Value of Social Media Brand Messaging in Sports

On one of the largest stages in professional sports, in front of more than 25.4 million viewers, Major League Baseball leveraged a simple, creative, and somewhat risky social marketing campaign:

 NYMag.com

The #WORLDSERIES hashtag.  The message is striking in its simplicity, including only the hashtag, the League logo, and the FOX logo. 

NBA Teams Adapting Facebook Marketing Strategies During Lockout

"These things have the capacity to take on a life of their own," said NBA Commissioner David Stern of the current NBA lockout.

From a marketing perspective, the lockout has put teams in a very difficult situation.  On one hand, teams understand that they may or may not have a product for consumers, yet they still want to remain relevant and engaged with their fans. Finding a balance in the marketing strategy is especially difficult in the social media space.

Interested in how teams were adapting to the lockout, I looked at how all NBA teams used Facebook during this past month (September 4, 2011 - September 24, 2011).  This is what I found:

NFL Early-Season Social Media Growth

After an unpredictable off-season, the NFL season is in full swing.  The beginning of the season brings about an expected spike in social media numbers as the teams take center stage in sports media.  That being said, not all teams are seeing the same effects.  Here is a break down of the growth in Facebook and Twitter for each team over the last 2 weeks (information from www.sportsfangraph.com):

Second-Screen Experiences and the Future of Sports on TV

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One of the more exciting emerging trends in the digital media space is the 'second-screen experience.'  With the prevalence of laptops, tablets, and mobile phones, viewers are no longer confined to viewing one screen.  They can now interact with multiple screens simultaneously, fundamentally altering the way viewers consume media.

Social TV is a prominent component of the 'second screen' revolution, primarily because mobile technology introduces social media into the TV viewing experience.  Hulu CEO Jason Kilar calls social media a “game-changer” for TV, and Futuresacpe says social media "has radical implications for the future of television viewing and the business of TV.” (Source)

Relationship Between Attendance and Facebook Following

Much has been said about the importance of Facebook 'Likes."  It is, for all intensive purposes, the easiest way to evaluate social media 'relevance.'  It's a public number that is very easy to track and compare.

However, social media marketing analysis should not be that cut and dry.  As touched on earlier in this blog, Facebook following is only one element of a brand's social media presence and only reveals so much.  The following graph, which charts the number of Facebook fans and average attendance for each NFL team, reiterates this ambiguity:

3 Creative Ways Teams are Using Geolocation

A recent press release from comScore reports that nearly 1 in 5 smartphone users access check-in services using their mobile devices.  Geolocation technology is gaining traction as a valuable digital marketing resource.

Geolocation tools are particularly useful in the sports industry, where teams are looking to identify and engage their fan base.  Here are 3 creative ways that teams are using geolocation technology:

 

Cleveland Indians Case Study: Size of Social Media Following Doesn’t Matter

The Cleveland Indians are making national headlines for their creative social media marketing initiatives.  The club was recently voted “MLB’s most Twitter-friendly team” by ESPN the Magazine.  Here is a more in-depth look at the team’s social media promotions:

The Cleveland Indians are working to develop “an interactive and engaging social media presence,” said President Mark Shapiro (Source) .  Here are three ways the team is working to establish this social media presence: