Hang Gliding Elevate Your Sport with Public Relations

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Airsport Marketing: Elevate Your Sport with Public Relations

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Airsport Marketing: Elevate Your Sport with Public Relations

The airsports industry has a captivated audience of adventure-seekers from all over the country. Paragliding, ballooning, gliding, parachuting and aerobatics are sports that Australians know well, however they are struggling to grow their membership.

While sports aviation offers unique experiences to people who love taking flight, a lack of awareness about becoming a member will mean that few new people will sign up.

At Sustainable Marketing Services, we understand the unique challenges within the airsports industry that create this barrier, and we also recognise the fantastic opportunities airsport marketing can give the industry a boost.

Our dedicated team of experienced marketers and public relations specialists have been helping elevate airsport brands for over a decade through storytelling, digital marketing and membership drives.

For a cost-effective and powerful way to market your sport, club or training school, explore the use of public relations and discover how it can elevate your visibility at a national, state, and local level.

In this article, we share our secrets to airsports marketing and public relations success to help your organisation achieve sustainable long-term growth.

1. Craft a compelling story.

Achieving more media coverage relies on the quality of your story, plus a strong lead that will create interest as soon as a journalist hears or reads your pitch.

We all know each air sport has its own thrilling story that can be told from the thrill of paragliding, the adrenaline rush of a skydive to the serenity of a gliding flight.

However, generating strong coverage requires a story that is timely, relevant, and, most importantly, newsworthy to the media outlet or journalist to which it is being pitched.

If there is an event within your local area then the regional print, online and broadcast media could find this of interest to keep their audiences informed about why there are hundreds of paragliders taking over the skies over a weekend.

An interesting human-interest story about a pilot who has achieved something great – whether it’s the longest flight, a major competition winner, or taking on a rare and unique challenge – would potentially be of interest to the media in their local community or further afield if it’s a nation-wide or international achievement.

Celebrating wins is always a popular story for the media to tell when pilots are successful at local, national or international championships.

Other specific initiatives, such as open days, have-a-go days, free opportunities to trial the sport, or community contributions, could also create buzz within the media.

For example, in 2019, our client, the Sports Aviation Federation of Australia, attended Australia’s biggest annual airshow, Wings over Illawarra.

We invited Today Show presenters to try SAFA’s Australian-first hang gliding simulator on live TV, and they took up the opportunity, generating maximum exposure.

Today Show with Georgie Gardner: SAFA's glider simulator and attendance at Wings over Illawarra

2. Knowing who and how to pitch to.

Pitching is not about sending your press release to a long list of media outlets and hoping one of them will run with it.

It’s important that you do your research and understand which media outlet is the best fit for the story you want to tell. Is there a local report with a specific interest in extreme sports? Can you find magazines that specialise in airsports or have special features on the topic? Maybe there is a TV presenter who likes to try new experiences when reading the news, and you can invite them along to have a go at the sport. There are so many options available.

Another way to gain attention from your chosen media outlet is to offer them an exclusive story, meaning they will be the first to share the news.

Sustainable Marketing Services has a specialist PR team with existing media relationships and the skills needed to create a personalised media list, while knowing the right media to pitch stories.

At Sustainable Marketing Services, we adopt a strategic approach to media selection, starting with the priority media and working our way down the list, maximising exposure.

With regular airsport events held in Australian regional areas each year, there are numerous opportunities for sporting bodies, clubs and schools to gain local coverage in different areas of the country.

Example:

One media success this year was the Forbes Flatlands Hang Gliding Championships. A press release was prepared and pitched to local media along with vision and photos. A local SAFA representative did interviews about the significance of the event with ABC Central West, the Forbes Advocate and WIN News Central, creating awareness across the community.

See press coverage in Forbes Advocate here and regional TV WIN News Central coverage below.

Regional TV coverage on Forbes Flatlands

WIN News Central West 17 January

3. A personalised Pitch

A personalised pitch significantly increases your chances of media coverage.

Take the time to understand the interests, styles and audience of the media you are targeting and tailor your press release to align with their focus.

When contacting the journalists, address them by their name and explain why your story is relevant to their readers.

Ensure your subject line on the email and the press release grabs their attention and clearly communicates why this story is newsworthy for them. Journalists get many emails every day, and if yours doesn’t catch their attention straight away, they will move on.

Make sure you include facts and figures and high-quality images or videos. Media organisations don’t always have the budget to capture content, so they will be grateful for the good-quality content you can provide them.

