Category: Short Rants

Conferences, Short Rants, Social Media

ESPN, Sowing the Seeds of Iterative Content, and Where the Avalanche of Social Media is Heading

We’re in the remix era of social media. Trends, memes, duets, reactions — a powerful seed of content begets a tree, which can turn into a forest. Content snowballs, with creators from across the world, in different communities, and from various subcultures, with original POVs, adding their unique take. No snowflake is alike, to complete the analogy, and AI-infused feeds seek to deliver the precise snowflake that’s perfect for you, the content that seems targeted to an audience of one — you.

So what’s a media behemoth, a decades-old brand like ESPN to do in this space, where they’re one of many voices on social, working with the same sports content and stories everybody else is? There’s no easy answer, but in many ways ESPN is spreading and discovering seeds, helping plant the trees across an array of diverse sports fan communities. I loved the way ESPN’s Senior Vice President, Original Content & ESPN Films Brian Lockhart put it on a panel at the ESPN Edge Conference [click to watch] in October 2022.

“How do we open source [a] story,?” he said. “Maybe deliver this to a different partner that has an authentic voice on a different platform. “That same piece of IP can have new life breathed into it and hit different for different audiences.”

For much of social media, user-generated content provides a lot of seeds. Whether it’s home videos, serendipitous discoveries of content, memes, and everything in between — fans are planting seeds all over. ESPN Vice President of Social Media Kaitee Daley applied a perspective related to Lockhart’s ‘open source’ idea in describing how they activate user-generated content and inviting diverse voices to put their spin on it.

“Nearly half of all media consumed is user-generated media,” Daley said. “This notion of someone down the street from me went and filmed their kid doing something incredible in the backyard and that’s going to perform as well on our channels as a really well-done highlight. When you think about how we approach that, sometimes I think people go ’Well that’s not innovative at all because anyone can do it.

“But what we’ve started to do on TikTok in particular is bring voices like Omar Raja to those moments. So we’re storytelling user-generated content in a different way and it’s made for that audience. They consume and they think ‘this is for me’ And that speaks to that inclusivity as well.”

So, yes, create your content and serve your fans. But also invite others to build off the content you produce or curate. When platforms like TikTok strive to deliver the exact right content to the tiny, exact cohort of users for which that video is a perfect match — trying to be everything to everyone is a losing battle by design. There are too many segments and sub-segments, communities, and sub-cultures — the forest is appreciated for its trees.

That’s one of my own key takeaways from hearing the insightful conversation on the ESPN Edge Conference panel.

Fan Development, Short Rants, Social Media

The Mocking Generation: A Conversation about ‘Savage’ Social Media and its Implications

The team finishes off a big win. Or they dominate a rivalry game. Or it could be an underdog that shocks the world. Then it comes…
The SAVAGE social media post.

Some are spur of the moment, while others show impressive planning and creative production. Some will have a bit of pop culture sprinkled in. And almost without exception, the posts will belittle their opponent, letting their victorious fans bask in the loser’s misery.

And it’s hard to shake the thought that something just doesn’t feel right.

Sometime in the last few years, snark gave way to savage, and an arms race began to see who could most creatively stomp on the grave of their fallen foe.

These posts go viral. By just about any measure, they’re objectively successful. The savage posts give fans something to rally around, instill pride, and make the brand of their team feel cool.

But have we become desensitized to it all? Is the obsession of savagery raising a generation of Nelson Muntz’s? (the Simpsons character known for pointing at anyone’s misfortune and exclaiming “Ha-Ha!”)

This could be completely off-base (call me a snowflake). It’s hard to argue when the most successful posts are often the most ruthlessly savage ones after a win. They help reach more fans and potential fans, racking up engagement and impressions. But it also paints the brand as the bully in the schoolyard, more excited about the opponent’s loss than their own win.

Taken to the extreme, imagine Little Leaguers pointing and laughing at the losing team instead of high-fiving their own teammates after a win. It may seem like a stretch, but if the standard practice to celebrate a victory becomes finding a way to savagely poke fun at the loser, such behavior just seems, well, normalized.

It’s not so easy to reverse the trend. Not when social media teams are evaluated on engagement numbers. And not when they all know what the Internet wants and will eat up. There are a lot more examples of savage tweets going viral than ones in which the winning team celebrates their team and with their fans. It doesn’t have to be that way. 

The examples below demonstrate that it’s possible to be respectful and to still give fans a reason to rally. A reason to feel like they’re supporting a fun brand and team.

Social media creates culture, magnifies it, and is also a reflection of where it may be headed. At the end of the day, it’s instructive to consider the goals for a team on social. Several have been discussed in this blog. There is the objective to drive numbers, to rank among the leaders in the league for engagement and to show one’s bosses that the team’s social is kicking ass. But there’s a heck of a lot more. There is the goal to drive more awareness and affinity for the team, among both existing and potential fans. The goal to enhance the brand, making the brand of the team one worth supporting and investing in (and sponsoring). And somewhere down way down the line (perhaps too far) is hopefully the goal to use the platform and influence thousands or millions of people to be good, respectful. To develop a brand worthy of one’s affection and emulation.

Some will say social media snark in sports started with this tweet from the LA Kings in the spring of 2012. Then NBA Twitter and many players themselves (not to mention media) saw the immediate benefit of taking snark to the next level — unleashing savage. Playful stoking of the flame lit up social media and continues to today.

I’m willing to concede this all may be way off-base. But as a generation of social media natives comes of age amid a system of savagery, I think this a conversation worth having before it’s too late.

Short Rants

Six Lasting Lessons from Kobe Bryant

Ever since the tragic news of the passing of one of the legends of American sport, and truly an icon of global culture, Kobe Bryant, came down on the last Sunday of January, we all went through various stages of grief. It started with disbelief, then utter despair, acceptance, and finally inspiration and reflection on the enormous legacy, one that transcends far beyond the court and far beyond Los Angeles, that the Mamba leaves behind.

I grew up in the sweet spot of Kobe’s career, so it’s hard not get reflective on the man that made Mamba Mentality an idea, the figure that defined determination for a generation. So as I think back on the mark Kobe left and the inspiration his memory will continue to exude, these are the special traits that I feel he personified unlike any other and that we can all take into our lives for the rest of our days.

Competitiveness

No one embodied the spirit of competition more than Kobe Bryant. Maybe Michael Jordan, but while wanted to beat you, to demolish his opponent wasn’t necessarily so cutthroat. He simply competed to be the best. He embraced the challenge, seemed to thrive when his opponents were worthy adversaries. Yes, he wanted badly to win, but he worked so hard and gave it his all because he expected to be the best, he worked for it, he expected nothing less from himself, his teammates, and his rivals.

