British Speedway Promoters Meeting

[Elephantman]

Yes he did. But you'll have to read back through dozens of his nonsense posts. Might be tricky since he can't keep to the same ideas and keeps changing his tune

 

 

 

 

There you go....found it for you.

 

Now does any sane person think clubs should "hire a 9-5 website man at £300 per week" to "do nothing but update facebook, twitter, post pictures and videos online, interact with fans and hold competitions"?

You really don't have a clue about marketing do you? There is nothing wrong with his ideas and it is refreshing to see a young person having the balls to say what they think. Its always better to have plenty of ideas as there is certainly plenty of old experts who will pooh-pooh them.

 

If the average website person costs £300 per week to run a campaign of social and content marketing, targeting young people, they would only need to generate 20 new people at an average entry fee of £15 per week to cover the salary. To me that doesn't seem that impossible a number to hit; god help the sport if anyone thinks it is?

[The Doctor...]

You really don't have a clue about marketing do you? There is nothing wrong with his ideas and it is refreshing to see a young person having the balls to say what they think. Its always better to have plenty of ideas as there is certainly plenty of old experts who will pooh-pooh them.

 

If the average website person costs £300 per week to run a campaign of social and content marketing, targeting young people, they would only need to generate 20 new people at an average entry fee of £15 per week to cover the salary. To me that doesn't seem that impossible a number to hit; god help the sport if anyone thinks it is?

 

Being ballsy is good, but come on seriously...apart from the financial side of things which has already been discussed by others far better placed then me...are we really expecting that constant updating of facebook, twitter, and running "competitions" could even possibly attract 20 new visitors a week ? Every week ?

 

I'd personally like to see an example of the young chaps' work to see if he can put the, ahem, "fizz" back into the sport...

[Parsloes 1928 nearly]

But the FACT of the matter is, no Speedway club would ever contemplate even for a milisecond. forking out money like that for a 'webmaster'..! If a club paid £300 a SEASON for such a 'service' it would be unlikely; he's suggesting £300 a week!!

[Elephantman]

Being ballsy is good, but come on seriously...apart from the financial side of things which has already been discussed by others far better placed then me...are we really expecting that constant updating of facebook, twitter, and running "competitions" could even possibly attract 20 new visitors a week ? Every week ?

 

I'd personally like to see an example of the young chaps' work to see if he can put the, ahem, "fizz" back into the sport...

They only need to generate an additional 20 people who attend every week and the costs are covered. Anything above the 20 is extra revenue; facebook; twitter etc. haven't been floated for billions of dollars for a laugh; they are valuable companies because correct use of their services will generate additional revenues for companies who use them correctly. At least this chap is floating the right sort of ideas; whether his work is suitable or not is a separate question; you cannot criticize the idea unless it has been tested and proven a failure; I don't believe it has been tested and many other organisations make this approach work.

But the FACT of the matter is, no Speedway club would ever contemplate even for a milisecond. forking out money like that for a 'webmaster'..! If a club paid £300 a SEASON for such a 'service' it would be unlikely; he's suggesting £300 a week!!

You may be correct; the sport deserves what it gets then doesn't it?

[BWitcher]

But the FACT of the matter is, no Speedway club would ever contemplate even for a milisecond. forking out money like that for a 'webmaster'..! If a club paid £300 a SEASON for such a 'service' it would be unlikely; he's suggesting £300 a week!!

And that is why the sport will continue on its steady decline.

[The White Knight]

And that is why the sport will continue on its steady decline.

 

I'm afraid so. :sad:

 

Off to bed now - I've agreed with BW TWICE. :shock:

[John Leslie]

You may be correct; the sport deserves what it gets then doesn't it?

To be able to open the following season?

 

If a club started taking on staff at £15k a year, there'd be no club the following year.

[Parsloes 1928 nearly]

And that is why the sport will continue on its steady decline.

No it really isn't...!! Paying that sort of money would be total and utter madness which is why they wouldn't contemplate doing it..!

[The Doctor...]

They only need to generate an additional 20 people who attend every week and the costs are covered. Anything above the 20 is extra revenue; facebook; twitter etc. haven't been floated for billions of dollars for a laugh; they are valuable companies because correct use of their services will generate additional revenues for companies who use them correctly. At least this chap is floating the right sort of ideas; whether his work is suitable or not is a separate question; you cannot criticize the idea unless it has been tested and proven a failure; I don't believe it has been tested and many other organisations make this approach work.

 

 

 

Perhaps i havent seen all of his posts, but other than mentioning twitter and facebook, what "right sort of ideas" has he been floating ?

 

Getting the magical 20 extra people to not only be interested, but want to come back every week off the back constant tweets and videos of track action is a fair old task.

 

The type of people who could even be attracted by online viral marketing (not sure if thats the right term but hey ho) are the same kind of fickle souls who would no doubt wander away from the sport at the first rain off where they had a wasted trip through the turnstiles.

 

The sport has problems, and yep i guess what it's getting what it deserves to an extent..but it aint gonna pay £15k, end of.

