What is marketing automation for a sports club?

It's a set of messages that go out on their own when a family does something: fills in a form, registers, misses a deadline or finishes a season. The point isn't to send more email. It's to make sure no inquiry sits unanswered and no family misses a date because nobody reminded them.

A club already has the moments that need a message. Automation just makes sure they're never missed:

• Someone fills in an interest or tryout form.
• An early-bird deadline is a week away.
• A family registers.
• A camp or season ends.

Why does fast follow-up matter so much?

Because interest fades fast. A Harvard Business Review audit of 2,241 US companies found only 37% replied to an online lead within an hour, the average reply took 42 hours, and 23% never replied at all. A separate study in the same article found firms that contacted leads within an hour were nearly seven times as likely to qualify them.

That research is about businesses in general, not clubs, and it's from 2011. But the idea holds for any parent filling in a form at night. I've said it many times: leads come in and nobody follows up. That, not the ad budget, is usually the leak.

/Sources: HBR, "The Short Life of Online Sales Leads" (Oldroyd, McElheran and Elkington, March 2011) · figures as reported by SmartCompany (30 Jun 2011)

What should a club automate first?

The reply to a new inquiry. When a parent fills in a form, they should get a text and an email within minutes with the dates, the price and a link to register. Then a reminder a few days later if they haven't registered, and one more before the deadline.

The five automations I'd set up, in this order:

1. Instant reply to every form. Text plus email: thanks, the key details, the register link, and a name to contact.
2. Reminder after 3 days if they haven't registered.
3. Deadline reminders 7 days and 2 days before the early bird or registration closes.
4. Welcome sequence after registration. What to bring, where to go, who the coach is.
5. End-of-season message. Next season's dates and a priority link, sent before the last session.

That's it for most clubs. Five sequences cover the whole year.

What should the first automated reply say?

Everything a parent needs to take the next step, and a real name. Keep it short enough to read on a phone. Thank them, give the dates and price, link to the registration page, and tell them who will call if they have questions.

An example text, for a summer camp inquiry:

Hi Sarah, thanks for asking about our U11 summer camp. It runs July 6 to 10, 9am to 3pm, and the early-bird price ends March 1. Register here: [link]. Coach Daniel will call you this week if you have questions.

The email can carry more: the daily schedule, what to bring and a short reel from last year. Use the parent's and player's names, and send it from a person, not from "noreply."

Which forms should start an automation?

Every form a parent can fill in. That usually means the interest or inquiry form, the tryout or ID skate sign-up, the camp registration, and any "notify me" list for a program that isn't open yet. If a form doesn't trigger a reply, it's a form that loses families.

A quick audit:

1. Fill in every form on your website yourself.
2. Time how long the first reply takes.
3. Check the reply has dates, price and a register link.
4. Fix the slowest one first.

How many follow-up messages is too many?

For one program, three to five messages over a few weeks is plenty: the instant reply, a reminder after a few days, and one or two before the deadline. Stop when they register or say no. Every message should give the parent something new, like spots left or a clip from last year, not just "Did you see this?"

What should a club never automate?

The personal call. An automated text can confirm details, but I think a coach or director calling a family who's on the fence is what wins a hesitant registration. Use automation to tell you who to call, then make the call yourself.

Keep these human:

• A phone call to anyone who asked a specific question about their kid.
• The first conversation with a family after a tryout.
• Any reply to a complaint or a refund request.
• Thank-you messages from coaches at the end of a season.

How does automation help fill camps and tryouts?

It stops warm families slipping through the cracks in a short window. Camps and tryouts have hard dates, so a family who meant to register and forgot is a lost spot. Automated reminders before each deadline, plus "spots left" messages, turn intent into registrations.

For BC Prep, our reels, ads and registration funnel brought in 400 leads in 6 months at under $7 a lead, and 175+ camp sign-ups.

How do you measure whether automation is working?

Count registrations, not opens. Track how fast you reply, how many inquiries become registrations, and how many families come back next season. If you can't count registrations, you can't count ROI. Those three numbers tell you if your follow-up is working.

The numbers to track each window: