Five Reasons You Should Consider Marketing to the Recreational Athlete

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November 16, 2015

By Heather Hawkins

Whether your brand is specifically targeted towards athletes, such as performance nutrition, gear or clothing, or just has an affinity with an active consumer segment, targeting active media and influencers is a great way to reach a highly engaged group of consumers.

Here are five reasons you should consider marketing to recreational athletes:

  1. Recreational athletes are sharers by nature. From posting Instagram shots from atop the summit on a long ride to talking about the latest wearable technology with run club mates on a long run, recreational athletes live in a constant state of gathering and sharing finds on a peer-to-peer basis.
  2. It’s easy to find your niche. Do you want to target specifically vegan ultrarunners? Paleo CrossFitters? Raw food yogis? Influencers in these spaces wear their passions on their sleeves (and in their Twitter profiles). Data analytics make it possible to find just the omnivorous big wave surfers you are looking for, and then identify which of those drive the most action.
  3. More people than ever are getting involved. Running USA cites a 300% growth in running event finishers from 1990 to 2013, and with the recent explosion in mud runs, color runs, foam runs and charity races, even people you might not think of as “athletes” are looking for and sharing information in the places athletic conversations happen.
  4. Even non-athletes are part of the segment. Don’t worry about alienating people who aren’t themselves athletic with athlete-focused messaging. Whether aspirational or just good ol’ fashioned wishful thinking, athletic messages resonate far beyond the pavement pounders. Did you know that active wear now comprises 28% of teens’ apparel purchases?—It’s more popular than denim! (Piper Jaffray)
  5. They are committed. A recent survey of 5,000 readers by Bicycling Magazine asked respondents if they had to give up one thing for a month, sex or bikes, which would they choose. Yep, bikes are just that awesome.

There are many ways to engage your audience around sports and athletics—from leveraging big-name athlete sponsorships and hosting media and influencers at world-class sporting events like the Boston Marathon down to smaller activations such as sampling programs, giveaways or influencer review programs. Double Forte can help you identify the tactics that will help you speak most effectively to the people you care about. Give us a call, we’d love to talk!