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The beating heart of any school sports team lies in the support they get from coaches, parents, teachers, and yes, even local businesses. Most teams get minimal funding, if any at all, from school or state funds, and their ability to succeed tends to rely on boosters, sponsorships, and community support. Companies that give back to the community prove that they want local teams to succeed, and donating to school sports teams shows you’re willing to go the distance for future generations.
But you may find yourself wondering, does donating help business? Strategic philanthropy can, and does, boost business. If you play your cards right, you can find avenues of sponsorship that do good directly in your community, while also spreading the word about your business.
Scoreboard advertising lets your business come out swinging with strategic philanthropy
Scoreboard advertising is a real game-changer. It’s a particularly effective way to allow you to give back, while putting your business front and center in your community! When you sponsor a digital scoreboard ad for a school, your advertising dollars go directly to the school, letting them use it for team expenses, school supplies, and more. And since it’s a purchased sponsorship, instead of a plain charitable donation, you’ll score all the benefits of advertising, while still supporting a cause you hold dear.
Score your business sales with ad sponsorship
While being a company that gives back to the community is important, your bottom line matters too. You may be wondering, if the goal of your business is to provide services and make money, why do companies donate to causes? Why should you bother with something like sponsoring scoreboard ads with local schools?
One key reason to sponsor scoreboard ads is both scoring new short-term sales, and creating a relationship with your community that will lead to long-term sales, too. Your ad will put your business on home plate for anyone looking for new services, meaning you’ll reach new customers with each game. When fans at the game look at the scoreboard to check how much time is remaining, to see the score, to watch replays, or to see how calls are decided, they’ll be reminded again and again that you’ve decided that your marketing dollars should go to their kid’s school.
Up to 80% of Americans will switch to a business that supports a cause they also support. People stick with companies that care, and prefer companies that give back to the community. You’ll build lasting relationships with existing and potential customers in the crowd, all with the simple act of leveraging your marketing budget and sponsoring a scoreboard ad.
Build a team of brand ambassadors with word-of-mouth
A major benefit of strategic philanthropy with scoreboard ads is that the people that show up for the team will see your support week after week. This consistent presence in your community builds brand loyalty, and your team’s supporters will spread the word for you once they recognize you’ve thrown your hat in the ring by donating to their team’s school.
Word of mouth marketing is considered one of the most important forms of social media marketing you can have as a business! Word of mouth can also be hard to come by, but with the concentrated audience of team sports, you can reach hundreds of people with ease, game after game.
As your community presence grows through digital ad sponsorship, your team’s audience will become brand ambassadors for you, without you having to lift a finger. When your particular business comes up in conversation, like physical therapy or orthodontics, the team supporters will remember your name. People will share that you’re a company that gives back to the community, and they’ll have positive associations with your services even if they haven’t yet used them.
Getting your community buzzing about you is invaluable to business, and digital ad sponsorships make it easy.
Step up to the plate for your loyal fans
Considering strategic philanthropy can be a nail-biter for a small business, as you only have so much in your budget for both marketing and donating. However, your investment in your community through ad sponsorship means improvement for your community. A thriving community can then turn around and support local businesses. Thriving communities also stay loyal to the people, and places, that make their community pride possible.
Since scoreboard ad sponsorships highlight your contributions and the way you have paid back into your community, you’ll create customers for life. People are much more likely to stay loyal to businesses that support causes they believe in. Loyal customers are repeat customers, and repeat customers are a slam dunk for any industry.
Get your team and your stakeholders fired up
“That’s the place! The place from that ad at the game!”
Can you envision people getting excited when they see your business, because of an ad? It’s a real possibility when you support local schools through scoreboard ads. You can craft memorable, touching, funny, and engaging ads with video, animation, and design elements that grab the audience’s eye in a game. You can highlight local heroes, grab their attention with an in-game quiz, or show off the ways your business can serve them, making you a front runner in their minds.
Because your ad is up on the team’s scoreboard, they’ll know that you donate to schools, and that you support the team they’re there to cheer on. That team spirit is tied directly to your business, extending peoples’ enthusiasm and giving your business local credibility. You can amp up the audience, and amplify your business’ reach, all with the strategic philanthropy of digital scoreboard ads.
Are you ready to make strategic philanthropy a part of your winning strategy?
When companies donate to causes, they can drum up business through word of mouth, develop a loyal fan base, and get people excited about what they have to offer. If you’re ready to get the ball rolling with reaping the rewards of giving back to your community through scoreboard ad sponsorships, connect with Scoreboard Media today! We are ready and waiting to get you started on making strategic philanthropy part of your team’s playbook.