It’s great to celebrate the wins, to bask in the glory of victory. But too much basking leads to complacency and complacency is the enemy of lasting greatness. We are better off to focus on less on simply destroying opponents, and more about setting the bar so high that no one else can work or compete hard enough to reach it.

Intensity

When I close my eyes and picture Kobe, I see the smile, I see the shots, but I the most powerful image that sticks with me is the scowl. You know, that look of sheer drive accented by gritted teeth and clenched jaw. Pure Mamba. He didn’t know any other way to play, and he thrived because of it. Anything he did, whether in practice, in the game, and in his post-career life as an Oscar-winning creator — everything Kobe did he did all the way.

We can take that same level of intensity and effort into everything we do, from work to life in general. In the social media and sports game, we often talk about doing a few things exceptionally instead of trying to hit every platform possible and settling for mediocrity as a result. Strive for greatness in everything you do, grit your teeth when it gets hard, because greatness isn’t easy. Embrace your own Mamba Mentality.

Hunger

The word may have existed in the NBA before, but Kobe solidified the word ‘three-peat’ as a permanent part of the lexicon. The man was named to the NBA All-Star team 18 times and he continued to work his ass off til that final game when he put up 60. What else is there to describe an individual that won back-to-titles and had enough rings for a Thanos-like full-fingered hand but an incredible hunger? Heck, the hunger didn’t abate when his playing career ended, he mastered his next endeavor, achieving the highest honor seemingly overnight. He attacked every project, workout, every day, every game, every season with a voracious will and spirit.

It’s amazing what one can accomplish when hungry enough for it. We can all conjure our inner Kobe and not rest when the figurative mountaintop is reached, when a momentary reward is achieved, but instead look for the next peak to strive for, the next challenge that’ll drive us.

Belief

When the clock was winding down and the Lakers needed a bucket, everyone in the whole darn world knew who was going to have the ball, knew who would be taking that last shot. Kobe was clutch. But while he made so many memorable winning shots over the years, he also missed a helluva lot of them, too. Hit or miss, Kobe’s belief never wavered, there was no one he trusted more to take and sink that clutch shot. It takes an incredible sense of belief to face those moments with no fear. It takes trust that, because of the union of talent and uncommon hard work, that he’d earned the right to that faith.

Life is full of moments of uncertainty, times when the belief in ourselves erodes. Don’t let it happen, be like Kobe. Shooting a figurative air ball just means you have to continue to work hard to the point that there is no lingering doubt that next one will be a swish. No one makes every shot, no one goes through life without being forced to confront moments that challenge us, that knock us down, and that threaten that belief. But we can overcome it; there’s something special and empowering knowing one has the innate confidence to take the ball when lesser souls would back down.

Preparation

The early morning workouts, the hours of practice and shooting, the offseason months spent sweating — the tales of Kobe’s unending work are a part of his epic. He famously went overseas to seek new ways to recover. And he found it difficult to understand why everyone else didn’t prepare the way he did. Through the twilight of his playing career, too, he was even preparing for life after basketball. And it showed, as he was continuing to build his brand and his businesses and projects before his life was cut way too short. Kobe always worked so hard to prepare, but nothing could’ve prepared us to face the tragedy of losing the legend too early.

It’s great to have goals, to define what one hopes to achieve. But any goals worth achieving, any sense of greatness worth achieving requires a heck of a lot of hard work and preparation. It’s always a grind, it’s everyday effort. Kobe knew what he wanted to achieve tomorrow and worked and studied and prepared to get it.

Generosity

In the statement made by Commissioner Adam Silver and the NBA regarding Kobe’s passing, they mentioned his accomplishments, his spirit, and many of the traits that made him an inspiration to millions, but the most salient point the statement made about Kobe, in my reading, was praising how giving he was with his wisdom. He inspired a generation, but he also wanted to teach and mentor that next generation, too, along with his teammates and peers. It’s been cool to hear the stories of the time and advice Kobe has given over the years; he recognized the value of what he had to give, and he gave generously.

It’s a high level of humanity to pass knowledge on to another. It’s how the generations that come after us end up better, end up achieving things beyond imagination, and it’s a way we can give back in this life. It’s a great achievement to acquire skill, to reach mastery, to gain wisdom; but it’s so much powerful, so compounding when it’s passed on to others. Kobe understood he could leave the game, leave everyone he met better than he found it. He did. And while he had so much still left to give, he left an awful lot behind.

General Marketing, No Biz Like Sports Biz 2013 Early Thoughts, Short Rants, Social Media

Looking Back on a Decade of Social Media and What Its Resemblance in 2020 Means

It has been just over ten years since Instagram launched and rounded out the triumvirate of the next decade of social media, with Vine, Snapchat, and most recently TikTok, among others, exhibiting their influence, too. There has been a ton of evolution and developments across platforms, user behaviors, creative trends, and strategy and tactics.

And, yet, as the 2010’s roll over the 2020’s, it’s hard not to notice the principles, behaviors, and ‘trends’ of yesteryear emerging in new forms. What’s old is new again.

So as countless articles come out now looking back on 2019 or trying to predict what’s to come in 2020, this one will set out to try and decipher why a lot of what’s prevailing today isn’t all that dissimilar to what the first digitally-enabled generation, yep the Millennials, grew up with and why it’s those deeper patterns of human behavior that’ll stand the test of time in the decade to come, and beyond.

1.

Facebook didn’t start social media. Neither did MySpace or Friendster. No, the first memories most of us have of connecting with others — socializing on media — came with America Online. Before there were followers and friends, there were buddies. Before feeds and stories and trends, there were chat rooms. Before it became about who could reach the most people, it was about communicating one-on-one, with friends or even with faceless others across the country who found themselves in the same chat room.

For years, broadcasting became the ambition. Trying to reach the most people with your message, chasing those big numbers, those vanity metrics. But look around today and the evolutionary pyramid is on the way back to intimacy. Endless feeds peppered with brands, friends, family, acquaintances, and, well, ‘randoms, are starting to more and more to be replaced with time spent on Messenger, WhatsApp, close friends group chats, and the like. We’d rather converse with a few than casually and loosely connect with the many.

In many ways, it’s starting to feel like we’re back where we started with AIM (or MSN Messenger, especially for the international peeps). So herein lies the light bulb, the insight. Genuine, intimate connections will always prevail and as cool as it is to throw your content or idea into the ether, it’s more satisfying and rewarding to have a good conversation with one or a few at a time. The difference today is that there are countless ways to enhance messaging, whether that’s with emojis, filters, GIFs, and music. The root behavior is still there, but we can make it better.

2.

Speaking of music, it’s clear how much music now penetrates so much of social media nowadays. There was a time over the last decade when music became more commoditized, when MySpace tried to restructure themselves around music, when PureVolume and SoundCloud and the like were just kinda there.

