Sports Venues – Page 3 – Digital and Social Media Sports

Analytics and Data, Content Marketing, Digital, Fan Development, General Marketing, General Sports Business, Mobile, Social Media, Social Media ROI, Sports Media, Sports Technology, Sports Venues, Streaming and Video

4 Years of the Digital and Social Media Sports Podcast: Key Lessons from the SMSports Pros, Part 8

The more I look back on four years and 100+ episodes of the Digital and Social Media Sport Podcast, the more I appreciate how lucky I’ve been to connect with so many incredibly bright, generous, talented individuals that work in this space. It’s an awesome community, and so I hope to give back just a little by continuing to summarize some of the best insights I’ve gleaned over the years and the chats. This is part 8.

See part 1 here, part 2 here, part 3 here, part 4 here, part 5 here, part 6 here, part 7 here, and stay tuned for more!

Defining fan cohorts can be instrumental to effective strategy
Many are wise enough now to realize that generalizations about large swaths of people like Millennials are often foolhardy, if not irresponsible. But it doesn’t mean recognizing common traits among your fans to better create and position content and marketing doesn’t matter. Because not all fan or customer bases are created equally. There are different reasons they come to you, different motivations and interests. This was clearly spelled out in an enlightening interview with Kurt Stadelman of EA Sports, who laid out the ideas behind the way they create content and marketing, looking at a few well-defined cohorts the company targets and serves. This is not just a good concept for EA Sports, but can be applied to anyone in social media and sports, evaluating the cohorts amongst their fans.
Traditional PR still matters for sports businesses
As much as we recognize the value of what happens on digital and social media, there is something to traditional media, particularly linear TV, that establishes legitimacy, even if greater reach can be achieved on digital platforms. You know something has made it when it hits a TV broadcast or show, and it’s still a coveted platform to reach fans and consumers. It’s something important to keep in mind, even as it diminishes, and was a key insight from a chat with SportTechie’s Diamond Leung.
Driving sales on social is not just posting links and Buy Now CTA’s
News flash: the majority of ticket sales do not happen on or from social media. But there are a lot of fans on social media that will buy tickets. It has been a motif in many interviews I’ve had over the years, and that is the notion of how social media is used best – as a tool to drive interest in the team and the games – not as a tool to post endless sales messaging and glorified ads. There is something to be said for making ticket sales a single click away, to eliminate friction, but too often the expectation that the path from social media engagement to purchase is linear, and downright irresponsible to think more sales will come from posting more sales messages. Create that makes fans excited about the game and the team and the atmosphere and the giveaways – and they’ll buy tickets, with or without you posting that daily link.
Social should be relevant for fans everywhere
Fitting in the category of good problems to have, several social media and sports pros face the challenge and the opportunity of engaging fans that live within minutes of the stadium or arena or track, and fans that live in another state, country, or continent and who may never attend a game. While social media is becoming more localized, which is another subject altogether, it remains a charge of the pros to create content everyone can enjoy and to make everybody feel like they can be close to the team and part of the community. How are you relevant to fans next door? How are you relevant to the fan miles away? Ones at the game and not at the game? Important questions to consider.
Learn from what doesn’t work as much as you learn from what does
It’s natural to celebrate the social media successes, the posts you circle, screenshot, and showcase. The ones that get engagement rates worth talking about. But not every idea is a winner, nor should it be. Experimenting and failing is part of the game when trying to innovate. And a key insight I’ve picked up over some conversations with smart people is to pick out the failures, and learn from them. Was it the way content or the idea was presented, a player or type of content not getting love, a time of day that never seems to work well, or whatever it may be. It’s often said to do more of what works and less of what doesn’t. But the first step is identifying and learning from both sides of the coin.
Show up for the moments
So much of success in social media can be speed, but more importantly it’s about being ready at the right time, when emotions are flying, to deliver. Anticipate the moments and prepare for them – visualize, game plan, imagine the perfect scenario unfolding and what you would have at the ready for it. Consider all angles and goals, all creative and platforms, and all the PR-minded and marketing considerations to take into account. It’s not easy to be ready for the moments, but the best consistently are.
There is value in reaching a unique, coveted audience
We’re all often chasing the highest number in the most efficient manner. There’s nothing particularly wrong with that. But it gets more strategic when you think about the actual audience you’re engaging and if it’s right and, therefore, the best use of resources. Not every platform is the next big thing, but any platform that gets an engaged, considerable user base is worth evaluating to determine if the users there right for you. Everyone is chasing the same thing – attention – but not everybody covets the attention of each audience equally. This is a key consideration, I’ve learned from many, when looking at where to spend time and resources in an increasingly crowded social and digital world.
Learn from outside sports
It’s easy to get immersed in sports – the daily routine, the fact that most of your own feed and network is all about sports. But there’s a lot of smart, innovative stuff happening outside sports on social media, as well as a treasure chest of lessons to learn. It may be a new way to use a platform, a clever engagement technique, a marketing campaign that is driving good results, eye-catching creative, and so much more. The best in social media are constantly learning, on the hunt for knowledge and ideas and insight. You can never stop being a student of social media – in and out of sports.
Understand the sponsor’s goals when creating sponsored content
A lot of stories start with sponsor deals that call for “x” number of social media posts. But, thankfully, much has evolved since then, sponsor teams are now working more in tandem with social to assure better content for the fans and, just as importantly, the sponsors. But it’s not just about a creative play on words or a branded top play. The best truly understand what the sponsor is looking to accomplish, what their digital and social strategy and is like, and what success will look like to them. Doing social media sponsorship means being a student and doing the homework of researching and understanding the partner, and then thinking about what their objectives and how to drive metrics to accomplish them.
Relationships, relationships, relationships
It’s no surprise that the topic of relationship building – what networking should be about – has been a common motif over the years on the podcast. I am particularly struck by those that seek relationships an relationship-building opportunities, whether in-person or via social channels, especially for the more timid. The hardest part is just doing it – and you’ll find, much like how I get generous people to come on the podcast, most pros in this space, this community, are open and eager to help. But the best relationships, too, are not about taking. Don’t always network with ulterior motives, meet smart and cool people in your space, learn from them and let them learn from you, and make relationships with people that would call you for coffee if they were in town. You’ll always get further with people than with business cards.

