Excited to see their favorite teams step out onto the court during March Madness, fans often do not know what is going on behind the scenes and how players, coaches, and staff are prepared for the big showcase. Prior to stepping onto the court for this year’s NCAA tournament, teams go through vigorous preparation for each and every matchup. The first step to success is to work up a specific game plan that will best match their competitor’s energy and set the tone from the start of the game. Once they are on the court, it’s time to perform. Team leaders must have confidence in their research, plans, and even more in their players to execute the game plan that they have worked toward all season long. After the game, win or lose, teams will check out their stats and reflect on the full performance so they can evaluate the play and make improvements as they move onto the next round.
Sounds familiar, right? Competitive sports and marketing go hand in hand. Sports teams and marketing teams alike constantly strive to prepare, reflect, and improve. There’s no better time than March Madness to refresh on the benefits of working as a team and how implementing those tenets with your marketing team can improve efficiency and productivity.
Building your marketing (or basketball) team!
At Marketsmith, we see the overall value of understanding the similarities between marketing and basketball. It’s an approach that we are all too familiar with, that we have put to use for successful client campaigns in many different categories. Although diverse by industry, our approach to client success for industries ranging from consumer goods to public utilities and, yes, sports and fitness, is strongly based on preparation, reflection, and improvement. Check out our white paper Marketing Strategy and Basketball: One in the Same to better understand the full value and application of this comparison for your brand.
Here are some of the things you’ll learn:
- How to put your vision into an executable, omnichannel game plan.
- How to gather and analyze situations on the run.
- How to blend your team’s diverse skills into a seamless unit.
- How to power your way toward your goals to ensure conversion.
- How to rebound from missed shots and create new opportunities.
- How to analyze game data to drive improved play on the next campaign.
Of course, we don’t claim to be the best basketball players in the world (although we do have a hoop and half-court in our agency’s back room where, once we’re in a safer universal environment, we’ll be happy to take your team on in a friendly game of HORSE). But we do have a championship record of running omnichannel marketing campaigns for our clients. Perhaps that’s why, when we sit and watch the championships on TV, we keep seeing the game’s comparison to our own chosen sport of marketing strategy.
Strive for Perfection
In the words of legendary UConn women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma, “It’s about doing it in a way that can’t be done any better. That is the goal every day.” And that’s the goal at Marketsmith. Each day we strive to be the best and do the best we can for our clients. While it’s impossible to be perfect, every team has an ultimate goal.