Music formed the backbone of early ‘social media,’ as many of us used Napster, LimeWire, Kazaa, and many others, which were file sharing sites first and foremost. I can still remember myself today how thoughtful my favorite bands list was on my MySpace profile. Well, music — not just the personalities and soap operas that comprise the culture across artists — pure music is making a comeback, forming the soundtrack of countless TikToks racking up millions and millions of views.

So, looking ahead, what can we learn from the powerful potion of music to continue to engage fans and enhance content? There are a number of directions to speculate: teams and leagues creating their own music, more and more content synced to music (AI could help here, too), more content around specific player music tastes or talents, and as more power players get their mitts into the sports space, perhaps a more formal relationship or synergy with the music side of an agency and the sport, or a league/team partnering with a record label. Not too many industries have the potential to be bosom buddies like sports and music, not too many industries have ‘fans’ instead of customers, so the future ahead sure sounds like it’ll have some music behind it, in front of it, or both.

sociald-

3.

One of the more intriguing social behaviors of the last half decade has been the rapid growth of Twitch, primarily on the back of esports and gaming. Many of the Millennial generation grew up playing video games, sure, but watching others while waiting for one’s turn to play hardly seemed ideal. But it wasn’t so bad if a group of friends were around to talk to while others took their turn. It was never just about video games, it was about socializing, and the video games in this case gave a mutual live topic of interest and an atmosphere to socialize.

Squinting one’s eyes just a little and it doesn’t sound all that different from those early chat rooms back in the AOL days. Put the AOL chat room and Twitch live chat feeds alongside one another today and they may not look too different outside of the emojis and stickers on Twitch. Both represent places connections are happening in real-time, ad-hoc and lasting communities are formed, and, ultimately, it is the innate desire to know someone on the other side is listening that stands the test of time and path of platforms.

As the next decade begins, the propensity for live conversation, for chatter will continue to evolve, but perhaps we’ll see something akin to the chatrooms of days old. Places where live chatter can happen around a number of topics, interests, and events. Forums and online communities became more live, started happening alongside live content, and are just a bit more interactive today. The on-demand community, the always-own forum is as old as time, and will continue to persist in the years to come.

4.

Quick — without thinking much, what was the first piece of digital real estate you could really call your own? Maybe it was a Facebook page, a blogspot, a MySpace profile; but for many of us that first true ‘profile’ was the AIM profile. It was a place to list one’s basic bio, their likes, and many changed it up or updated it frequently. (Along with ever-present ‘away message’). Eventually everyone ended up on Facebook, but traffic to profiles, along with the effort put into them, started waning the day that News Feed was first introduced.

Somewhere along the way the engagement and interaction in the Feed became more frequent and more important than the profile. And while static profiles aren’t making a comeback, social media is certainly more about the self than ever before. Almost every user is a wannabe influencer or micro-influencer, a majority of individuals are cognizant of their online ‘brand as we enter 2020, carefully cultivating who they want to be and how they want to be perceived through their posts, their voice, their bio, and, yes, their profiles.

Where might this focus on the self go? It’s playing out right now with more people posting than ever, especially in Stories, and a platform like TikTok, which wants to invite every user to participate and seeks to make content creation easier for anyone. The emerging generation wants to cultivate their online presence, the platforms are meeting that desire, and we’re back to the future as users seek to develop and decorate their own place and persona on the Internet.

5.

If you’ve been on Facebook since the last decade, there’s a good chance your ‘network’ is a mix of family, old friends, new friends, and a handful of random people you met in the early ‘friend everyone’ phase or crossed paths with on a semester abroad or a recreational soccer league. It was a way to turn offline relationships into online.

Somewhere along the way, our actively engaged social networks mostly began to shrink, and the magic occurs more often turning an online relationship into one that includes physically paths as a sign of solidification. But as this decade ends, the old is becoming new again, in some subtle ways. We’re now seeking and using ways to spark those new relationships — that may start with a chance meeting because of a mutual interest or crossing paths (while out and about on social).

It’s playing out in dating apps and around gaming, but how can social media help foster the genesis and kindling of these new relationships? There could be a stronger intra-social movement to come within the communities that form around celebrities, TV shows, music, gamers, YouTubers, and certainly as strong as ever around sports teams. One of the most beautiful things that can happen in sports, whether on social media or at the game, is when true relationships form between individuals who were brought together because of the team. As a generation comes of age more accustomed to cultivating relationships via mobile device than real-life experiences, the ability for teams, leagues, brands, whomever to facilitate the formation of stronger connections will become integral.

6.

It was a long time ago, but it doesn’t feel that long ago when so many eschewed social media because “no one cares what I had for lunch today.” Well, a glance at many Instagram Stories will show otherwise. But it has certainly evolved over the last decade as photos gave way to video, to Live, GIFs, graphics, music, and the conglomeration of all those elements on TikTok.

But even as reality becomes more augmented and content more complex, there is another movement that is bringing back the value of raw. The extraordinary in the ordinary. Fans may enjoy some cool productions, but they also want to see something unedited, some unabashedly real. Studies have come out in the last year or so that have shown real photos and videos perform better for social media, whether organic or paid, than those that come off expertly produced. That’s not say we’re going back completely to raw and untrained video, but simply that it’s worth appreciating that there remains a desire for something real, too.

Regardless of how sophisticated technology and media gets, it seems there are still inherent tenets of communication, connection, and humanity that persist through it all. The cave paintings of prehistory are the emojis of today; the more things change, the more the big ideas remain the same. No one can say for sure what 2030 will look like, but there will be relationships, there will be art, and there will be stories.

Digital, General Marketing, Short Rants

What if Buying Tickets to Sports/Entertainment was more like Buying Plane Tickets?

Ever taken a flight on Ryanair? Or maybe you had an experience with easyJet? Heck, I just traveled on Alaska Airlines and had a not quite-as-extensive, but still opportunistic booking process – evaluating the need and value of each add-on. Reminiscing about the experience with the OG’s of $0 base airline tickets made me consider the effectiveness of the airline booking process and how it could fit into the present and future of sports marketing.

So, the question is – why shouldn’t attending a game be like booking a game experience comprised of its parts, why can’t getting a ticket to the game be like getting a ticket for your next flight?

