Social Media Marketing Plan Treasure Coast Fencing Academy

Social Media Marketing Plan Treasure Coast Fencing Academy

Summary and Goals TCFA and its website, www.tcfencignacademy.com, is an ideal candidate for a social media marketing campaign involving several of the most popular and useful social media platforms. After researching the demographics of the existing membership and of potential members, the following conclusions can be drawn: TCFA, and the sport of fencing in general, is an attractive activity for: All people from ages 5 to 100+. Health-conscious families Participation is not limited to any socioeconomic category, nor does gender or race preclude anyone. Fencing is a low-cost activity that can be enjoyed by anyone of any age, any gender or any socioeconomic situation. In fact, the sport of fencing, whether recreationally or competitively, can be participated in cross-gender, at any age and in any demographic configuration. Much like tennis or golf, fencing does not categorize people into gender-specific sports such as football, or age-specific sports such as gymnastics. Therefore, the appeal of the sport and the social media approach to attract new members must take in account all types of people. Furthermore, the sport of fencing is an aerobic activity. Much like zumba or spinning, fencing is an attractive activity for people looking to stay in shape and having fun doing so. Therefore, the social media plan for TCFA will take a multi-prong approach, taking advantage of social media outlets that are frequented by a variety of people for a variety of reasons. The selection and rationale for these approaches is to achieve the following results: Attract new members to TCFA Increase awareness of TCFA Buid excitement in TCFA activities to retain members and attract new members Instruction in the sport of fencing Build a positive image amongst organizations, such as private schools, to solicit lesson sessions Keep members and prospective members informed of events, competitions, and general information Gradually build a network to join with other groups and reach out to schools and organizations outside of the Treasure Coast (Florida) region 2

The Components Working Together The message of TCFA is: Fencing is an activity that can be enjoyed by all people, regardless of age, gender, or socio-economic situation. Fencing is an aerobic sport that promotes a healthy lifestyle in a group environment. Fencing can be enjoyed both recreationally and competitively. To achieve the goals of TCFA, the following social media components will be employed: WordPress blog (treasurecoastfencing.wordpress.com) For updates, information, interactivity Optimized website (www.tcfencingacademy.com) For search, general information, home base Pitching Influencers (www.naturalawakeningstc.com) To create awareness, build reputation, expand reach Facebook Page For interactivity and to attract new members, to create a sense of community, to share comments YouTube Channel To provide lessons, increase awareness, create excitement, share comments, be visible Twitter To provide updates, to keep the word out, to offer discounts Flickr To provide instruction, to build excitement, to create a sense of community 3

WordPress Blog The Treasure Coast Fencing Academy WordPress blog (treasurecoastfencing.wordpress.com) is the foundation of our social media efforts. The blog will serve as a home base and will be easily accessible at the Academy s website. Each week, there will be three articles posted by either the coach or participant. 1. One article will be general information about what is happening, when events are scheduled, etc. 2. The second will be a profile article. This is to show the human side of the sport, by profiling different participants from different ages and genders. These postings will include a headshot and an action shot of the person being profiled. These articles are designed to show how fencing has improved somebody s life either socially or physically. These postings can also be posted on the profilee s personal Facebook page and once there is a number of profiles completed they will be repurposed on the Acdemy s website as a Profiles page. 3. The third posting will be general instructional information aimed at the current participants. This will keep their minds in the sport while performing some basic educational value as well. These postings will link to instructional YouTube videos. (See sample introductory postings on page 11) Each posting will be promoted by Tweeting to Twitter followers, posted on the Academy s Facebook page and submitted to social bookmarking sites. Each posting will allow for commenting and will be moderating for appropriateness. Readers will also have the ability to Tweet, post to Facebook, email the postings. Headlines will be short and provide a benefit or a how to. Links will be placed in blog postings that will link back to the website. The postings will be written to entice people to try the sport of fencing as a healthy alternative to zumba, tennis, golf, etc. To promote the blog, we will search other blogs that pertain not only to the sport of fencing, but healthy activities in the Treasure Coast region of Florida. This way we can find influencers, join the conversation and promote the Academy in a friendly, informational way. As membership grows locally, our efforts will expand to the Palm Beaches and Orlando, and eventually to the entire state of Florida. 4