The value of ‘accidental’ exposure

While it’s always important to engage your avid fans, there’s certainly value with those moments or that content, which reach beyond – to the casual fan that may take notice and begin a journey on a spectrum to increasing interest and avidity. It is a goal on the minds of social media pros – not the only goal, but certainly one of them. Some call it virality, but it’s more about finding content that’ll make someone say wow, make someone feel the need to share it or tell a friend about it, and make someone want to come back and sample some more. It can also go to another magnitude when an influencer, or at least someone with a large reach, shares your content. It’s always welcomed, but can’t be expected to achieve great levels of accidental exposure. But you can certainly tip the scales in your favor.

Analytics and Data, Content Marketing, Digital, Fan Development, Social Media, Social Media ROI, Sponsorships, Sports Technology, Sports Venues, Streaming and Video, Uncategorized

4 Years of the Digital and Social Media Sports Podcast: Key Lessons from the SMSports Pros, Part 6

The insights and knowledge kept coming from some generous, smart people I’ve had the privilege of speaking with over four years and 100 episodes of the Digital Social Media Sports Podcast. Therefore, I continue my retrospective, trying to distill some of the key insights gleaned from all these intelligent social media and sports pros.

See part 1 here, part 2 here, part 3 here, part 4 here, part 5 here, and stay tuned for more!

