It’s a deep-rooted trend that’s taking hold: sport is occupying an increasingly important place in French people’s lives. A boon for sports equipment brands! So, how can sports equipment manufacturers succeed in distinguishing themselves in this very promising market and stay one step ahead of the competition? Trustt takes stock.
The Sports Market in France in 2022
According to a report by the Union Sport et Cycle conducted at the end of 2021, individual sports practice is booming.
Indeed, following the Covid-19 pandemic which caused the closure of gyms, French people were confined to their homes for a long period but did not lose motivation and even increased their sports practice. Now, sport has become one of their favorite occupations.
This is good news for all sports equipment stores, which are greatly benefiting from this enthusiasm of the French for physical exercise.
Online commerce for sports “equipment brands has benefited from this growth, but physical points of sale for sports clothing and” equipment remain the favorite distribution channel for consumers.
The sports equipment market is therefore a market that is booming! Among all the brands and companies positioned in the sports equipment market in France, 10 major players involved in manufacturing and/or distributing sports accessories in France share about 60% of the total turnover of the sector.
The market is notably dominated by large multi-sport retailers such as Décathlon, Intersport, Go Sport, Sport 2000, as well as international brands like Nike and Adidas.
Influence and Recommendation at the Heart of Sports Equipment Brands’ Strategy
In this promising but highly competitive market, sports equipment brands can implement several actions based on influence marketing to differentiate themselves, retain their consumers, and boost their activity:
Collaborations with Sports Icons
With the rise of social networks, collaborations between brands and athletes have seen a significant boost in recent years.
Thus, major sports equipment brands like Adidas and Nike are entering into collaborations with famous athletes to boost their visibility, product launches, and communication campaigns in general.
The benefit is immediate for brands as these athletes communicate directly with the relevant audience through social networks.
Each publication featuring a sports item or sportswear is an opportunity for an entire fan community to identify with their favorite athlete.
These partnerships with great athletes therefore allow brands in the sector to expand their audiences and boost their notoriety and, consequently, their sales considerably.
Discover Trustt
Trustt is a digital marketing solution that allows you to create a virtuous circle between your brand and your consumers.Influence Campaigns with Micro-Influencers
In implementing their influence strategy, sports equipment brands have every interest in mixing profiles.
In addition to occasional campaigns with recognized athletes in the sports world, brands can set up influence campaigns with micro-influencers.
The advantage? Reaching targeted and engaged communities effectively and quickly!
As a reminder, a micro-influencer has between 10 and 100K followers.
Indeed, consumers trust micro-influencers whom they consider more sincere and authentic.
Micro-influencers have the ability to publish creative, unique, and quality content around products after using them. They give their sincere and spontaneous opinion, which allows internet users who are members of their communities to easily identify with them.
Of course, this involves selecting the right micro-influencers beforehand, those who perfectly match the brand, its values, and its products.
The Implementation of an Ambassador Program
To stand out in this highly competitive sector, sports equipment brands can implement an ambassador program on their e-commerce site targeting an ultra-specific community.
This allows them to recruit a panel of ambassadors in complete alignment with their products and values, and then launch product campaigns and collect proprietary data.
These ambassadors are the ideal spokespeople for these sports equipment brands. They help spread their aura on the web and boost their visibility.
Product campaigns allow these brands to benefit from numerous useful outcomes to develop their reputation and thus their sales:
- Authentic and detailed reviews from ambassadors that reassure consumers about the benefits of the products. These consumer reviews published under the product pages of the sports brands’ websites impact engagement and conversions;
- UGC from ambassadors that allow brands to greatly expand their digital presence and reach a wider audience. This user-generated content is valuable, as it embodies the 2.0 version of traditional word-of-mouth;
- Data on how ambassadors use the products. This data can then be used by sports equipment brands to better understand their target audience and their needs, continuously evolve their products, and co-create more efficient and sustainable products. It can also serve as an argument in the brands’ communication campaigns.
All these actions, which place consumers at the center of their marketing strategies, allow brands to create a lasting, trusting relationship with their customers, build loyalty, and of course, stay ahead of competing brands.
Trustt is a SaaS software that simplifies digital marketing for sports equipment brands through a new algorithm combined with machine learning that enables:
- Implementation of an ambassador program on your e-commerce site;
- Selection of the best influencers for your influence campaigns;
- Collection of proprietary data to optimize your digital strategy.
The Trustt tool automates 250 steps and is enriched with a neural network fed by 10M data points. One of the advantages is that Trustt interconnects with your e-commerce site to ensure a smooth and centralized experience.