Optimized Website The Treasure Coast Fencing Academy website (www.tcfencingacademy.com) will work in conjuction with the blog as one unit. The website s URL will be the address used to promote the Academy s presense on the Web and open the portal to the other social media efforts. The website is designed to give a home to the social media efforts and to provide a simple, easy to navigate place to get basic information about the Academy and what it has to offer. As the blog is the primary marketing tool, the homepage will feature a link to the WordPress blog prominently. Appropriate keywords will be used that pertain to fencing, sports, family activities, health. The website will reflect the the social media efforts and will aid in promoting them, by including embedded videos form the YouTube channel, blog postings, and easy to find links to Twitter and Facebook. Pitch the Influencers The Treasure coast fencing academy can solicit the help of influencers. These are trusted online outlets that can carry the message in an informative, positive fashion. As we have identified fencing as a healthy activity, we researched potential healthy living sites we feel could carry the message for us. One such outlet is NaturalAwakeningsTC.com, a healthy-living publication targeted to people in the Treasure Coast area. We will approach the publisher, Gwen Short-Hamiwka, to publish news about TCFA on her blog, website, and publication. After reading their site and their print publication, we discovered that they cover health and wellness, children s issues, creativity, amongst other issues. We have also commented on several of their postings and are now prepared to approach Gwen, the editor, Nyk, and their medical editor, Dr. Michael Stager. This is a proposed pitch to NaturalAwakeningTC.com: Dear Ms. Short-Hamiwka: I have been reading NaturalAwakeningsTC for the past six months and have joined the conversation on your blog as well. I am writing to you, Nyk, and Dr. Stager to offer you some insight into a new organization on the Treasure Coast that I believe your health-conscious readers will find of interest. The Treasure Coast Fencing Academy has just opened and we are promoting our services as a healthy, family-oriented activity for people of all ages on the Treasure Coast. I have read your submission guidelines and am prepared to submit editorial content for you to post on your site. As a mother yourself, I m sure you are always looking for positive, healthy activities for your children. TCFA can offer just that. I would welcome the opportunity to continue the conservation with you, Nyk, and Dr. Stager and invite you to contact me at abc@xyz.com or 772.000-0000. Thank you for your time and I look forward to your future publications. Sincerely, Joe Smith, Social Media Manager, Treasure Coast Fencing Academy 5

Facebook Campaign The Treasure Coast Fencing Academy Facebook Camnpaign will be based upon the Academy s Facebook account (proposed: facebook.com/tcfencingacademy). This page will be used to promote the Academy s vision, offerings and brand awareness. Facebook is also an ideal place share information and resources with current members and to also entice future members. Members and non-members can share the benefits of fencing. Facebook is also a great place to promote the Academy outside of the Treasure Coast area. As awareness builds and as members post and link to the Academy s Facebook page, awareness will spread virally as younger members go off to college and as people get involved in activities outside of the area. The Facebook page will also integrate Twitter and blog postings to create more backlinks between the Academy s social media efforts and with other sources. We will encourage members to post action pictures and videos and also personal stories on how fencing has improved their lives. The Facebook page will also be an ideal place to promote branded products, sales and repairs and operate as a swap shop between members and non-members. We will also use the Facebook page to promote contests and to poll the members. As more people use Facebook and post their ideas and comments, the Academy will monitor these closely and will modfiy the program accordingly to offer more and better services. We will also solicit the help of evangelists. These are people who are associated with TCFA and will use their own social media outlets, such as personal Facebook pages, to promote and link to the Treasure Coast Fencing Academy. It will be important to instruct our evangelists on the proper message and social media methods to get the word out. The more evangelists we can recruit, the more influence we will have, and the reputation of the Academy will grow and remain positive. We will monitor these efforts closely to make sure that our message is being used properly, and will promptly reply to any complaints or grievances. Monitoring other reviews sites, such as Yelp and RipoffReports.com will also be necessary. 6

