A few months out from your volleyball season, it seems like you have all the time in the world to plan and market your Dig Pink match. However, we all know that time seems to fly right past us just when we need it most. The time leading up to your season is the perfect opportunity to start mapping out how you plan to market your event.
Some of the most successful Dig Pink matches around the country do the best job of marketing their event to their school, club, and community.
Getting the word out in different ways is key to great event attendance, fantastic fundraising, and creating an environment at your event that everyone will remember for years to come.
Take some time to gather your Dig Pink Committee (before things get too hectic) to go over some marketing ideas for your event so that when the time comes you are ready to take action.
To help you out, Side-Out has provided you with 10 of the most effective ways to market your event before, during and after the special day.
Marketing Prior to the Event
1. Use Social Media
You probably already have some type of social media following on your social media accounts, whether it’s the school, club, or your personal accounts. This is a great audience to start with, as these followers already have a connection with you and care about what you have to say.
Start getting the word out on all of your social media feeds (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc.) about Dig Pink at least 5-6 weeks before the event to start building the anticipation and give people a chance to bookmark the date.
Create a ‘Facebook Event’ for your Dig Pink match and make The Side-Out Foundation a co-host to get lots of exposure online. People in your community can share the event and let others know they plan to attend, which will entice others!
Use our social media templates folder to easily get the word out, or use Canva to create your own!
2. Write Letters
Sure, letters might be a little ‘old school’ to some, but they are effective. With our email often flooded with messages, letters to family from students often stand out, and are a great way to grab the attention of those you are trying to reach.
This technique works well with businesses as well, such as requesting their support via sponsorship or if you are looking to invite local health organizations or professionals to be involved with your event.
You can utilize the letter templates provided below, or create your own that explain the purpose of your event, talk about Side-Out’s mission, and clearly state what you are looking for from those individuals or businesses (your call to action).
3. Put Up Dig Pink Posters
Posters are a great visual marketing piece that can stand out and get a lot of eyes on them when placed in the right areas.
These posters can be placed around your school or club facility, on message boards in the area, at local businesses (with their permission), and even in your opponent’s community. Make sure to put these posters out at least a few weeks before your event to give time for plenty of foot traffic to pass by.
We have 4 different posters below that you can download, type in the information about your Dig Pink event, and then print out so that you can start hanging them up where others will see them!
4. Send Out a Press Release
Distributing a press release to your local newspaper, radio stations, school newspaper, magazines, and even local news stations, is a great way to get the word out to the masses about your event.
Make sure to send this out with enough time so that if the newspaper or tv station wants to do a piece on your event, they have the opportunity to do so. Sending this out last minute is unlikely to gain any traction.
Don’t forget to send it out to the outlets in the visiting team’s hometown or area as well, so that you can get the story in front of a different audience than yours!
If you are not sure what should be in the press release, there is no need to worry! We have a template you can use. Simply make a copy, fill in the details related to your event, and start sending it out to news outlets in your area!
5. Create Fun Marketing Opportunities
Smaller activities, such as a car wash or flocking someone’s yard with pink flamingos are a fun way to start making the community aware of your upcoming event.
As you see and talk to people, let them know about your upcoming event and ask them to come out to support you.
This word-of-mouth marketing will help get people out to your event and there to support!
6. Sell Raffle Tickets for 1 Big Item
This item could be tickets to a professional game, a vacation trip, tickets to a concert or even a chance to be a part of the team’s travel, pre-game meetings and practice, sitting on the bench and some team gear.
Sell these tickets at school football games, volleyball matches, and in the cafeteria during lunch in the weeks leading up to the match. This will create awareness of the Dig Pink match and encourage people to come out.
For more details about selling tickets for a large raffle item, read about how Lynnfield High School in Massachusetts did it.
Never Underestimate the Power of a Small Town With a Big Heart
With just 632 students enrolled at Lynnfield High School and a town population of just over 11,000, Lynnfield, Massachusetts is what most would call a
Marketing During the Event
7. Hang Your Team Banners
If you have been a part of Dig Pink through the years, you probably have a Dig Pink Banner or two.
Display these previous years’ award banners at the match for everyone to show your past successes and create some brand awareness for the cause you are supporting!
8. Announce It To Everyone
It’s important to educate those who are in the audience about why you are hosting the event and the cause you are supporting. It’s likely that there are people there who didn’t know about the event beforehand, and we’re just coming to watch some volleyball.
Use your PA announcer to your advantage. Educate those in the crowd about Side-Out’s mission, metastatic breast cancer, and try to drive day-of donations by using the PA announcement scripts below.
You can also write some of your own if you are comfortable doing so!
9. Use Our Day-of Flyers
During your event, it’s important to have things hung up around your gym or venue so that people can learn more about the goal of the event and the mission that you are supporting.
To make it easy for you, we have created two awesome flyers that you can print and pin up at your event!
The first contains a QR Code that people can scan to learn more about the Side-Out Foundation.
Use the second flyer to add your own QR Code & URL to drive people to your fundraising page!
Marketing During the Event
10. Send Out Your Post-Event Press Release
Just because your event is over does not mean you can’t continue to market! Share the accomplishments of your team with local media, who may do a write-up on your program and the impact you have made!
Just like with the press release leading up to your event, fill-in and share the post-event press release with as many local news stations, newspapers, and magazines as you can to see if you can get even more publicity around what your team accomplished!
When you go to market your event, remember that it’s all about getting in front of eyes and ears of the people you want at your event.
Keep it SIMPLE!
