Cricket isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but with the right strategy, many may consider seeing it for the hype. To get people excited and show up, you’ve got to go all out and make it an event they will want to attend. Here are five tips to get cricket lovers to attend your match and make it a roaring success.
Use student ambassadors
No one listens to the announcements or reads every flyer, but you know who they’ll listen to? Their friends. Student ambassadors are game changers, but you’ll need people as passionate about the match as you are, so recruit a squad of energetic, cricket-loving students who can spread the word far and wide.
Give your ambassadors free merch or a “VIP” status to motivate them. Heck, offer them a free drink for every three people they bring along, and they’ll happily be your unofficial marketing team.
Have your ambassadors take things further by hosting mini-events leading up to the match. The idea is to keep the buzz going while giving them more ownership of the promotion. Plus, it’ll be fun for them to get their friends involved, too.
On-campus promotion
Sporting events, especially cricket, aren’t for the faint-hearted, so how can you promote and encourage people to attend them? If you make your message hard for students to avoid, they’ll probably show up. Using posters as your first line of defense will kick off your campaign.
Plaster them everywhere: bulletin boards, hallways, cafeteria walls, even on the back of bathroom stalls to hammer them into the minds of your audience. If you want them to stop and read it, you must make those posters pop.
Work smarter with PosterMyWall’s sports poster templates; they’re super easy to customize and come with flashy designs to grab attention. Add fantastic action shots of cricket players, bold fonts, and key details like date, time, and location.
If your campus allows, grab some sidewalk chalk and create a colorful cricket design on the walkways, or take over a whiteboard in the library or student center and draw a big “Cricket Match Today!” in bold letters.
Social media marketing
You might have the most fantastic posters on campus, but are you even trying if you need to start using social media? Social media is the digital version of shouting “Hey, look at me!” in a crowd, and it gets the job done! Create a Facebook event for the match and invite your entire friend list—and we mean everyone.
Friends, acquaintances, and that person you met once at a party and never spoke to again—invite them all! Regularly post updates leading up to the event, share sneak peeks, and remind everyone what a fantastic time they’ll have. If you’ve made a page for the event, consider doing a countdown to keep everyone engaged and updated about how much time’s left.
Everyone loves fun content, and you can be sure the student body will appreciate a quick, funny video over a cricket stats post. Get creative, make it viral, and start a new trend that excites everyone.
Send reminder emails
Being a college student and keeping track of everything at all times is impossible, and we all know college students tend to need to remember things. (If I had a dollar for every time I forgot an exam or an event…) That’s where reminder emails come in.
Start with a pre-event email well in advance where you announce the match, get people excited, and share critical details like the match date, time, and location. Use exciting and catchy subject lines and compel people to open and read the emails. Send reminder emails to build up the excitement as the event gets closer.
Share any updates about teams, highlight any fantastic giveaways, or let people know where to find free tickets. Finally, the day-of reminder is a must. Send a quick, fun email in the morning saying, “It’s Match Day, Folks! Grab Your Snacks and Head to the Field for Some Cricket Action!”
Content marketing
If you think content marketing involves fancy equipment and expensive influencers doing the work, you’re mistaken. All you need is some high-quality videos and images, a good content strategy, fun ideas, and a little creativity, and you’re good to go. Share BTS shots of your team’s training sessions or day-in-the-life stuff to keep things fresh.
Students love feeling like they’re getting an insider’s look at the action, so share snippets from the planning phase and all the fun content you can gather. Share highlight videos, behind-the-scenes photos, or player interviews on match day to keep the content flowing. A quick recap of all the best moments post-event is always a winner and can help you sustain that post-event hype.
With all these tips, you can ensure an excellent big day’s footfall and build a loud cheering squad. You may start a new tradition, and many new cricket fans will be waiting for this moment. So, let’s get those cricket bats swinging!
