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:
Key Takeaways:
- The average team is posting 1.047 times per day, down from about 3.5 posts per day during the season
- Over-posting only dilutes the marketing message. Specifically, the Portland Trail Blazers are posting almost 3.5 times per day, and seeing some of the lowest engagement.
- Fans appreciate creative campaigns that recognize loyalty. The Clippers have seen great engagement thanks to their 'Clipper Nation Around the World' promotion
- Teams that post between 5-7 times per week during the lockout tend to have the most engagement
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| To account for differences in Facebook following, Engagement was measured as: ("Likes" per post / total page "Likes") x 10,000 |