Are you one of those people? There is a good chance that you are. I am, too.
Right now there are a lot of social networks that are popular for the world of sports marketing, I'll cover seven of them.
FACEBOOK
Facebook has been in existence for many years and is one of the oldest forms of social media that is still booming. With fan pages, athlete profiles, and numerous contests always going on it is easy to follow your favorite sports teams. Facebook does a great job of interacting with fans whether it be contests, photos, videos, or quotes from players and coaches. As I posted earlier, there are numerous athletes that have huge influences and followings on Facebook (especially in the NFL).
So what can teams do to increase their Facebook presence even more? They can live stream press conferences, have interactive games and activities for the younger audience, and links to their team store to increase merchandise sales. Why not have a weekly deal where, for example, every Wednesday a certain item would be 50% off? What if the mascot of the team had their own Facebook profile?
These are all things to think about and are all ways to easily expand Facebook influence and spread.
TWITTER
Twitter is something that almost all athletes, coaches, teams, and sponsors have. It is very easy to update and makes interacting with fans easy and fun. It has been researched that at least two-thirds of all tweets by a sports team should be replies to their fans. When Twitter is used for sports marketing it is all about fan engagement and this is important to remember.
Teams can tweet stats, updates, injury reports, quotes, links to photos and videos, and more. What if a team created an official team hashtag (#)? Do you ever see teams introducing fans to each other (@Fan1 meet @Fan2, you're from the same city)?
It is ideal if a team makes a Twitter list that has all of the athletes so fans have easy access to follow their favorites or tweet about a great play. We are starting to see more scoreboard tweets but I can see this getting bigger when baseball season rolls around. Why not have somebody monitoring the #team hashtag and posting certain tweets to the scoreboard for everyone to see?
YOUTUBE
YouTube is where the younger audience is stationed day in and day out. It is widely used and is a great way to show fans what a team is doing. Videos can be of game highlights, an insider view of a practice, players doing special tricks or displaying talents, or even mini television series. The youth of today are tomorrow's star players, supporters, and sponsors so it is crucial that they are included in sports marketing even though they are not the ones currently buying tickets.
Google is in love with YouTube and almost everyone uses Google so this is a great way to increase SEO (Search Engine Optimization). When you search for a video in Google you are much more likely to see a video by YouTube rather than Vimeo or any other video source.
Have you ever taken part in a YouTube contest? This is easy for teams to do and gets fans excited about the possibility of winning a few tickets to a post-season tournament or even a mid-season game. All a team has to do is an introduction video of the contest and then watch the replies come in with fans going crazy for their team. If this contest is posted on Twitter, Facebook, and many other places it will simply take off.
GOOGLE PLUS
Google Plus does a few things but is widely known for increasing a team's presence in organic search results via Google. When a team has a Google Plus account it is much more likely that they will be found by their peripheral market. Take for example, the Green Bay Packers. They are constantly posting news for the public on their Google Plus profile which is the same information posted on their Facebook page for those who don't have a Facebook profile.
There has been a lot of skepticism about Google Plus truly being useful for a sports team. Teams are on Facebook because their fans are on Facebook and they're on Twitter because their fans are tweeting. But are fans using Google Plus? As of now Google Plus is primarily being used by companies and brands but the hope is that it will someday expand to be as big as Facebook (every social network's dream!).
As of now many marketers are telling teams to hold off on joining Google Plus but there are positives. Like I said before, being a Google Plus member means better ranking in search results. It also gives a longer shelf-life for messages posted.
FOURSQUARE
Foursquare, a social network to let people know where you are and who you're with, has taken off. It is, in my opinion, crucial for teams to take advantage. A stadium, arena, or field is a destination for thousands to gather with one common purpose: to watch a game. Often times these are one of the prominent buildings in a certain city, so why not make sure that this is available on Foursquare? Take advantage of what's already there.
It is important that teams reward fans for checking in, especially after they do so a certain amount of times. Perhaps after checking in five times they receive a percentage off at the team store if they use it that day. The possibilities are endless when it comes to rewarding fans; just think about what fans truly want. In this generation, people like immediate gratification. This means that the reward should be available the day that they are at the game, not later. It is almost useless to send an email three days after the game saying "Congratulations, you checked in five times- redeem your prize now".
What if there was a mascot that had a Foursquare profile and checked in to certain places? This could create buzz in the stadium and a challenge to see who can find the mascot first (another opportunity for rewards). Have teams ever tried to break a world record with the most check-in's at one time?
The possibilities are endless with the 40% of fans that have smartphones and the rising number of people getting them every day.
INSTAGRAM
Instagram is the one of the newest ways to share photos while using cool effects and retro filters. The bad thing? It's only available on iPhones as of right now. Instagram conveniently connects with Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, and other social network sites for easy photo sharing. Similar to Facebook where you "like" a photo, on Instagram you can "heart" a photo and then share it.
The Dallas Mavericks have been using Instagram and are a great example of what other teams should begin doing. Teams can easily have photo contests that can be judged through other outlets such as Twitter. The winning picture can be displayed on the Mav's website or even just posted through the Mav's Facebook or Twitter page. Contests are an easy way to let fans be creative in showing their loyalty to a team.
PINTEREST
As I posted a while back, Pinterest is being used by sports teams more and more. With the wide use of Pinterest among females, it is used in part to engage that demographic. This is done by posting new merchandise, household items, special deals, and much more. Teams are using Pinterest to showcase fan content and reflect culture and lifestyle trends of their team.
Peter Stringer, Boston Celtics' director of interactive media, states, "We're looking at it as if it's predominately for women, but we're not treating it as if it's only for women."
. . . . .
There are a few main goals of sports marketing, some of which are to increase attendance, improve television ratings, increase merchandise sales, and promote special events. Through social media, goals can be achieved quickly and easily all while engaging fans in a fun atmosphere. The average social media user spends countless hours online each week so why not tap into that market and get your team involved, too!
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sports social network