Using effective marketing strategies can significantly improve the Return on Investment (ROI). Therefore, an organization needs to tie its ROI to marketing initiatives to ensure maximum returns. One marketing initiative that a professional sports organization can use to improve their ROI is to build the team’s prospect database during the off-season. A prospect database refers to a repository of a list of contact names and addresses of potential clientele and sales leads. Details such as the size of the organization and turnover are also maintained in the repository (aMarketForce, 2014). An effective prospect database provides useful and reliable information on the target market for marketing purposes. Several strategies can be used to develop a prospect database.
First, the team should organize and promote events in locations where there is a huge presence of the prospects. The prospects should then be issued with registration cards, which will enable the team to acquire contact information to build the prospect database (Scott, n.d.). Individuals who attend the events and fill out the cards are more likely to be interested in the sport; thus, they are potential ticket buyers when the season resumes. Organizing events can reach out to a considerable number of prospects in one event and thus can build up the prospect database fast.
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Secondly, the team’s prospect database can be built by issuing newsletters to potential clientele. A well-composed and informative newsletter has the potential to lead to a significant rise in prospects' subscriptions. The newsletters should be available on the organization's websites and regularly updated to ensure that those who do not get a hard copy can access the soft copy online (DeVries, 2018). The contact information provided during the subscription to the newsletter can then build the prospect database.
Thirdly, in line with the second approach, the organization can use well-structured blogs with an opt-in email requirement for the prospects. This means that those individuals who wish to visit the blog would have to provide their contact information to access the blog content (aMarketForce, 2014). Individuals who are interested in the sport would subscribe to access the blog. These individuals are potential customers in the future as they would buy tickets to watch live events. Therefore, the prospect database information thus obtained would allow the organization to carry out target market-based marketing in the future.
Fourthly, the use of social media would positively impact the building of the prospective database. Team photos and other advertising materials should be posted regularly on the organization's social media platforms. Doing this will capture the attention of the potential customers who are likely to follow the social media pages thus, giving access of their contact information to the organization. This information can then be used to build the team's prospect database.
Lastly, the team’s prospect database can also be built using a referral system. Rewarding techniques should be used to promote the referral system (aMarketForce, 2014). Rewards such as signed t-shirts would encourage individuals to refer their friends and families to subscribe to the newsletters and other organization’s marketing provisions. The rewards should only be issued after a successful subscription. The referral system can significantly enhance the prospect database as most people will be motivated to refer others for the rewards.
In conclusion, a prospect database significantly enhances targeted marketing. Most of the marketing campaigns aimed at improving the ROI are dependent on the prospect database's effectiveness. Therefore, any organization that wishes to maximize its ROI should adequately build on their prospect database.
References
aMarketForce. (2014, December 5). Tips to build and maintain prospect database . B2B Lead Generation Company in San Jose, California, End to End Demand Generation Service. https://www.amarketforce.com/tips-to-build-and-maintain-prospect-database/
DeVries, H. (2018, May 3). Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/henrydevries/2018/05/03/how-to-build-your-client-prospect-list/?sh=2265f91a24b3
Scott, S. (n.d.). How to build a list of prospects . Small Business -Chron.com. https://smallbusiness.chron.com/build-list-prospects-33025.html