Stand out and know what makes you different
Teams always resonate with their diehard fans. For them, the team is part of their identity. And the job of the social media and sports world is to convey that brand to others, to make them want to be part of the community, too. Teams and brands and universities want to have a well-understood message – so it is through visuals, video, voice, and content that the message can be carried and activated. This comes up again and again, as social channels are oftentimes the front porch.
OTT will dramatically alter the monetization structure in sports media
OTT, over-the-top, is quickly penetrating live sports across the board and, with it, will come evolution in how it’s all monetized. Consumers are willing to pay for content, that is, to pay for it in lieu of sitting through ads – commercials, pre-rolls, mid-rolls, surveys, and pop-ups. Some prefer the ads, and when it’s via OTT, the ads can be increasingly personalized, actionable, targeted, and measurable. And there may be so many hybrids and price points and restrictions and security questions and, well, this world is going to change quickly. It has been interesting to get a taste of it from the podcast over the years, most poignantly when I spoke with EverSport Media’s Wayne Sieve.
Be aware of everything going on in the organization
Social media has never truly ‘fit’ into a single department. That social media touches every part of the organization, and can help it, has been a motif over the years, and one that must not just be appreciated, but acted upon. It means intra-communication is essential, conveying the how and the why and the ‘ROI,’ and the social media person truly understanding the goals and mechanisms of the others. The social media pro may have more knowledge than any of everything the team or organization is doing, when done right. Go to lunches, establish a regular meeting, walk in doors, ask questions, give ideas, and always be listening and sharing.
Get messaging across through content
There’s a lot of messaging organizations want to get across through social media. But the bar for fan attention is high, and it takes strong content. The good news is that quality content and content that resonates with messaging is not mutually exclusive. This came out in several conversations over the year, but really stood out when I spoke with Chris Dion, who heads up social media for the NCAA Championships and Alliances, focusing a lot on March Madness that drives a lot of the content, coupled with the messaging the NCAA wants to get across. When you know what the organization stands for after consuming content you enjoy, that’s a sweet spot for many a social media and sports pro.
Build measurable goals
Social media and sports grows more strategic by the day and for it to get the credibility and investment it merits, goals must be set and reached. There are plenty of less tangible benefits, but it’s key to measure success in some, well, measurable way. Then reverse-engineer the path to getting there, and develop content and campaigns and tactics that’ll fuel those goals. Social media is a series of moments and content pieces that make up a season – when you have a clear destination in mind, it can really increase the precision and purpose of the posts.
Content can be marketing and marketing can be content
There are measurable goals and there are emotions, steps, and pathways that lead fans those goals. Social media is a long game. Sure, last touch can happen on social, but the best, I’ve come to learn, create content that also taps into an emotion that leads fans to want to sign up, to buy, to attend, to share. Content about the team, about the fans, about the game need not contain a direct sales message; it merely gets fans excited about it all, strengthening ties, while leading to revenue-producing results in the end. It’s an evolution, still, but many social media pros now have the trust of the business and marketing and sales team to deliver a meaningful message that’ll ultimately affect the bottom line more.
We don’t want to be first, we want to be right
It can be so tempting to be the early mover. To get noticed and perhaps written about because you were on a new platform or using a new technology before your peers. But a consistent piece of wisdom that the pros have stated in interviews with me is the need to learn about a platform, watch others use it, see what works, and evaluate if it’s a fit for the team or league or brand from a goals and resources perspective. Some take great pride in being first, many others (even if they’re first in sports), are constantly observing, taking notes, and understanding the platform before jumping on it haphazardly.
Micro conversions can be just as important as traditional conversions
The term ‘conversion’ typically stands for the ultimate goal of any campaign, the success in the equation that determines ROI. But while most conversions end with an exchange – of money or information, we can go so much deeper now and track and achieve so many smaller conversions on the way to the big one. The pros that have lived in the social space get it, and it came out quite a bit that the pathways are not leaps from 1 to 2, but from 1 to 1a to 1b and so on. Seek micro-conversions every day and understand the pathways that can lead to the big conversions. This can and does play out in social media every day.
The brand and voice of your content affects who wants to work with you
This was a unique insight that has come up quite a bit, but was particularly prominent in part of my conversation with Jamie O’Grady, then of the Cauldron (which is no longer around), a sports site built on crowd-sourced and professional and even active athlete writers. But, oh boy, does it apply across the board. Every single social media post, every insertion of voice, of personality, of wit and snark, all builds a brand and perception that can not only affect how fans feel about you, but also, not insignificantly, the corporate partners that want to work with you. So while your fire content, engagement-inducing voice, and epic trolling may win on social media, one must always be aware of the bigger picture, for better or worse.
Social media can level the playing field
Take away the handle or the Page name, the logos and the names, and put social media content and creative side-by-side and all of a sudden it becomes much more difficult the big brands from the small ones, the minors from the pros. Whether battling with other college athletics programs or bigger pro teams, one of the best insights that has come out in several conversations has been the idea that anyone can look big-time on social media, with just a little effort into how they present themselves there through their content. A polish on a graphic, a great use of live, a sweet GIF – social media has nothing of a Power Five factor; anybody can win.
Nothing you put out should ever be by chance
These days, the importance and value of social media – the eyeballs and the engagement, among other factors – is well-acknowledged and accepted. And, with this power comes opportunity and responsibility. The top social media and sports pros appreciate and understand this value and know that every detail with their content and presentation can, does, and should matter. Whether it’s making sure a photo or video is grabbed with a sponsor billboard salient in the background, taking a pic from the right angle so no empty seats are visible, or making sure a quote being posted can’t be misconstrued – there are so many intentional decisions made with every post, every day.

