(1888PressRelease)
October 07, 2009 - Here at the exclusive Leaders In Football (LiF) 09 event hosted by Chelsea FC, voice and message broadcasting leader RelayStation scored a hat trick in front of 1,000 movers and shakers of the football world by showcasing its new RelayVideo product on its stand #15, running non-stop live demonstrations of the sheer power of voice message broadcasting and unveiling a unique communications portal for grass root academies.
RelayStation's message broadcasting services are now fundamental marketing tools for football clubs nationwide. Over 50 Premier, Championship and Coca-Cola League clubs use its products week in, week out to build more personal relationships with the fans and to drive ticket and merchandising sales.
These clubs have established that voice and text messaging broadcasts are six times more effective than direct mail, four times less costly, and are at least fifteen times faster to implement. They've also found that telemarketing campaigns are twelve times more expensive than RelayStation's instant interactive dialogue products and are seven times slower to implement.
RelayVideo … more dynamic content for the fans
For the first time, club managers can record a short video of up to thirty seconds on a Camcorder, send the file to RelayStation together with a spreadsheet of opt-in fans' mobile phone numbers and instructions when to broadcast. RelayVideo will help clubs to provide fans with more dynamic content about their club and players direct to their smart phones. About one in three fans now has a smart phone and that can only increase in the years ahead as the old 2.0 and 2.5G phones disappear.
The type of video message that clubs can send to their fans is limited only by the imagination … new signings, new fixtures, new club promotions and events, season ticket pricing and new kit in the club shop being typical examples.
Live LiF broadcasting … RelayStation aims to become the communications hub of more clubs
The marketing and commercial departments of football clubs attending LiF are being invited by RelayStation to visit its stand #15 for a live demonstration of the sheer power of voice message broadcasting to fans.
All that club executives need do to benefit from this free offer is to come along to RelayStation's LIF stand with a pre-recording of a message (mp3) from the manager or key player on a memory stick together with a spreadsheet of up to 50 mobile or landline numbers of opt-in fans. RelayStation believes that all messages should have a call to action such as press 5 to request a call back from a ticket office. After the broadcast, clubs can re-contact the fans to evaluate the impact of voice broadcasting using its reports on the outcome of calls.
RelayStation is also offering advice on message content throughout LiF and has extended its free broadcasting offer to 31st October allowing clubs that have yet to sign up for its compelling services time to record a specific message for the fans.
New Portal for Grass Root Academies … the Manager's Tool kit
In non-professional football, RelayStation has recognised the need for managers - often parents and volunteers - to be provided with a tool kit that enables them to ensure they have up-to-date player and parent information and are able to communicate quickly and easily with them about a variety of subjects. Fixtures, training sessions and diet recommendations are three examples
With this in mind, RelayStation worked with the Core Soccer Academy to better understand what is required by them to enable academies to do what they do best … training players rather than spending too much time on the phone reminding players where to be and when.
RelayStation's out-of-the-box portal is a central database containing all information about a grass root team and allows managers to interact and communicate with team players. The portal is simply bolted-on to an Academy's website customised with the look and feel of the club and parents and team members are directed to it to collate information. RelayStation then securely stores all the data on its robust and secure servers and provides a data miner tool that is so easy to use that even the most techno-phobic parent can send messages from it.
"Communicating with fans through voice, text and video messaging makes commercial sense when you consider the high returns compared with the outlay and this is RelayStation's fundamental role in the sports business," says Sharon Maslyn, RelayStation's managing director. "Fans appreciate receiving personal messages from the club manager or a key player on a regular basis, and this form of communication sits well with any club's strategic goals … strengthening their strong relationships within the local community and beyond and building brand value."
About Relay Station
RelayStation is a leading communications provider to government, banks, enterprises, SMEs, charities, professional organisations, sports clubs, and many other types of operations with large audiences. Its web-based products enable them to better engage and interact with their publics.
For more information on RelayStation's best-practice communications solutions, contact Hugh Paterson on +44 (0)845 862 0766, email hugh.paterson ( @ ) relaystation dot co.uk, or visit www.relaystation.co.uk.
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