This Sports Startup Needs Marketing Coaching: Here's How I'd Help [CASE STUDY]
Vantage Sports uses college athletes to teach adults and children the fundamentals of their favorite sports. But, their content marketing game needs some work.
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There are some businesses I just look at and say:
I wish I thought of that.
It’s one of those ideas that’s so obvious—so right in front of you…
That you wonder how you missed it at all!
But, that’s Vantage Sports. I love this company.
Their unique selling proposition being:
“Learn the game from your favorite college athlete.”
If you’re looking to up your golf game—or help your kids’ with dribbling a basketball or soccer ball—this should be your first stop.
My question to you though is this:
Have you ever heard of Vantage Sports?
Because up until a few weeks ago—I certainly have not.
I would like to help change that. Here’s a few ideas I have that could help. Please chime in below with yours.
Paying College Students
A quick word on college athletes earning money. This is crucial to Vantage Sports’ entie business model — so a mention here is warranted.
Here’s how the National Collegiate Scouting Association (NCSA) describes the Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) policy from the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) says:
On June 30, 2021, the Division 1 Board of Directors approved an interim name, image and likeness (NIL) policy. This new policy allows all NCAA D1, D2 and D3 student-athletes to be compensated for their NIL as of July 1, 2021, regardless of whether their state has a NIL law in place or not.
Whether you’re a fan of college students getting paid or not, it clearly opens up opportunities for athletes to earn some money for their hard work. This can go to paying off school loans, building credit, and saving money for their postcollegiate career.
Vantage Sports Has Over 254,000 Tiktok Followers
Let’s start with the good. Vantage Sports has over 254,000 followers on TikTok.
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This account is run by Yosef Ngowe, Vantage’s Creative Director and Head of Marketing. He’s also Division 1 lacrosse player. Yosef also played for Uganda’s national lacrosse team in the 2022 World Games in Limerick, Ireland. So, a pretty remarkable track record there.
His posts are similar the one above and often garner tens of thousands of views — along with plenty of comments. Overall, he’s received 7.2 million likes at the time of this writing.
I would be interested to know how effective Tiktok is for Vantage Sports as a marketing and recruiting tool — aside from just the vanity metrics. That goes for finding athletes to coach and for getting customers (i.e. players and/or their parents) to sign up for Vantage’s coaching services.
How About Other Social Media? Vantage Needs To Up Its Game
What Vantage is doing on TikTok is great — but what about the other social media accounts?
A few things worry me about the team’s focus on TikTok. Here’s what I’m seeing:
The U.S. government is seriously contemplating a ban on TikTok in the country. The social network is already banned on U.S. government devices.
It is rarely a good idea to go all in on one platform. Sure, be successful in one area and apply it to another. But, factors like #1 — along with algorithm changes — leave you at the mercy of someone else.
Regardless of the first two — it’s better to have a presence in multiple areas — and an active one at that. For instance, the kids might be interested in Vantage’s services on TikTok — but they’re likely not the ones paying. What about the parents on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn?
Let’s look at their social media presence on a few other platforms:
Twitter: @Vantage_NIL
Vantage’s Twitter account is filled with posts like this — that they share with their 455 followers. Unfortunately, these posts — while interesting — don’t garner much engagement.
Facebook: @TheVantageSports
The team’s Facebook account has some similar posts as Twitter — and it appears also includes autoposts from Instagram. The posts are informative and interesting — and the account includes a Shop to buy lessons. The follower count only stands at 1,800.
But, again, engagement is minimal and I wonder about the effectiveness of its lead generation capability.
Instagram: @vantagespts
Vantage Sports’ Instagram account is their second best-run social media account. If TikTok is banned in the U.S., they should move some of their best-performing content over to Instagram. This account features nice photos, better interaction, and some partnership posts.
Great ideas all around — and a nice follower count at over 20,000.
YouTube: @vantagesports8446
YouTube could be a real goldmine for Vantage if utilized correctly. But, that’s the key — you have to use it. They have almost as many views as followers — 31 videos for their 24 followers (one of which is me).
Again, using the TikTok videos for YouTube Shorts could be a long-term play here. Plus, having some examples of college athletes coaching — or even giving some free tips in a longer video — would be helpful as well.
LinkedIn: Vantage Sports Company Page
Vantage is failing on its LinkedIn page. Plain and simple.
Two posts — the most recent is 5 months ago — to its 503 followers. That’s sad — and quite the missed opportunity.
A great feature the team could take advantage of is newsletters. This could allow parents to learn more about what Vantage does and offer some quick tips to help kids in their favorite sport.
Other easy wins would be adding their most popular videos elsewhere on their company page — or even host LinkedIn events.
Vantage’s Email Marketing Is Not MVP Caliber
Perhaps even more crucial than social media is email marketing to Vantage’s business. Sure, social can be a solid lead generation tool, but in terms of conversion email marketing is the way to go for this business.
Why? Simple reason: owning the customer journey.
I’ll preface my comments here by saying I have not signed up for Vantage’s services. So, I don’t know if there are any different communications (I’d imagine there are) — once you do.
However, since signing on March 10, 2023 for a Vantage account — I’ve received only two emails. The above was the second email I received 9 days after signing up to provide some information on their Express Checkout feature. They also provided a link to a detailed blog post above the news as well.
I believe this leaves a lot to be desired with Vantage’s email marketing plan. Once I sign up, you should be asking me what I want and what I need. Tell me stories about the successes — and even some failures — and what people are learning from the student athletes.
Tell me about the best coaches in the sport I picked for my child. For instance:
Why are they the best?
Who have they worked with?
How did the player improve?
Why not send me video embeds of your top performing videos?
These are all simple ways to bring me along the buyer’s journey. Vantage should be getting a better understanding of my wants and needs.
I’ve heard it mentioned before that a business needs at least “7 touches” with any one customer to get a sale. Vantage’s odds here are not great if I’m getting one random communication every 9 days.
The Vantage Blog: A Missed Opportunity
Vantage Sports’ blog basically covers news on the company on all facets — general news, information for athlete-coaches, and details for interested parents. From my view, it’s really missing an audience.
I understand wanting the blog to have a two-fold purpose — recruiting coaches and customers. But, then the content marketing strategy misses the mark. It ends up helping nobody — or helping very little.
Again, using the blog to provide detailed SEO writing on Vantage’s unique offerings — and repurposing top social media content — is a simple way to boost marketing effectiveness. Use the blog to educate potential — and even existing — customers.
For coaches — or potential coaches — use a separate FAQ page or targeted landing page that answers their top questions. I’m not sure if each coach gets an internal portal that houses their schedule, payments, clearances, and training — but that’s where Vantage could offer more detail. It could also act as a way to recruit more coaches — having an opportunity to learn more about being a leader. Great resume builder in addition to college athletics.
Wrap-up: Still Loving Vantage Sports
If I was a little harsh in my commentary, my apologies for any hurt feelings. However, I stand by this analysis — based on the information available to me.
I have no knowledge of Vantage’s future plans — but I do see plenty of potential. If they even did a quarter or half of these recommendations — they should see positive results.
What are your thoughts?