Sportfan.001

First, a quick reminder of how an airline booking experience can go –

  • Search the dates for the trip
  • Find options with times that work, maybe check non-stop or allow layover
  • Maybe look for an airline for which one belongs to a loyalty program or one that is integrated with their credit card provider for rewards or money back
  • With those baseline factors put into one’s search – select the best bargain, the cheapest that meets the aforementioned needs. Done, right? Not even close…
  • Add more passengers – cheaper for kids sometimes! Or mark you’re flying solo
  • Add luggage allowances if necessary, and add that to the total
  • Select the type of experience – first class, business/premium class, economy being the typical options, but some get far more extensive.
  • Nope, still not done. Now you can pay a little more if you want to reserve a seat – maybe make sure you get the aisle or further up the section or the window
  • Make sure to buy the insurance, too, so you can rest easy should something come up to prevent you from traveling
  • For the most part, you’re done – but some may offer (or maybe should consider offering) pre-purchasing food/drinks for the flight, using a deal for transportation (whether public transportation, rideshare, etc.), or even add a hotel room

Still with me? Thanks, because I hope the wheels are turning for how this can be translated to sports – presenting a dirt cheap base price to get fans into the system and then letting them build their experience based on what’s meaningful and worth paying for to them. There is always some concern about adding steps and clicks – especially on mobile – before fans get to that coveted confirmation page, but as long as it flows quickly and is easy and organized on the eyes, fans will be glad to build their experience – making it feel personalized, too – and get what they’re willing to pay for.

So, let’s re-imagine what the fan experience can be like getting tickets for the next game.

  • Fans check out a game they want to attend (whether searching it, seeing an ad/email, visiting the team website) and see a not-so-scary base price, dynamically priced based on the opponent, day of week, time (it’s ok to tell fans it’s a premium game)
  • NOW, after the fan is already in the purchase flow and juuuuust a tiny bit invested, let them select their seats from those available, with the seats they choose either requiring $0 upgrade fee or a range of tiers. Fans can even select middle vs. aisle to meet their preference
  • What’s next in the order? It can go in any order (need some data to optimize), but let’s say next up is an opportunity to pre-order some merch and have it waiting at your seat or available for express pickup at a kiosk, so fans have a t-shirt, a rally towel, a scarf (for soccer), a beanie (or toque, for our Canadian friends), a jersey, a shirsey, etc. etc.
  • You’re booking an experience, not just entrance to a game, so why not take a look at the concessions offerings and, should you choose, pre-order something. Even schedule a time for pickup and get an alert or text to confirm it’s ready when you’re there at the game! If you’re in a premium section, maybe you get food delivery and you could even schedule your night’s food, so you get a beer and peanuts early in the game, a burger just before halftime, and a churro toward the end of the game for dessert.
  • Not sure what you want to buy at the game yet? That’s ok – another option to add to your baseline experience is to preload your ticket with in-venue currency, offered as part of your booking process for, let’s say, 90 cents on the dollar. Make a commitment to spend money at the game and save! Seems like a good deal to me if someone is planning on getting something anyway and could be enticed to commit for fear of missing out on a deal.
  • Wait, we’re not done! You gotta get there. Sure, you may not be thinking yet about how you’re getting to the game or maybe you’ll pull up Uber or Lyft or the Metro on game day. Or you can schedule an Uber (or whomever the transportation/ride-share partner is) and save a buck or two if you do it now as part of your game booking experience. Driving to the game? Great, pre-pay for parking and even get the option – if you’re willing to pay for it – to select/reserve a specific spot!
  • We’re almost there as our game day is coming together. So now, for those individuals that couldn’t live without pre-check TSA or have invested in Clear, for example, they can do the same on game day. Or maybe pay a few dollars more to enter into via pa priority gate. If fans value it enough, maybe they’ll go for it.
  • Alright, we’re getting to a lot of steps here (this is a work in progress, clearly, as I’ve conceded!), but since we have your attention and we darn well hope you intend to finish this off and attend the game, we have some more partners that want to hook you up on game day – how about a coupon for 2-for-1 Dunkin Donuts coffee to fuel up the morning of game day? Or even save digital coupons to your app that have a chance to be activated at the game if the team meets ‘x’ threshold.
  • You are now all set! But, just before you go, we could offer you insurance (a la the airline, but not as keen on this one), so let’s show you some ‘experiences’ you can add to your game day. For a small fee, you can get access to the premium lounge throughout the game, or get a locker room tour before the game, a mascot meet-and-greet after the game, a chance to take part in a game, attend a post-game concert or movie screening, pre-purchase a 50-50 ticket, meet the announcers at halftime, etc. etc.

My verbosity may be making this seem too tedious and we’d lose more fans in the process, but this isn’t an article meant to proscribe, it’s meant to make us think. If fans are feeling priced out, let’s not scare them off and let them start with an economy option. It could be scary for fans to watch their [digital] wallet empty as they see what a full game day expenditure looks like all purchased in advance – as opposed to a slower drip on game day – or it could help fans better understand what a full game day experience can entail and why certain package cost what they do while helping one tailor their experience and feel like they’re getting exactly what they intend to pay for.

A common refrain talks about 50,000 fans at a game having 50,000 uber-personalized experiences. I’m not sure we’ll get there (or even want to get there) anytime too soon, but the more fans can feel like they’re in control, the more teams can expose fans in the moment to additional offerings to increase per caps, the more casual fans can at least find themselves getting started in the purchase process enticed by the low get-in price, the more transparent and tailored this can all become. There’s always the possibility of providing pre-set ‘bundles’ and experiences, too – much like we see today with family packs, student packages, and the like.

As our world becomes increasingly a la carte (can you count the number of subscription services you’re billed for each month?), fans and consumers are becoming more cognizant of exactly what they’re paying for. Fans (and, as the so-called experts say, Millennials) are willing to pay for experiences, so let’s consider learning something from the Spirit Airlines of the world and create a fully integrated purchasing experience that lets fans buy exactly what they want and know exactly what they’re paying for.

Digital, Short Rants, Social Media, Social Media ROI

Digging Deeper in Digital and Social Media in Sports in 2019

A year older, a year smarter.

That’s the mantra to which we all try to hold ourselves accountable. And we’ve seen this play out over the years in the dynamic field of digital and social media in sports, which often changes by the day, let alone the season and the year. We started out with vanity metrics – followers, page likes – graduated to the nebulous term ‘engagement’ – clicks, likes, comments, shares, which also brought upon the even more nebulous ‘reach.’

And then the progress kind of, well, stopped. We didn’t sit on our hands during this interim, we were just overwhelmed by new platforms – mobile, Stories, GIFs, videos, looping videos, organic, promoted – and we pivoted to try and fit those well-worn metrics – reach and engagement – to these new forms of, well, reach and engagement.

But we can’t stop now. The digital and social space will continue accelerating at a breakneck pace – in 2019 and the years beyond, and the evolution – nee, the revolution – that has started to sprout, and must blossom in the months and year ahead is that of context. Asking more of the metrics – the ‘so what?’ and the youthful, inquisitive cycle this still-burgeoning ecosystem demands. In 2019, let’s go further and ask for a little of the following:

Context For Metrics

How do you evaluate performance? Maybe you look at gross engagements, views, reach – and then check the league rankings or the national or industry-wide averages. It’s time to question and clarify the context in 2019.