 

If i was passionate young chap like Synikalle, i'd stick two fingers up to naysayers like me on here, and say screw it, i'll do it for free for a couple of months...and then when he's got his magical 20 extras through the gates on a regular basis, slap it all down on the desk of whichever lucky club he chooses to help and put a case forward for his £300 a week.

[Vince]

Apparently he has already offered to do it for free but nobody took him up on it. Perhaps if he worked on his own customer relations skills instead of telling them how stupid they were for not doing things his way they would be a little more keen.

 

I think he has some decent ideas but some unrealistic expectations of the results. As for his saying that anybody is getting personal he really needs to go back through this topic and see how many times he has called people fools and stupid. Perhaps this IT expert could work for a percentage of the gate increase compared to last year, if Synalikes got it right they would be on a decent screw.

[TheReturn]

Now does any sane person think clubs should "hire a 9-5 website man at £300 per week" to "do nothing but update facebook, twitter, post pictures and videos online, interact with fans and hold competitions"?

YES YES YES YES YES

 

But that must include an overall of this existing rubbish speedway websites. Speedway is so easy to market with some great action images an video montages, it could look exciting, but right now the websites are bland and let the sport down.

 

Social media is the way to go, but it is a full time job so £300 a week is a bargain for the right skilled individual, but it also needs one thing, it needs the top brass feeding down information all the time so that person can interact daily with the public.

Edited December 1, 2013 by TheReturn

[Parsloes 1928 nearly]

Arsenal FC have a really good, professional website. What percentage of the 60k folk who come to every home game go there because the Club has a really good, professional website..?

I think we can safely say exactly ZERO..!!

[Humphrey Appleby]

Arsenal FC have a really good, professional website. What percentage of the 60k folk who come to every home game go there because the Club has a really good, professional website..?I think we can safely say exactly ZERO..!!

Yes, but Arsenal are one of the biggest football clubs in the world and get immense media coverage as a result. Speedway is not in any way comparable and needs to generate its own publicity.

 

I accept the lack of resources in speedway for this sort of thing, but anyone who suggests that websites and social media don't generate awareness is living with their head in the sand. To give you an example, as a general rule I simply will no longer give my custom to businesses that have no online presence or don't communicate electronically.

[Parsloes 1928 nearly]

Yes, but Arsenal are one of the biggest football clubs in the world and get immense media coverage as a result. Speedway is not in any way comparable and needs to generate its own publicity.

I agree but how on earth does having a brilliant website generate such publicity..?!

Unless you look at the website you'd know nothing about it - and if you've never heard of the track or even, dare I say it, the sport, why on earth would you look at the website?

 

We can argue the finer points 'til we're blue in the face and of course people will have their own opinions, but I don't think I've personally seen a more crazy suggestion ever on the BSF (and I'm astonished anyone can agree with it tbh!) that it would be cost effective for a Speedway club to pay £300 a week to someone to update a wesite, FB page and Twitter feed!

[SCB]

I agree but how on earth does having a brilliant website generate such publicity..?!

Unless you look at the website you'd know nothing about it - and if you've never heard of the track or even, dare I say it, the sport, why on earth would you look at the website?

 

We can argue the finer points 'til we're blue in the face and of course people will have their own opinions, but I don't think I've personally seen a more crazy suggestion ever on the BSF (and I'm astonished anyone can agree with it tbh!) that it would be cost effective for a Speedway club to pay £300 a week to someone to update a wesite, FB page and Twitter feed!

So you heard about a speedway team in your home town/city/village/hamlet. What the first thing you do to find out more? You can ask your mates, you can visit the local library, you can drive around for days until you find a hidden track or you can get googling and find out more information. These days, when people want to find out more they google. If you have no internet presence, if your internet presence doesn't give the right info and if your internet presence is 6 months out of date what will people do?

 

Also, the whole idea of social media is you take the marketing to them and make it easier5 for them to find you. So you search for "xxx speedway" and you find the official twitter. You send of a tweet asking where/when/cost/colour of the walls in the bogs and you get a response. Do some research on Tesco Mobile twitter and how well thats worked.

 

TBH, I think the basics of this could be done for very littkle to nothing, not £300 a week or even a year! Jsut a fgew hours of googling and reading up on twitter, vine, instagram, snapchat etc etc

Edited December 1, 2013 by SCB

[george.m]

Glasgow have an excellent website, do Twitter and Facebook.
Yet in 2013 the promotion advised the numbers coming through the gate were insufficient.

 

Merely seeing something in the media does not generate action.

You may see a new product on the telly, but if you don't already use a product of that nature there's a fair chance you won't buy it.

That's when product sampling comes in. If you actually get the product in your hand, use it and make an emotional attachment to it, then repeat purchase is a possibility.

 

Speedway is about the whole experience, the smell, the noise, the exhilarating speeds, overtaking manoeuvres at close quarters.

Even watching a meeting on TV provides none of this.

 

Social media, etc creates interest. What's needed then is getting newcomers into the stadium to experience it. Then you might get some conversions.

 

Social media alone, will most likely succeed in bringing back latent speedway supporters who've left the sport.

 

On another subject, it surprises me how few "bikers" come to Ashfield. I can remember the Shawfield car park having many bikers and guys in leathers on the terracing. Can't say I see any now.

