The underlying objective of your Club's promotional activities must be to effectively communicate a clear message that informs, persuades, reminds, raises awareness/understanding or influences the perceptions and actions of your members, potential members and other audiences.

To be most effective, in the shortest possible time, the messages you communicate must fit with your Club’s positioning and values, must be crystal clear and must incorporate what is in it for each audience - the value proposition.

Designing your marketing communications

An effective marketing communications campaign should adopt the following steps:

• Identify the target audience segments e.g. current members, prospects, government agencies, schools, parents, children etc.
• Understand the needs and interests of each target audience segment. This may require you to undertake some market research
• Determine the communication objectives e.g. raise awareness, increase knowledge and understanding, create a desire or preference for your programs, elicit a response or action
• Design the message, its content, structure, format and source. To get through the noise (competing messages) this needs to concisely articulate your unique selling proposition (i.e. what you offer that no-one else does)
• Establish the total budget
• Select the media or communication channels you are going to use. Example: mainstream or trade print (magazines, newspapers, direct mail); broadcast (TV, radio); electronic (Internet, email, video, CD-ROM); display media (billboards, posters, signs)
• Decide on the best marketing communications mix for your purpose (see below)
• Measure the results e.g. responses, new members, more spectators
• Manage the process.

When designing your promotional activities it's important to consider the AIDA principle:

• Something first gets our Attention
• If its relevant, we are Interested to learn more about it
• If the event or program appears to closely match our needs, aspirations, and/or resources (particularly if it is special, unique or rare) we begin to Desire it
• If we are prompted or stimulated to overcome our natural caution we may then become motivated or susceptible to taking Action.

Marketing communications channels

Your marketing communications mix i.e. the promotional activities you elect to use, will depend on a number of factors including your audience, the message you want to communicate and your budget. Your marketing communications channels can be divided into personal and non-personal channels.

Personal marketing communications channels include:

• Face-to-face
• Person-to-audience, includes presenting at events
• Via phone or email
• Personal influence channels, working through key members and external referral services.

Non-personal marketing communications channels include:

• Direct marketing
• eMarketing, including email, website, SMS, social media
• Public relations (PR) & publicity
• Advertising, including print, radio, television, online
• "Sales" promotion, including give-aways, competitions, merchandise etc.

Refer to the types of marketing communication channels for an overview of these channels. For more information regarding the characteristics, advantages and disadvantages of marketing communications channels refer to the guide.