There’s no single prescription, but it’s also not a black and white equation where it makes sense for the league champion to have reach or net engagement rate equal to that of those at the bottom of the league. And yet doesn’t it make sense, the thinking would go, to compare teams with teams, schools with schools, etc., since it wouldn’t make sense to do more localized comparison? But one wouldn’t expect one of the local major pro teams to compare with other local businesses, or even other local major teams, which are in different leagues. So where does that leave context for our metrics?

data1

The best piece of advice I’ve been given numerous times on the podcast and in conversations is to benchmark against oneself. We may not know what it all means (more on that later) – the engagement, the reach – but the way the platforms performed today, all things being equal – should hopefully be better than yesterday.

But, uh oh, all things being equal. Again, we’re in need of more context. Was last month better than this month across metrics? It’s always more nuanced – were there more home games, more primetime games, exciting wins, blowout losses, uniform unveilings, breaking news, were there work holidays, etc. etc.? We’re getting to the point where a number of variables can be captured and accounted for, but even in the absence of such a data fire hose, we have to remember that context is key when evaluating performance. Oh, but what about performance – what does that mean? We’re just getting started…

Context For Results

So how’s your engagement rate? I hope it’s high. Higher is almost always better when it comes to these things. But is it? Well, it depends on the context.

Engagement[s] are often touted as a KPI in digital and social media in sports. But we all know that including an Instagram double-tap in the same equation as a Facebook share or a Twitter link click – well, that just doesn’t make sense. Yes, the more interactions – the more active your audience is, the better. It’s some proof there’s someone there on the other side – they hear, they see you. But Facebook comments don’t pay the bills.

Sure, there’s value in the increased reach, the bump via the algorithm, it’s increased awareness [all pub is good pub, yeah?], but seeking more context means looking at what comes next. That’ll leads us closer to the more tangible ROI we all seek.

Are these engaged fans, when isolated and targeted with ads, converting at a higher rate or spending more? Are these engagements resulting in revenue via ads or viewership of sponsored content? What did fans do after they clicked on the link?

data3

Think outside the box, too – are there new entries to this engaged audience (are new fans engaging with us in whatever way)? Are certain types of posts resulting in more new fans engaging for the first time?

Consider the sweepstakes — a common activation in the digital and social sports space, whether sponsored or in-house. Sweepstakes A was run on Facebook and got 2345 entries. Sweepstakes B was run on Twitter and received 3500 entries. Clearly Sweepstakes B was more successful. It’s not so simple – dig deeper.

Was 2400 of the 3500 entries in B simply retreads from a previous sweepstakes while A was 2000 names/emails your database didn’t have before? Was one sweepstakes for tickets to a game while the other was an exotic vacation? Did they both collect the same info? Did the sweepstakes for tickets add to a retargeting audience that later converted with sales? One can keep going. The good news, most of the time the answer exists in some data or in the engineering of the content or sweepstakes.

Thinking beyond the business results, though, is the way our content and platforms connect with fans.

Context For Content

Just a quick word on content, as it has become increasingly complex and overly clever, at times. And that’s not a bad thing.

But as we start to share the number of miles a player ran during the game or the speed of that pass, it means nothing to fans without context. Is it more or less compared to the player’s previous games? Is that faster than the average player in the league or on the team? How would the average person rate? It’s not just context for such advanced stats, though, it’s also being as clear as we are clever.

Look, for example, at team hash tags, some of which even bring up emojis when used on Twitter. Maybe they’re sayings, taglines, nicknames, mantras. Outside of the strategic use of hash tags to finish off a funny tweet, hash tags upon which one hopes to build a community and a brand should be celebrated and embraced. Make it easy for fans to do this (and some do), by adding context. What does this content mean, how does it look, why should fans rally around it, how does it reflect the team?

data2

The above example addressed a team slogan, but it can also apply to sponsor integrations. It’ll help brands if their ‘integration’ is a simple tag on Instagram. Give more context fans and it may just result in a better experience and outcome for all – why is the partner sponsoring this content (i.e. enabling it to be made for fans) and why is the team partnering with this brand? We’re all part of this unspoken agreement – sponsor pays team, team pays employees, employees produce content fans want and enjoy – and yet it’s often in the elephant in the room covered up phrases like ‘presented by’ or sometimes just random tagging on posts. It can be better in 2019.

*************************************************************************************

What this all comes down is the desire to dig deeper, to demand more from your digital and social data. There should be a method to the madness, a reason for making decisions and allocating time and resources. Embrace the inner little kid and ask questions ‘Why?’, ‘So what?’, and ‘And then what happens?’.

It’s always a good thing when one can articulate the reasons they do what they do. And digital and social requires, perhaps more than any other area, a depth of knowledge of the organization, and how the sausage gets made, because it’s the front line to fans, often the first and most frequent touch point.

Go beyond sports, too. Digital and social ultimately is about how individual people – interact on these platforms and why they do it. And, from there, why and how they want to interact with your content. Don’t fall back on trends and best practices; instead, study and consider the underlying reasons for the trends and what they say about interaction, engagement, and people.

Let 2019 be the year the next step is taken, when the meaning of the metrics matter more.

 

Content Marketing, Fan Development, Short Rants, Social Media

Shifting the Focus from Platforms to Fans in 2018

A year is far too long to reflect upon or to project these days. I mean, who are we kidding? Mediums and tech and data and attention spans and content delivery and consumption and fan preferences — they all change seemingly every day. So save your 365-day theses.

But one thing stays the same, regardless – the challenge persists. The challenge to keep up with the fans and the social networks, to keep up with your peers, and to keep up with the evolving business and revenue models.

2018: The Year Of ______

2017 was the Year of the Platform. The year we all read more official blogs from the social media big four (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat) than ever and stay tuned to TechCrunch and the Twitter feed of Matt Navarra (recommended follow) with watchful eyes. Almost every week saw new tweaks, new ways to create and present content, new forms of interaction and engagement, different ways to promote and target and advertise, and even new (and, usually, better) data at our fingertips.

But 2018 can be different. Sure, the challenge and the change won’t go anywhere, but instead of obsessing over it every day, shift that focus to the fan. If 2017 was the Year of the Platform, 2018 is shaping up to be the Year of the Fan.

Fans love to boast, but they love even more to post. They want those likes, they want to share something to the masses that conveys their love for the team to their friends and followers. And, in case you haven’t noticed, there are a lot of talented fans out there. So what does this mean? Empower them — with content, with opportunities and capabilities to create awesome content themselves. The gates are starting to fly open on the platforms to co-create content, and teams and their fans can benefit and produce mutually beneficial and beautiful content together.

