Before the internet, booster club online advertising was non-existent. Word of mouth, flyers and corkboard posters were the only way to let your community know what was happening with your booster club. School programs that needed funding sent students home to go house to house to sell goodies or held bake sales in front of the local grocery store. With the advent of the internet, there has come a wide range of booster club online advertising options to spread awareness for your club events. Read on to learn some different online advertising tactics you can utilize to grow your booster club’s visibility!
Booster Club Online Advertising Via Email List Building
Next to all the popular social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram, it may be hard to believe that one of the best tools to use when starting up your booster club online advertising is sending emails. But think about it, why else does almost every site ask you make an account by entering an email? Over half the human population has email, so there’s a high chance that your potential community supporters do as well! Emails are a great way to raise awareness, and and keep everyone up to date on all the happenings of your academic booster club.
The Basics of Booster Club Email Marketing
An email list is just that, a list of emails that are used to send emails. Every time you subscribe to a website or sign up for newsletters and coupons, your email is added to that site’s email list. From that point on, you will be given the best and latest information (until you unsubscribe). Utilizing email tools for your club is one of the most easiest and cost effective ways to kickstart your booster club online advertising strategies. The following are some email marketing solutions we recommend to get you started!
- MailChimp – This is an email marketing software for beginners or groups that don’t need extra options. It’s free until you reach a certain amount of subscribers, so keep that in mind.
- ConvertKit – A great choice for experts. The company allows you to try for free, but you will need to pay once the trial is over.
- ConstantContact – Another powerful email marketing software making building emailing list easy.
- Mad Mimi – Mad Mimi is a great resource (owned by GoDaddy). It is a low cost email marketing solution with a ton of bells and whistles for the price!
Social Media Is Free Booster Club Online Advertising
Booster club marketing is what separates the booster clubs that thrive and those that have a hard time staying afloat. This means utilizing all of the tools at your disposal – including free tools like social media! If the name of the game is spreading booster club awareness to ensure your audience is familiar and participates with current happenings then social media should be a cornerstone of your booster club online advertising strategies.
Choose The Best Social Media Option For Your Booster Club
Choosing not only the most popular platforms but the platforms best suited for your booster club supporters is key. Facebook, Instagram, and Youtube are the fastest growing and by far the platforms used by most users, but each has strengths that you need to consider.
- Facebook is great for booster clubs that, while likely to have some pictures and videos, will mainly consist of large text posts and links to other pages. Your booster club will depend on “shares” to spread the message.
- Instagram, being a photo centered app, will fit booster clubs with high-quality photos that proficiently show what their organization is about and how to help. Creating hashtags allows for anyone to find your postings.
- For booster clubs that that are more video-centric, perhaps with coverage of events or interviews with staff, Youtube would be your go-to choice. Shared links will allow your material to end up on virtually any site for continued support and views.
Posting To Social Media Is Free Booster Club Advertising
No matter what choice in social media you decide on, allow for a good chunk of time creating quality content for your audience. This will keep them intrigued in your booster club regardless if you’re fundraising or not. When you are, give details, pictures, and video of what you’re working on. Show them booster club meetings, event prep and set up, and footage of events in action. On the off time, post on what your booster club is doing with the money raised or a typical day with your school organization. Let your online users know that you want to keep them up to date with your booster program all the time, not just when it’s time to gather funds.
Purchase Booster Club Ads On Social Media Platforms
To take your booster club online advertising a step further with your choice of social media, consider paying for ads on Facebook, Instagram or Youtube to increase your following. All of these platforms give you ad options that drive awareness, increase customers and share your story among a highly engaged audience. Take creative liberty to produce an ad that speaks to your booster club and its focus.
Additionally, to increase the response to your booster club online advertising strategies think about your audience targeting. All of the social media advertising solutions offer a way to target your ads locally – to your community. It goes without saying that we highly recommend taking advantage of this feature!
Search Engines Are Critical to Booster Club Marketing
Getting listed on popular search engines is one of the most effective ways of directing free targeted local traffic to your website. To know if your site is on Google or any other search engine, simply type your website address into the search box. If the search engine knows your site, it will tell you, but if not, you may need to submit your site. While it’s probably not necessary to submit your site manually, it pays to check just in case. Each search engine does it differently, and we highly recommend submitting to as many as possible. If help is needed, check out this guide to submitting a website to top search engines Google and Bing.
Search Engine Optimization For Local Results
Major search engines often personalize searches based on the searcher’s current location. So, to improve your local search position in Google, Bing, and other search engines – they need to understand where your booster club is located. To boost your local search rankings and help you connect with customers and participates in your area, consider the following:
- Submit your booster club/school information to local online directories and be consistent across all your organization citations.
- Feature reviews from satisfied customers, community members, and staff to emphasize a positive local presence.
- Use insights about your local customers and community to enhance your website and content.
- Consistently reference the local community that your organization directly serves.
Purchase Targeted Search Engine Ads To Your Local Community
While your booster club might show up automatically on local listings when someone searches its name on Google or Bing, it might not show up first. There are countless booster clubs online, probably several in your general area with similar content and focus. This situation is when it might make sense to purchase search results ads targeting your community. Advertising tools through search engines like Google or Bing can give your booster club prime real estate and the best part is, you only pay for the users that click on your ads. For more information on how purchasing and using ads on search engines work, check for Google Ads or Bing Ads.
Online Crowdfunding As A Booster Club Online Advertising Strategy
One of the newer booster club online advertising strategies is utilizing online crowdfunding. There are specific sites that allow people and groups to post projects in order to attract funding. Online crowdfunding not only allows you a channel to raise money, but also allows your booster club to reach a much more diverse audience than normal. A few popular and easy to use crowdfunding platforms include:
- Kickstarter – A site where creative projects raise donation-based funding. It’s not for personal finance needs or charities.
- Indiegogo. Here, donation-based fundraising campaigns are approved most anything, ranging from music to personal finance needs to charities.
- GoFundMe. This site tends to skew toward individual people aiming to raise funds, but as a big name in crowdfunding, it’s still worth taking into consideration.
A word of caution before crowdfunding, know your state laws that regulate fundraising. In a majority of states, there are laws that require charitable nonprofits to register with the state before soliciting residents of that state.
Having a few booster club advertising strategies in your back pocket is a sure way to increase your booster club awareness online. Email and social media platforms allow you to update all important information to your followers and guarantee that they know when, where, and how they can aid your cause. As ways of communication change and improve, make sure the way in which you advertise does as well!
