Currents
N E WS
WILL DRAW ANGLERS TO A TOURNAMENT, BUT IT TAKES A BROAD MARKETING
BIG PRIZES, BIG FISH AND BIG PARTIES
STRATEGY TO GET THE WORD OUT. PHOTO: COURTESY EKFT
KAYAK ANGLER TOURNAMENT NETWORK OFFERS REWARDS FOR ANGLERS, EVENTS
GET with the PROGRAM
It’s not often that you get something for nothing.But the Kayak An- gler Tournament Network (KATN) offers kayak fishing events free publicity and prizes and gives kayak anglers a free resource to learn about local, national and international kayak fishing tournaments. “The Kayak Angler Tournament Network has been developed to
provide kayak fishing tournaments increased exposure so they can grow and benefit anglers, their sponsors, the kayak fishing industry as well as the charities and organizations who host these great events,” explains Robyn Plantinga, a sponsorship coordinator at Rapid Media, Kayak Angler’s parent company. At last count, the KATN hosted over a dozen tournament series and 45 events were listed on their online calendar. “More are signing up all the time,” Plantinga adds. Kayak fishing tournaments and events that register with the
KATN receive a listing on Kayak Angler’s Tournament Network webpage and online calendar, a free digital edition subscription to Kayak Angler for each participant and Kayak Angler swag to award to winners and raffle off to participants. Running up to the event, Kayak Angler will post a preview of the tournament on their website, Facebook, Twitter and other social media outlets. After the event, the
kayakanglermag.com will post a follow-up story with play-by- play of the action along with pictures and a list of the winners. “In return, we ask that Kayak Angler be the ‘official media sponsor’,” Plantinga says, “and we’d love our logo to be included on the event’s promotional materials.” Kate Kolflat a marketing specialist at Austin Canoe and Kayak has used KATN to promote the Kayak Angler Tournament Series for the past year. “It works great,” she says, “It allows us to access anglers that would probably not hear about KATS in other ways.”
22 PADDLING MAGAZINE
She adds that national and international exposure gives the event more legitimacy and builds their fan base. The Buckeye Kayak Fishing Trail has participated in KATN since its first event. “It has given us a lot of added exposure on their website and social media. It has also helped grow our social me- dia following,” says tournament director, Neil Farley. He adds that KATN has also exposed the Ohio tournament to a national and in- ternational audience. “We have had quite a few pictures from events that were posted on Kayak Angler’s website and social media and we’re even lucky enough to get pictures in the magazine!” Few tournaments can claim the success that Joe Hector’s Ex-
treme Kayak Fishing Tournament has won in the past two years. “We’ve grown from 50 anglers in our first tournament to over 100 in last year’s event,” he brags. The series has also added two events for this year and launched a tournament magazine. “The growth of the tournament series has been huge,” he continues, “Kayak Angler Tournament Network helped us get the exposure we needed to get this tournament off the ground.” While cash payouts, big parties and big fish bring anglers in, KATN has helped Hector get the word out. “Now that Extreme has become an international tournament with an event in the Bahamas this year, we have seen many anglers who have come from all over the US, most if not all read the Kayak Angler magazine and follow the Tournament Network.” All three tournament directors agree that an event will only be as successful if it takes advantage of every opportunity to build aware- ness. Farley of the Buckeye trail says joining KATN is a no-brainer, “It has been a really easy process to help us get more exposure with very little work required on our end.”—Ric Burnley To get on the Kayak Angler Tournament Network, send an email to
tournamentnetwork@rapidmedia.com. Check out the KATN calendar and find an event near you at www.
rapidmedia.com/events.html.
GET IN ON THE FUN WITH THESE TOURNAMENTS Kayak Angler Tournament Series: Austin, Texas
www.fishkats.com
Buckeye Kayak Fishing Trail: Various locations, Ohio
www.buckeyekayakfishingtrail.com
Extreme Kayak Fishing Tournament: Pompano Beach, Florida; Freeport, Bahamas
www.extremekayakfishingtournament.org
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