But the expectations of fans are increasing, too; this is a good thing. They expect teams to know them and anticipate the type of product, content, offer, and service they want and need. One-to-one communication is becoming more important not just because fans are spending time on these platforms and services, but also because that level of intimacy and attention is the expectation. Teams, in turn, are starting to realize that creating a few amazing experiences yields a better net result than tons of mediocre ones. Individual engagement has long been underrated, but is growing.

And we can’t take such intimate fan attention for granted. Whether we know they’re watching our content or inside our mobile app or at our game — that attention is currency and needs to be respected. Could 2018 be the year when disruption at least starts to diminish as a monetization tactic? Fewer pop-ups and pre-rolls, no meddling with mid-rolls or banners, less insertion of display ads in-between and calling it a ‘native’ ad. To say that’s what is best for the fan is a specious argument, at best, and we can all strive to do better. Because, we have to….

Earn and Respect Fan Attention

It feels like the early movers are starting to understand this point as 2017 comes to a close — quality is better than quantity. It’s easier said than done, but teams must resist the temptation to go for the vanity metrics, the ones that give nice pretty charts at the end of the month and the bosses may like, and to demand better. Because it’s only a matter of time before the brand takes a dip, before fans come to expect sub-standard.

There are too many other choices for fans. Too many other sites or accounts or apps they can go to to get their fix of content related to the team/player/sport. The only way to keep fans seeking you out, to make sure they’re clicking on your Story or engaging with your post (and keeping you on the right end of the algorithm) is to deliver good content consistently. Every. Single. Time. Maybe you’re allowed a miss 1 out of 100 times, but you simply can’t take for granted that fans will keep tapping on your content day after day. Cut out the noise, the one-word posts, the ambiguous cheers during a game – make every piece of content matter.

It’s a powerful thing when fans seek out your content, when they look for your story or app or video when they’re killing time on their iPhone or Android. There has been a renewed vigor around owned audiences – fans whom you can reach without having to pay to promote, necessarily. In the Year of the Fan, focusing on building those owned fan communities, who habitually want to consume and share your content. But don’t forget they don’t all want the same experience….

 

Audiences Deserve Attention

The default answer to every question seems to be whichever reaches the most people. But the content and strategy that is most effective for this insular objective doesn’t always align with what’s best long-term. It may seem like a good idea to pepper out every offer on every channel because if one more person signs up or buys, it’s worth it. But does that seem to jive with putting the fan first?

The fan base is not a single persona and to think there is a magic bullet with each and every piece of content offer is not only naive, it’s irresponsible. It’s something easy to preach, but fewer practice. If fans expect teams to know them, teams have to study their fans — some want to attend games, some just want to watch videos; there are fans that want longform and fans that want X’s and O’s; fans looking for an affordable night out with the family and fans looking for a premium asset.

We’re starting to value relevance over reach, and that’s a winning formula for the fans. More of the kind of content and messaging they want in the form they want it. That sounds like good to me. Many tend to value engagement over reach, which seemed like an evolution. But engagement can be a broad term, and it’s past time the term gets the scrutiny it merits…

Meaningful Engagements

Teams and media are getting more skilled at the game of engagement – learning how to play the platforms to drive engagement rates, so the numbers stay high and rising, and their team can rise the social media ‘rankings.’ You know the usual list of metrics – likes, retweets, comments, video starts / video views, shares, and the list goes on.

But what if we started focusing less on the biggest numbers and more on the most meaningful in 2018? If a Snapchat or Instagram Story or a video is good, why shouldn’t completion be the goal? There’s no magic metric that can help compare one post or platform with another, no unanimous definition of success, but calling it a success that fans are seeing just the first frame of a story or first three seconds of a video is no doubt deceiving.

The winners at the end of the day may not be at the top of the weekly engagement leaderboards and they may not have the most video starts or likes, but we’ve all begun to not just appreciate, but practice, the notion that social media is a marathon not a sprint. Focus less on chasing vanity metrics and more on meaning – it’s not an impossible task. Track the leads coming from social media, close the identity loop of social media engagers and fans that spend or that interact with sponsors, and don’t treat the last touch point as the primary piece of monetizing a fan.

This is not a plea to forget about the so-called vanity metrics nor is it about doing away with so-called ‘shallow’ engagement — fans wouldn’t tap or click if they didn’t want to — but it’s not being married to those metrics, and realizing that meaningful engagement, well, means more. It goes back to that quality > quantity conundrum. It’s why those with the talent to produce quality day after day are now valued and needed more than ever before…

Create Awesome Content

The best social media managers in sports are either equipped with amazing design and video production skills, or they’re friends with those in the organization that are. From the smallest college athletics programs and minor league teams to the biggest pro and college teams in the world, the bar is as high as ever for content. But it doesn’t mean every piece of content needs to be a masterpiece.

There is also a great deal of value in consistency and well-executed content, two factors that are coming on strong as the calendar flips to 2018. When fans can recognize your content from a mile away (or scrolling at a million miles/hour], that’s brand strength. And when content doesn’t feel like it was repurposed from another platform and another box was checked to throw it on this social network or that one, that’s the right way to do things. It all takes time, it takes effort. But if we all start to accept the quality>quantity notion, it all starts to make more sense.

 

 

We may be immersed in a world of wins and losses, but it’s not so simple in social media. Instead of being obsessed with the game, obsess over the fans instead – what they want, what they value, what they bring to the table. Don’t just preach fan-first, practice it. Let that sense of thoughtfulness and value go into every campaign, every piece of content, every post. 2018 can be the Year of the Fan, at last.

 

Short Rants, Social Media

Four Ways to Stay in Touch With Fan Engagement and Social Media Trends

Working in sports and entertainment means adopting a constantly inquisitive mindset. Especially for those focusing on fan engagement, it quickly becomes second-nature to never stop studying.

It is so important to always remember that everything you do is for the fans. It’s not about what you want and like, it’s about what’s best for the fans, how they consume, and what they want and like.

The good news is that the world is a wide open classroom. So take advantage of it. Here are some things I do to study fans.

I observe

Anyone who has seen me at a sports event knows I’m a bit of a rubbernecker. I’m stealing glances and peering over shoulders. I’m not creepily eavesdropping on someone’s text conversation or what they’re writing in their Snapchat message. I am merely looking at – what are fans doing? Are they snapping pictures (and using their camera, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat)? Are they messaging friends via text message, Messenger, or something else? Are they scrolling through one of their feeds, looking up something on the mobile web, looking at a team or ticket app?

Sure, you can scope out studies and surveys, but nothing beats observing fans in the wild.