YouTube Videos YouTube is expected to be the cornerstone of our social media marketing efforts. Since fencing is a fast-paced activity that focuses on primarily two people at a time, YouTube is a perfect place to promote the intimate action of fencing. Also, we must keep in mind our primary marketing benefit: Fencing is a healthy activity for all people, and stress that in every video, no matter what the subject. The goals of the YouTube Campaign are to: Entice new members by showing the action of fencing Deepen and develop relationships with current and proposed members by highlighting personalized fencing segments across all age and gender lines Create awareness of the Academy s existence, location, and events Highlight special events, such as Academy tournaments, visits from fencing experts, visits to other clubs, schools, etc. Teach and inform members and proposed members about the sport of fencing. These wouldn t be full lessons, per se, but simply enough to provide an enticement to learn more. It will be important to keep the videos fresh. To achieve this, we will build a stockpile of videos that can be updated every week. Studies have shown that YouTube videos have a lifespan of one week. Anything older loses all of its recency. YouTube titles will consist of up to 100 characters, the description will consist of up to 5000 characters, and the tags will be up to 120 characters. To improve SEO value, it is important not to scrimp on these efforts as the space is available to do so. We will try to inject as much humor as appropriate. Funny videos are the ones that work the best and shared the most. The secondary effort will be informational and news-oriented. Studies show that news ranks second amongst YouTube viewers. Interestingly, how-to videos rank third, but are the fastest growing segment of the YouTube viewership, growing 22 38%. Therefore, it will be important to provide how-to lessons (less than 10 minutes) but also add as much humor as we can get away with. The YouTube videos that appear on the Academy s YouTube Channel will also be simulcasted on the Academy s blog. 45% of videos are found directly on YouTube, but a close 44% are discovered on blogs, so it will be important to take advantage of both venues. We must also take advantage of analytical tools to gauge how well the efforts are progressing and to enhance the videos accordingly. Since YouTube keywords are different than Google keywords, we will use the YouTube Keyword Tool to keyword our videos. We will also use YouTube Insights to monitor the campaign. We will judge the success of the YouTube efforts by how increased viewership turns into increased membership and/or product sales. 7

Twitter Power Twitter is a great support source for our social media efforts. Once the Academy s Twitter account is set up, it will be used to build brand awareness, establish relationships with members and proposed members, use it as an announcement vehicle for tournaments, classes, and other events, provide customer service responses, and also provide an easy link to the website and the other social media marketing campaigns of the Academy. We will find those in the area who are tweeting about activities, sports, family events, and the like and develop relationships with them. By doing this, we will build a cohesive community and can work together to promote the Academy as we promote other like-minded groups as they also promote the Academy. By using a tool like HootSuite, we will be able to track keywords and modify our messages accordingly. The Twitter account will also be easily accessible at the Academy s website and promoted via Facebook, YouTube and the blog. The 35+ age group demographic dominates Twitter. This is an ideal group for the Fencing Academy. This age group should have enough disposable income, enough energy, and have small- to medium-aged children with whom they are looking to share a healthy activity. Also, with more women than men using Twitter, we will tailor our message to the Soccer Mom set and create a burgeoning group of Fencing Moms. Twitter will also allow us to connect with people at an emotional level. By Tweeting out personal stories of young people discovering a new sport, or older people getting back out there, our demographic target is prime territory for this approach and it is expected that these new Fencing Moms will retweet our message creating broader and more positive appeal. To track our Twitter efforts, we instill special Twitter Discount Codes when offering branded products, lessons, or other group sales items. Once again, we expect our primary demographic group to take full advantage of our coupons, and to retweet positively about the value. We will also use an automated Twitter feed straight from the blog. 8