Edited December 1, 2013 by george.m

[MattK]

You seem to know a lot. What half dozen ideas would you suggest if I was to go speak with an owner/promoter?

 

Clubs can selling directly to the public:

• Tickets
• Merchandise
• Other content such as mobile apps, ringtones etc.

Generate revenue through other activities such as:

• Advertising (Google AdSense)
• Affiliate marketing

Other third parties activities, such as:

• Sky Sports subscriptions
• Promoting PPV of Polish speedway
• Selling GP tickets
• Insurance, credit cards etc.

[SCB]

Glasgow have an excellent website, do Twitter and Facebook.

Yet in 2013 the promotion advised the numbers coming through the gate were insufficient.

 

Merely seeing something in the media does not generate action.

You may see a new product on the telly, but if you don't already use a product of that nature there's a fair chance you won't buy it.

That's when product sampling comes in. If you actually get the product in your hand, use it and make an emotional attachment to it, then repeat purchase is a possibility.

 

Speedway is about the whole experience, the smell, the noise, the exhilarating speeds, overtaking manoeuvres at close quarters.

Even watching a meeting on TV provides none of this.

 

Social media, etc creates interest. What's needed then is getting newcomers into the stadium to experience it. Then you might get some conversions.

 

Social media alone, will most likely succeed in bringing back latent speedway supporters who've left the sport.

 

On another subject, it surprises me how few "bikers" come to Ashfield. I can remember the Shawfield car park having many bikers and guys in leathers on the terracing. Can't say I see any now.

Agreed. You can get 100,000 new people turn up but if you give them rubbish they wont be back next week. The core product has to be right for the marketing to work.

 

As for Glasgow still not getting enough in, maybe the marketing brought in 200 but 300 stopped going as what they were given every week was rubbish?

[george.m]

Agreed. You can get 100,000 new people turn up but if you give them rubbish they wont be back next week. The core product has to be right for the marketing to work.

 

As for Glasgow still not getting enough in, maybe the marketing brought in 200 but 300 stopped going as what they were given every week was rubbish?

i've said that ad nauseum on here about the core product.

If only social media could generate an extra 200 new attendees per week, 4,000 over a 20 meeting season!

[New Science]

your comments are spot on and your opening night crowd is testament to the effort you put in and the execution of your plan..

 

what I do find strange is that this sport is genuinely 'unique' in that it (mostly) takes place in a city or town...

 

just imagine the concept of motorbike riders racing against each other in the middle of manchester? ridiculous thought....

 

well it happens, sometimes weekly!,

 

yet hardly anyone from manchester attends this 'event' as it is so poorly 'sold'...

 

the crowds dropped in your case because those in charge dismissed the notion that marketing mattered and crowds dropped off as the 'hype' and information did...

 

this year clubs in the EL have 18 meetings guaranteed, therefore EVERY match should be treated as a stand alone EVENT and marketed as such...

 

stock cars is successful at Belle Vue people say as it is infrequent and heavily marketed, however the speedway has zero marketing in comparison so maybe that is the reason speedway isnt 'successful'??..

 

I was in city centre manchester on thursday and market st. had several vendors giving out free 'Manchester Evening News's, there must have been 10 thousand copies in different locations and god knows how many people picked a paper up, how much would it cost for someone from BV to be stood along side giving out £10 special tickets?? there must be 20 - 25,000 people walk thru this street each day, approx 150,000 a week, surely 500 of which would use the ticket on a monday night? (even just out of curiosity!)...

 

locally the clubs should be hammering the message home EVERY week, giving out enough flyers, giving out promotional material, giving out free stickers, posters etc etc etc, basically brow beating people EVERY week, into knowing you exist and how they can come and see you, if 500 extra is the 'break even' figure you dont even need the same 500 every week, just get that number of people in!!.

 

(who cares if they dont understand the rules, its four riders screaming round a dirt track in a city centre with no brakes, what's not to like?)....

 

add in a well ran, up to date, professional looking, interactive website which reflects 'your brand' and 500 extra a night must be achievable?

 

EVERY meeting should be a stand alone EVENT, make it 'special', get people curious, hype it up with 'gimmicks', SELL the bloody thing!..

 

and they will come...(?)

Don't get me wrong I understand the importance of marketing,but if you do market speedway aggressively it must do exactly what it says on the tin.If your going to market speedway at Belle Vue or anywhere else has 'high octane' 'thrill a minute' 'white hot atmosphere' that's exactly what it must be, you have only one chance to sell your product.With respect how many meetings at Belle Vue can be described with the adjectives in the previous sentence.In terms of building up a meeting the Belle Vue vs Poole meeting at the back end of the season was a marketing dream.Speedways biggest club in town with the GP superstars with a desperate last chance to save their season.And what did we get,a farce,imagine that if it was your first speedway meeting after reading all the hype.Also there is a big difference to people picking up a free paper and parting with £20 for 2 tickets to a sport they know nothing about.As for discounted tickets Birmingham tried this mid season and ended up in financial trouble,ensure the product is worth the £17 rather than giving it away every week for £10