too much reading material for the other members.

Upcoming Events

Keep club members updated with upcoming events. This will keep everyone in the club informed, encourage more club activity and be a way for new members to become integrated into the club's activities. Add the upcoming events on a monthly calendar so that members can have a visual reminder.

You may also wish to include upcoming events not necessarily hosted by the club, but related to it in some way.

INSTAGRAM FOR CLUBS

Instagram, the mobile photo-sharing network, is one of the most popular social media sites - with more than 1 billion active users. Instagram is great for growing brand awareness.

Instagram allows you to promote your club and culture in a friendly, authentic way without directly selling.

Here are some tips for creating an Instagram account for your club.

Build a complete Instagram account. Choose a recognisable username and profile pic consistent with your branding. Optimize your 150 character bio and be sure to include a link to your website. Switch to Business Profile and link to your club Facebook account.
Invite existing contacts to follow you. Reach out to your friends, family, and existing members and clients and ask them to follow you.
Integrate Instagram into your other online efforts. Include an Instagram social share button on your website.
Share original content. Share content that resonates with your ideal personas and uses hashtags that are meaningful to them. Be sure to interact with people who engage with your content.
Get more followers. Make sure your username is recognizable and searchable, and optimize your profile. Post content and encourage others to share it. Follow relevant accounts, popular hashtags, and interact with interesting content.