Follow up with the journalists in a few days with a polite reminder if you don’t hear anything back. With all the story pitches journalists receive, yours may have been missed so it’s important to follow up with a phone call or email.

Example of a milestone story:

When SAFA celebrated 60 years in 2023, Sustainable Marketing Services created a media plan to raise awareness of this important milestone. A media release with content was sent to select sporting-related media and national publications, and interviews were conducted on various ABC radio stations across the country and online at abc.net.au for a national audience.

4. Briefing your talent

Example of PR covererage: Illawarra Mercury on Ken Hutt and Marcus Loane's flight off one of Nepal's tallest peaks
Example of PR covererage: Illawarra Mercury on Ken Hutt and Marcus Loane's flight off one of Nepal's tallest peaks

If you have selected spokespeople who have agreed to be available for an interview, make sure they are briefed on what to say – and what not to say.

Along with providing the press release and/or angle of the story to your spokesperson, write up three to five key messages that you want your talent to communicate during the interview. These key messages will help prompt the spokesperson and give them something to refer to during the interview if needed.

Give your talent a list of potential questions and suggested responses to the questions and encourage them to practise the answers with someone prior to the interview.

Encourage them to avoid jargon and discuss the dos (be honest, stay calm and polite) and don’ts (don’t get defensive or share information not intended for public release).

If they are new to the media, give them some tips on how to conduct the interview, such as looking to the side of the camera instead of directly at the camera during a TV interview. Also, provide them with information such as whether the interview is live or pre-recorded.

Download our 9 Media Tips for interviews.

Paragliding

Testimonial: Jennifer Gale, CEO, Sports Aviation Federation of Australia

"Working with Sustainable Marketing Services has been an absolute pleasure. Their team of skilled professionals is not only knowledgeable in their field but also dedicated to providing top-notch service and support. They always take the time to understand our organisation. If you’re in search of a reliable, innovative team, look no further. Their a team of seasoned professionals, friendly, work with you as a partner, always happy to develop a tailored solution that exceeded expectations with exceptional customer care.

They deliver a range of services from marking planning, brand positioning, digital strategy, public relation, marketing communications, social media, research, customer surveys, crisis communications and change management. Recently they worked on the digital marketing strategy for our new website and managed the build from beginning to end allowing us to focus on strategic priorities within our organisation."

5. Guest Articles

Writing guest articles for reputable media or websites can improve your website rankings, as well as boost the visibility of your sport or club online.

Start by identifying relevant online publications or websites that align with your brand and audience. Then, contact the editors with a personalised pitch that features a story angle that is likely to appeal to their audience.

Take the time to understand the media, their audience and what topics, styles of writing, and word count is their preferred approach.

6. Media Coverage

Media monitoring is an important way to track media coverage and celebrate success with sharing your story. There are programs that can do this for you, but they can be very costly.

If you don’t have the budget, search for the story online or via social media of the specific media outlet that you pitched the story to or conducted an interview with. Some outlets may send a clip to you if you request it.

Once published or aired, you can promote the article through your social media channels, newsletters and website to maximise its reach.

Example:

A human-interest style story that was pitched on behalf of SAFA was regarding a paragliding pilot who was a former professional AFL player. 7 News Melbourne interviewed the pilot and captured vision of him in his gear as well as using content that was provided to them. It appeared on the nightly news, as well as on the Ten News Facebook account, maximising reach.

Another positive human interest story that has gained significant media attention is a Mt Everest expedition where one pilot made attempts to fly from the peak in a paraglider. This has been covered by both local and national media.

Former AFL star Jim Wynd's high-flying challenge

7NEWS Melbourne, 2 September 2022

How We Can help.

Sustainable Marketing Services is a full-service Brisbane marketing agency with over 16 years of proven performance in helping our clients achieve sustainable growth.

Our dedicated team of experienced marketers and public relations specialists have been helping elevate airsport brands for over a decade through storytelling, digital marketing and membership drives.

Our services include marketing planning, market research, digital strategies, public relations, communications, social media and marketing training.

We charge fees on a fixed fee arrangement and have different pricing levels based on the size of an organisation, budgets and complexity of the marketing required.

When working with Sustainable Marketing Services, you will have a senior team member as your point of contact.

Sustainable Marketing Services is an award-winning Brisbane digital marketing agency with a long history of delivering sustainable success for our clients.

Book a complimentary meeting on 07 3446 5837 or via email us here.