4wys

I Ask

The best way to learn is to ask questions. I may get annoying with it sometimes, but I pick the brains of everyone I encounter – friends, family [from young cousins to siblings to aunts and uncles], and fans at sports events/games. Which social platforms do they spend time on and for what purpose? How and where do they engage with their favorite sports teams? What are they doing during a game? Where will they post and actually engage? How do they decide to go to a game and how do they go about getting tickets? Who do they go with? Don’t treat it like the Spanish Inquisition, but most friends and family are happy to indulge my interest in information.

Experience What Fans Do

If it’s been a while since the last time you attended a game or event as a ‘normal’ fan, that should change. Know what it’s like to purchase tickets, research security policies, sit in traffic, find parking, battle the ingress, wait in the security line, find your seats, use the bathroom, explore and buy concessions, And, yeah, the actual game. The reality is that working in sports means arriving much earlier and leaving much after fans, and the in-game experience hardly resemble that of a ‘normal’ fan. Not only that, you can learn a lot from attending other sports events – from the entertainment, the sponsor activations, the marketing, the production, the promotions. Be an active student of sports and fan experience.

Experience What Your Fans Do on Digital and Social

When you live as an admin on social media, it can be easy to lose sight of the traditional fan experience. Knowing how your post looks in the feed amongst those of friends, family, and other brands, teams, and media outlets. Is your video thumbnail and copy eye-catching, is your graphic thumb-stopping, does clicking that link inside the Facebook app or swiping up in that Instagram Story deliver a good user experience? What about visiting your website – if you wanted to buy tickets, how easy is it to do? Are there programs and promotions you live and breathe daily, but a fan may not even know about, that your digital and social platforms do a sufficient job to make fans aware of and informed about? Step into a fans’ shoes daily and consume your content, click your links, watch your videos, and be honest with the perception, the visual, the brand, and the experience.

It’s easy to get caught in the trap of living on one side of the wall and forgetting what it’s like to be a normal fan. But there are opportunities to learn every day. take advantage of every one of them and develop a sense of intuition that remains true to the fan experience in reality. Try to walk a mile in their shoes every day or see things through their eyes. Become and expert in empathy and never stop being a student of the game.

Content Marketing, Fan Development, Short Rants, Social Media, Sports Media, Sports Technology, Streaming and Video

Scoping The Digital and Social Media Master’s Scorecard Heading into Sunday

It’s a tradition unlike any other (trademarked!), a rite of passing into spring, and the singular sports event that melds March Madness into NBA and NHL playoffs — The Master’s Tournament. While tradition reigns at Augusta National, social media has become an indispensable part of the fan experience in sports.

The Master’s has millions of followers across social platforms, along with plenty of TV coverage, and a website and mobile app. Many would say the game of golf was slow to evolve, but the social media team at The Master’s does their best to keep up with the latest and greatest.

Here’s a look at the 2016 round:

Par: Video highlights on Facebook and Twitter

longvideo   themasters_shortvideo

It’s pretty much a no-brainer, now, to provide video on social media of sports’ big events. Gone are the days when official brands thought such content undermined the networks’ media rights and cannibalize viewership. Now, it’s embraced. But the best stuff for social is, simply that…the best and most share-worthy. The snackable and mobile.

Birdie: Short, significant videos

We know video is king for content, but, as the metrics show, it’s those magic moments that matter most. And get the most views, the most shares, and the most earned media. Social media, an increasingly mobile medium, is a place for quick consumption; fuel for the next Snap, text, or Tweet. It’s easier and more likely a fan will completely consume and share a sweet snippet than a four minute package. The Master’s could’ve and should’ve done more than this throughout the rounds.

 

themasters_shortvideo2  shortvideo

 

Bogey: Instagram is about emotion and inspiration. Beauty and brand. The Master’s did a lot of good on Instagram (more on that), but this attempt at a fan’s eye view does little but display the blue sky. Contrasted with the close-ups and constructed masterpieces elsewhere from Augusta and on the Master’s feed, it becomes clear why this and similar Instagram posts received less engagement than others.

themasters_IG-Nogood.PNG

 

Eagle: Emotion and beauty on Instagram is awesome.

This is how you get someone to stop scrolling. This is how you let an image tell a story — in the case below of a determined Jordan Spieth. These Instagram posts evoke emotion and thought, a visceral reaction. If an Instagram feed doesn’t stir in some way, it’s probably time to re-craft content.

themasters_IG-good  themasters_IG-good2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Par: A website made for mobile, highly visual, but lacking in volume of video and social media.

The Master’s website, which greets users with a video and (classic Master’s) music background splash page, is made for the mobile user. It has a side menu, quick buttons to watch and track the scores and action, and an endless scroll over highly visual story links. However, video is not very salient or featured, nor is there any integration of real-time social media content and commentary. In fact, there is no links to, nor promotion of, any of the Master’s social media outlets on this website. There is a ‘favorite’ star, presumably for personalization, but no clear call to action, let alone any attempt at data capture.

themasters_website

 

Bogey: Sharing links all over their Facebook page.

It’s no secret the Facebook algorithm isn’t friendly to shared links. The platform is optimized for content consumption natively. Content gets far more reach when there are videos and photos, with links in the description or text of the post for fans that want more. There is a place for shared links, but it’s ok to embrace content consumption, reach, and earned media on social during the big event. It will result in more net traffic and search in the long run, most likely, anyway.

themasters_sharedlink

Double bogey: No live content and no Snapchat presence

If 2016 has revealed any “new” trends, it is that any major sports event should be maximizing and capitalizing upon live content and garnering millions of views of related Snapchat stories. Not only is there no Snapchat presence at all, The Master’s has also yet to do anything with Periscope nor Facebook Live (which would be huge, given golf’s international reach). While content rights may blur the picture, there is no doubt ample opportunity to engage fans with live content beyond the links — interviews with players after their course, walking the course and the  grounds, seeing the preparation of the players, the tees, the dinners, the jacket, and talking to some of the legions of legends at Augusta. CBS will get a lot of viewers (skewing in the older demographic) of its TV coverage and The Master’s streaming on its website and its app will get a decent share, but the Master’s is surely wasting strokes not getting out to social media networks with more live content – to viewers not watching on TV and to viewers who ARE watching the hole-by-hole coverage, looking for a second screen amidst the leisurely pace of the game.

Par: Excellent app and but little promotion of it.