Know the goals of your internal clients

Because social media can amplify everything all parts of an organization are doing, it becomes helpful to sometimes think of coworkers leading each department as clients – what will help them achieve what they’re trying to do? This can be a challenge, at times, when social media pros are measured on their raw numbers and engagement rates and reach, but the best are walking in doors and understanding how others envision success in their roles. This not only builds trust, but fosters a more welcomed, trusting relationship, which ultimately ends up in better content, crafted by the social media pro, and better results. I’ve often stated, and heard through interviews, that nobody understands the ins and outs of an organization better than the head of social media. They have to, because social touches everything.

Fan Development, Sponsorships, Sports Media, Sports Venues

A Sports Biz Trip Around a Somerset Patriots Game

Check out a trip around a Somerset Patriots baseball game (of the independent Atlantic League), from a sports biz lens. There is always a lot to see and learn, especially for an independent league ballgame, which must put fan experience and partner integration above all!

Photos of sports biz, Sponsorships, Sports Venues

A Sports Biz Look at a LA Galaxy Home Game at StubHub Center

Come along and check out the sights, the sounds, the brands, the activation, the entertainment, and the promotions — all at a LA Galaxy home game at StubHub Center in June 2017.

Photos of sports biz, Sports Venues

A Sports Biz Look at a LA Dodgers Game

Come along on a sports biz-minded trip around Dodger Stadium for a Dodgers-Cubs game in May 2017.

Fan Development, General Marketing, General Sports Business, Sponsorships, Sports Venues, Uncategorized

Review of Los Angeles Lakers Game Sponsorship and Content

The LA Lakers have one of the strongest, most storied teams in professional sports. With a brand that transcends their sport, brand association is no doubt a valuable proposition for corporate partners. While the Lakers have their share of activations on game night, it is clear this partnership association holds the most value, thereby lending credibility to more traditional, less active approaches.

I attended a game on January 31, 2017, and here is a brief look around at marketing, engagement, and sponsorship elements that caught my eye.

Upon arriving at Staples Center, walking through LA Live, one can see Lakers wraps to show that, tonight, Staples (also the home of the LA Clippers, LA Sparks, and LA Kings) is home to the Lakers. Lines to get in through security were slow and long (~ 25 minute wait; issues with ingress is real. Egress would be far easier). Like the wraps, the ‘Team LA’ store is full of Lakers merchandise, while ticket tables are peppered throughout the concourse and the floor and dasherboards are adjusted to Lakers. Notably, Lakers.com was the main digital property promoted, as opposed to any social media, in addition.

