One of the main issues many administrators face is the lack of fan attendance and engagement at school-wide events. This is a universal issue that affects sports teams as well as schools of all sizes, both public and private. Involvement is the most important aspect to any organization. Since we now have everything at our fingertips, having a mobile platform designed to get these students to participate is most important so we can set them up for success.
In today’s digital world, incentivizing fans to attend and engage at events can be made easy by leveraging a mobile technology rewards platform. After working with hundreds of college, high school, and professional teams, here are five reasons why we know a fan engagement platform works.
1. A Centralized Platform
New technology within mobile devices has made the communication channel between administration, parents, alumni, students, and your fans much easier to use. Having one place to bring awareness to your events, engage with your fans, communicate announcements, and learn new information allows you to market more efficiently based on your fans’ habits.
2. Boost Engagement and Communication
With a customized rewards and engagement platform, communication with your fans has never been easier. The platform generates engagement, builds awareness around your events, and drives friendly competition and fun for your fans. Connect with your fans through a platform that sends event reminders straight to your fans’ mobile devices and rewards fans for being engaged and involved. You can create a deeper relationship with your fans by knowing who they truly are with real-time reporting that will arm you with the tools you need to communicate more effectively and bring awareness to what’s important to your organization. The platform brings better communication, awareness, and enthusiasm, which results in an increase in attendance.
3. Increase Attendance
Fans today are fueled by incentives, so having a system to motivate the modern-fan is critical for any organization. Rewarding can be simple. Use what you already have at your disposal and get creative with cool fan experiences. Encouraging fans by rewarding them for attending less popular events helps create a domino effect. More fans in seats means more ticket sales, more concession sales, more merchandise sales, and now – more loyal fans!
4. Generate Revenue
Whether you are selling tickets, digital sports passes, student club memberships, merchandise, food, or specialty gear, the more revenue you are bringing in for your organization. The platform is a one-stop shop where fans can easily make game day purchases. Having a fan engagement and rewards platform that is also packed with crowd funding capabilities and unlimited sponsorship inventory can make your revenue generation abilities endless.
5. Track Data
Many administrators spend countless hours figuring out how to communicate with their different fan bases, whether they are faculty/staff, alumni, current students, future students, or fans. Traditional forms of communication can make it difficult to truly know who your fans are. With a mobile rewards and fan engagement platform, you have more than generalized data. You have actionable, numerical data based on the fans’ interests and why they attend certain events, click-thru rates, true engagement numbers, and more. The data collected is valuable for marketing more effectively and to provide you with a true ROI.
The struggle to engage and communicate with fans and drive attendance to events is universal for many organizations. If you are looking to increase attendance, generate revenue, and create a lasting relationship with your fans, then consider investing in a customized rewards platform.
Mahoney, J.L. & Cairns, R.B. (1997)