It is estimated that social media accounts for 22 percent of time spent online (Source). With so many people in the social space, it is imperative that teams and brands develop a marketing strategy that utilizes all social media platforms effectively.
The most successful social media marketing campaigns are cohesive, cross-platform initiatives. These campaigns develop a unified message across several sites, leveraging the strengths of each available platform. Cross-platform marketing campaigns that use Facebook, Twitter, Blogs, and YouTube to promote a common message are most effective in developing a lasting marketing message.
The first thing you notice about the Miami Heat’s social media sites is the uniform appearance. The Facebook and Twitter pages have clean white backgrounds with black text. There is also a common, clear message of “White Hot,” which further unifies their social media sites. This consistency across platforms, in both appearance and message, effectively unifies the team’s social media marketing campaign.
The Miami Heat also stand out in the way they leverage their social media ‘strengths.’ For example, the team has more than 2 million fans on Facebook, making them one of the most popular teams on Facebook. The Heat leverage this Facebook popularity to promote their YouTube channel with a ‘YouTube’ tab on their Facebook page. This is a great example of a team leveraging a popular site to drive traffic to their less popular social sites.
The Miami Heat understand the value of cross-platform social marketing. They utilize each social media site differently, but still create a unified social media experience for their fans.
This is part of a post I wrote for http://www.sportsmarketing20.com/. You can see the entire post here.