Marketing Director Job Description
COMPANY SUMMARY
DigitalSports® (www.digitalsports.com) THE source for ‘Community Based’ Sports & Activities. DigitalSports provides viewers and users with a single point of access to High School and Club Sports & Activities by distributing professional and user-generated content through the lens of a “New Media”. DigitalSports® offers Communities the opportunity to share in the accomplishments of millions of our youth. At the same time, we seek to contribute to our communities by helping those responsible for coaching and mentoring today’s kids by providing tools and sources of funding essential to their operation.
POSITION SUMMARY
DigitalSports requires marketing strategies at several levels; a rather unique set of parameters unlike most business models. DigitalSports will require marketing and branding strategies at both ends of the spectrum – online and local; as well as brand positioning. These factors, combined with our local media model supported by our local event hosting program and broadcast (radio and TV) partnerships, plus the likely creation of DMA Marketing “Co-Ops” that may well involve both franchise and company territories within specific DMA’s, dictates we must create a Marketing Plan within each core competency.
Whomever we select as our Marketing Director must have strengths in:
- Discovery and analysis of our Business Plan and Model
- Developing a Marketing Plan
- Service offerings and positioning against competitors and print media – differentiating message (Associations; Schools; Clubs, etc)
- Monetization opportunities
- Advertising, Marketing & Branding Strategy Execution
- Management of Public Relations and Corporate Communications
- Developing and constructing the necessary advertising, marketing and Branding Tools to be used in each of our territories
- Creating a step-by-step guide to promoting a Territory
- Creation of a pre-packaged Marketing Program for each Territory – Establishing “Best Practices”
- Development of effective Presentations
- Coordination of such plans with our online presence
- Coordination of local event Hosting
- Annual Marketing Calendar
- Assessment of effectiveness of local marketing initiatives and communication of same within Territories
- Coordination with Ad Sales team
- Coordination with Content Staff
In addition, we must develop effective online strategies:
- Search
- Viral Marketing (Blogging/You Tube/Facebook, etc)
- Linking Strategies
- Online Traffic Generators
- Internal Site Traffic Push and Pull
- Email and Newsletter Strategies (Outbound Messaging)
Because of the broad and diverse nature of our target audiences; and the unique nature of the needs of each audience; our Marketing efforts must target each audience with effective messages that create trust, safety, security and excitement:
Marketing to Target Audiences
- Using the established Digital Sports "look and feel", develop branded advertising and marketing materials, sales presentation materials, and other communication vehicles that clearly and concisely deliver the Digital Sports messages to our various targeted audiences:
- Athletic Directors & A.D. Associations
- Coaches & Coach Associations
- Students & Players
- Parents & Family
- Fans
- Booster Clubs
- Youth & Club Sport Administrators
- Requisite Materials must demonstrate the benefits and advantages of the DigitalSports system to our audiences; generate interest and engagement; and include:
- Printed Materials
- Online Presentations
- Video Presentations
- Power Point Presentations
The materials and presentations must be informative enough to motivate the audience to go online and see the Digital Sports system in action, yet concise enough to be easily understood.
Target Audience "Step-By-Step" Guides must provide each targeted audience with a complete, step-by-step process to follow in order to achieve their desired level of success. Each Territory ‘team’ would use these tools with interested, confirmed prospects, to show them the exact plan for implementing, or using, the Digital Sports system.
- The Marketing “Kit” must provide "step-by-step" instructions and templates for implementing "best practices" for territory marketing. In addition, the Marketing “Kit” must be built for travel, as “road shows” – meeting with schools, advertisers, clubs, broadcasters, prospective partners, etc.
The Franchise Marketing Kit would include the following:
- Brand Standard Manual – All printed and electronic materials will carry the approved Digital Sports brand standard. The brand standard manual will be included in the franchise territory kit, along with corporately approved graphic assets and rules for proper usage of logos, ad templates, imprintable literature, whether printed or electronic.
- Advertising, Marketing & Training Templates – Templates will be included for all types of recommended advertising, marketing and training. Each territory will have special circumstances, where marketing channels will vary in degree of effectiveness. The menu of templates will offer a wide variety of choices for the territory managers to employ, test and measure for effectiveness in their markets.
- Online Banner Ad Templates (easily customizable for specific territories)
- Advertisements (print and electronic versions)
- Direct Mail (customizable – print and electronic versions)
- Guide to PR (how to get recognized positively in the press)
- Guide to Networking and Partnering (affiliate program development)
- Guide to an Effective Media Plan
- Understanding and Mapping Your Market (territory marketing analysis)
- Guide to Event Sponsorship (how to sponsor and/or host an event)
- Training the Territory Staff
All Marketing components must be designed to strengthen and reinforce the Digital Sports brand message. Our Marketing Director must understand how to effectively research trends and patterns applicable to our model and space; and, provide proactive strategies for capitalizing on same.
DigitalSports has several challenges that must be addressed by our Marketing Director:
- Confusion within our space – MaxPreps, Schedule Star, Newspapers, Broadcasters – who does what.
- We are offering a new product within new markets – always the most difficult of all product introductions. Just “who is” DigitalSports
- Sending a message of “trust” to coaches and Athletic Directors (older demographic” – yet one of “cool” and “exciting” to the participants and fans
Lastly, our Marketing Director must have the ability to blend our marketing and branding strategies for online and “in-market” consistency and cross promoting – especially when supporting local events.
Most likely we must address these needs thru three (3) methods:
- Hiring a Marketing Director strong in the branding and pure marketing area
- Hiring a young, tech savy person for online strategies
- Use of 3rd party firms for development of materials – especially video