The Master’s App is a tour de force. It has reams of streaming live video (for the US only), highlights, and in-depth course stats and coverage. It is also a great brand activation for IBM Sports, which powers the intelligence and data that lies within the app, which is also compatible with tablet, smart watch, and Android. But, outside of some of the broadcast reads, promotion of the app is few and far between. Little to no social media mentions of its app, no incentive to download, no static presence promoting it on the website or social media bios and pinned posts of The Master’s, and, as a result, likely a lot fewer downloads than there would be otherwise. The app is a beautiful, straight shot up the fairway, that helps save par, but they fail to hit the hole with precision by not getting the word out there to fans craving a mobile companion.

themasters-app2  themasters-app3themasters-app1

Bogey: No engagement

Looking across the social media presence for The Master’s, it appears social is merely an additional broadcast medium, a one-way conversation. On Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, et al., there is virtually zero interaction with fans, no active listening, no retweeting of celebs and star athletes chiming in, golf alumni getting in on the chatter, and fans expressing emotion, joy, and disbelief at the drama playing out on the hallowed holes of Augusta National. Not only does this prevent The Master;s from surfacing and amplifying some of the best content, it also chills the potential to further fuel the fire and fans to post more, to spread the word, and to start conversations around the tournament, the content, and the stories. It is becoming a tired cliche, but one that plays out all too often — we cannot forget the *social* part of social media.

Par: Story-telling

By Master’s Sunday, the story lines are set. The leaderboard is peppered with players that all represent stories for fans to follow and for reporters to write about. The Master’s, as is the case with much major media nowadays, doesn’t wait for the traditional writers to set the stories – they frame the leaderboard, and the conversations around the players at the tip –  themselves. A set of names with minus numbers next to them becomes a collection of stories that give fans a reason to care. Why is this merely a par and not a better shot? Identifying the stories and letting reporters run with the good stuff is only half the battle. Social media allows The Master’s to not rely on merely the media, but to create compelling content themselves – with little to no effort. The potential is even greater if working with the brands affiliated with these tournament pros. A story about Matsuyama’s quest for glory for Japan can come alive with a simple photo or video from the Far East nation, or Matsuyama playing as a kid there, or a magical moment when he won a medal at The World University Games for Japan in 2011. Throw back a photo or video of the 58 year-old Bernard Langer, back from his Master’s wins decades ago, to progress the story, while giving fans great content to share and consume. Identifying the stories is the recipe — then it’s time to cook and make a great feast, complete with snacks and meals, all setting up for the big show on Master’s Sunday.

themasters-story1  themasters-story2

themasters-story3‘

So here we are on Master’s Sunday. A green jacket will be awarded, history will be written, and an emotional roller coaster will play out live across a plethora of platforms, spanning generations of fans. The game may not have changed much in the 80+ years that The Master’s Tournament has been played, but the amount of content and coverage is greater than ever. We love the low prices that remain at The Master’s concessions stands, but not all things are meant to stay the same.

It’s a new era and new paradigm for sports, media, fans, and social media. And the conscious caddie can see The Master’s is making some good shots, but may need a few more progress beyond par. Then, the tradition unlike any other can live up to its legend.

Enjoy Master’s Sunday!

 

Content Marketing, Fan Development, Short Rants, Social Media, Uncategorized

How Social Media is Converging and What it Means

It was all about visuals one year. Then video and mobile. Stickers and filters, which were first popular with Line and WeChat, are all the rage now. Other words that can reasonably fill the blank in 2016 in social media and sports will be the year of _____, include real-time, community, location, user-generated content, messaging, and influencers.

And, upon close inspection, several social networks are all beginning to converge around the same features and themes as networks seek to capture attention, engagement, and, ultimately, advertising dollars and consumer data. It’s not about adopting and mastering one emerging trend after another. There are certain underlying principles guiding innovation and the convergence of all these competing social platforms. Here are a few that can inform a solid strategy in fan engagement in social media and sports:

  1. Fans are telling stories. Help them do this even better.
    Whether they’re sending Snaps, on messenger or texting, post that perfect pic to Facebook or Instagrams, or Tweeting and retweeting all day, fans are sharing info, telling stories to their friends, family, and followers. This is not an opportunity to interject, but is an opportunity to amplify and enhance those stories.

    This is one example of convergence — the difference ways to dress up a picture across platforms, so fans can be hopeful their posts will get those coveted likes. In turn, the teams (and, often, brands) get valuable user-generated content, that are increasingly being amplified through various means by the team (on the video board, through retweets and regrams, and inclusion in a Snapchat story). Spitballing, but safe to say at least 7 out of 10 fans focused on their phones during a game are engaged in some form of communication — messaging, posting content, or even Periscope-ing! — instead of interrupting, enhance and amplify. Any platform, increasingly so, will do.

  2. Leverage the power of community. Fans want to feel part of something greater than themselves.
    Always remember the social part of social media. When fans feel connected to the greater community, the positive feedback and strength of connection to the team is greatly enhanced. Social networks’ increased focus on leveraging local – from geofilters and live streams to Snapchat stories and different kinds of curated sports hubs on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Not to mention the likes of Postano, Tagboard, and other aggregators / visualizers.

    And here we end up in a cadre of convergence with social media platforms again. With hashtags, hubs, and location-savvy enhancements, the desire to be, and ability to feel, part of a community of like-minded fans and individuals is as strong as ever and as facilitated as ever through social media [whether all at the same place or all engaging digitally at the same time]. By leveraging hashtags, graphics, video, photo, filters, on-site photo opps, and more, each social platform presents a possibility to cultivate community. Turning a collection fans into a fortified flock.

  3. Let fans help tell your story.
    There are teams and brands out there creating incredible content day in and day out. But there are even more fans out there creating their own impressive pieces of content, backed up my the added authenticity at the root of user-generated content. It not only helps bring in talent that would normally cost times, resources, and budget, but embracing fan-generated content helps make fans stars of the show, at times. Fans can often a raw, genuine perspective that can be better, or least different, from that what teams routinely produce.
    The culture of convergence in social media is very much attuned to this idea and teams are starting to embrace it more and more. Snapchat stories and Twitter timelines are increasingly filling with great stuff from fans. Takeovers from fan-sourced content or with influencers are increasingly the trend, regardless of platform. As live streaming video grows, too, we may see some fan-cams coming in to offer a unique (and improving, quality-wise) perspective, let alone what the growth of streaming VR could mean. Your fans are talented, they want to help spread your story, they have passion and authenticity, and they are at your games and events, in perfect position to enhance content and coverage on any platform. It’ll even help give that localized, real-time community feel referenced previously. There goes that unity of motifs, again.

 

At the end of the day, it’s not so much that social networks are running out of ideas and just copying each other. It’s learning more about how fans want to communicate and how they want to consume and create content. But, as quickly as the mediums and platforms change and evolve, the principles remain firmly entrenched, no matter the social network. Create community. Help tell and create stories. Be present. Amplify. We may not be able to predict the next flavor of the week feature or network, but rest assured a good story will remain a good story.

An example from the Buffalo Sabres that helped fuel this post:

sabres-snaps

 

Posted by Neil Horowitz Follow me on Twitter @njh287   Connect on LinkedIn