Flickr Photos Flickr will also be integral part of the social media campaign. We will create a Flickr account for the Academy to build awareness and engage members and proposed members with high-quality images showing the sport of fencing in action. We will use the profile page to link back tot he website and to feed into our Facebook page. We will also encourage others via a Flickr group to upload their images and contribute to the conversation by commenting on others images. Flickr will be used as an excitement builder and not as an advertising tool. 9

Wrap Up By using the social media marketing tools, the Treasure Coast Fencing Academy will present a cohesive, positive image of the sport and will expand the awareness of fencing as an alternative (or in addition to) other family-friendly activities, such as tennis, golf, etc. By showing that fencing is enjoyed by all types of people, the audience is potentially very large. And by positioning the Academy as an expert in the field locally, it can eventually be transitioned into a broader geographic area of Florida as we partner with other fencing clubs, schools, and other groups. The social media marketing efforts are designed to work together and to feed each other through Facebook, YouTube, the blog, the website and Flickr. We must always be aware to keep information current, keep it positive, and share our resources whenever possible. The social media marketing efforts for The Treasure Coast Fencing Academy is a low-cost method of attracting new business and creating a community of fencers in the Treasure Coast area. WEBSITE BLOG FACEBOOK TWITTER YOUTUBE FLICKR 10

Sample Blog Posts These are sample introductory blog posts for the three types of postings proposed for the Treasure Coast Fencing Academy wordpress blog: 1. Informational. Here is a New Way to Enjoy a Healthy Activity Have you ever considered the sport of fencing? Fencing is more than just sword-fighting. It is a healthy activity that can be enjoyed by people of all ages, both men and women, and even as a family. Unfortunately, the sport of fencing has not gained the reputation in America as it has in Europe, but we can now announce that fencing is on the Treasure Coast and you can share in the action. The Treasure Coast Fencing Academy just opened its doors at 3549 S US 1 in the Crowne Plaza and you are invited to join us on December 15 for an introductory tour. We have more than 30 members, ranging in ages from 12 to 70, men and women, and even several family members fencing together. You are invited to join our community online at our Facebook page (facebookpage.com) and see our fencers in action on YouTube (youtube.com) and on Flickr (flickr.com). We will also be be sending out information, tips, and discounts on our Twitter feed (twitter.com). To learn more, visit our website: www.tcfencingacademy.com. En garde! 2. Profile. Who Is the Best 6-Year-Old Fencer on the Treasure Coast? Corey Smith is only 6 years old, but he has already become an accomplished foil fencer. Having only been fencing for 5 months at the Treasure Coast Fencing Academy (www.tcfencingacademy.com), Corey has already won 2 regional tournaments and plans to continue his fencing career in college. With his dedication, we won t be surprised to see Corey represent Team USA in the Olympics some day. Corey also plays soccer, but his Mom, Susan, was looking for an activity that can be enjoyed by the whole family. Now, with Corey s help, Susan, her husband, Frank, and Corey s 5 year old sister, Melissa, they are all part of the Treasure Coast Fencing Academy family. You can see Corey and his family fencing on our YouTube Channel (youtube.com). We will profile, Susan, Frank, Melissa and our growing team in future blog postings, so please follow us on Facebook (facebook.com) for updates. En garde! 3. How-to. 3 Easy Steps to Become a Fencer 1. Join the Treasure Coast Fencing Academy (www.tcfencingacademy.com). 2. Get yourself outfitted with the proper fencing gear. TCFA offers many discounts on the equipment you need and you can find discount coupons on our Twitter feed (twitter.com). 3. Learn the sport and get involved. Join our growing group on Facebook (facebook.com) to keep up with class dates, meet other fencers, find out where we ll holding tournaments and what schools we will be visiting. Study other member s techniques on our YouTube Channel (youtube.com) and see our fencers and other fencers on Flickr (flickr.com). En garde! 11