Throughout the game and between game play, the eyes are constantly drawn to the Staples Center video board, and the Lakers content and eye-catching graphics. The Lakers know where much of the attention is going and show their sponsor messages in that line of vision. It’s not a lot of ‘presented by’ elements or integration, but organic content and graphics to attract/earn the attention, while also borrowing some attention for sponsor messaging.

This is not to say there isn’t room for more active sponsorships and more elements that can organically tie in a partner, while providing value for fans. But instead of the Toyota Halftime Highlights, it’s just Halftime Highlights. Similarly with other on-screen elements and fan engagement features like the ‘Bubble Cam,’ Kiss Cam, Dance Cam, and more.

While there were fewer booths and activations of any sort overall at the Lakers game version of Staples Center than the Clippers’s version I attended weeks earlier, there were will some effective sponsor activations around. These were all, notably, on the first floor, whereas the Clippers had some on the upper levels, as well. There was a Verizon-branded activity (shooting for basketball games, changes for hockey games and concerts) that was popular, even during the game. The Los Angeles Times was also giving away t-shirts to market their newspaper subscriptions.

The most memorable and unique activation was the StubHub memento maker. Fans could sign up with name/phone number/email, get their photo taken, and then customize an image to be printed on the spot and shared digitally. A fun and creative way to get some shareable content and a commemorative ticket lanyard to wear it around. An excellent and effective activation.

The Lakers also had their own data capture activation, with an enter-to-win VIP tickets to a game/event. These digital sweepstakes are active for every Staples Center event. There were also a few ticket sales tables peppered throughout.

While there were not a lot of directly sponsored elements in-game, there was one late in the game as the Lakers sought to close out their victory. In the fourth quarter, the scoreboard exhorted fans to Make Some Noise. Jack In The Box is a fixture late in Lakers home games, as fans get free tacos if the team holds their opponent under 90 points.

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Overall, the Lakers are not overly blatant, nor overly novel or engaging with many of their sponsor activations and in-game entertainment elements. The traditional brand has a handful of major corporate partners and hammers home these relationships with repeat impressions and positioning as true partners, as opposed to just sponsors.

General Marketing, General Sports Business, Sponsorships, Sports Venues

A Sampling of LA Clippers Game Activations

Staples Center is a busy venue. Every Fall and Winter features three teams – the Lakers, Clippers, and Kings – share the arena for their home games, while other events pass through, as well. Standing out can be tough.

I recently attended a Clippers game at Staples Center, a Monday night affair against the Oklahoma City Thunder that was not exactly a full crowd. The Clippers did do a good job of trying to provide experiences, content, and services for their fans, while also integrating partners, where relevant and/or non-intrusive, and doing so that was effective for the partners’ brands. Take a brief look with me below:

Upon entering Staples Center, one walks right into a Toyota, where fans are invited to enter to win the car, a typical data capture activation and certainly a visual that is impossible to miss.

Also prominent inside all the entrances were a few digital screens on which fans could enter to win VIP tickets to some Staples Center event. As you can see, the first question is meant to collect one’s interests, an easy and transparent way to help them deliver better messaging and marketing to you in the future and, in theory, connect it to the same CRM that identifies you as a Clippers game attendee.

With the shared venue, the Clippers had several tables and backdrops to capture fan attention in the concourses. Among other things, they had a table dedicated to promoting their fan app, Club Clippers. Fan apps are beginning to emerge with some teams in the NHL and NBA (the LA Kings have a fan app, too) and MLB has a fan app. This is NOT meant to displace the official team apps, but more focused on ‘fun’ stuff and wanting to be a social network for Clippers fans, instead of news and stats.

The Clippers also had a sign making station, which is fairly common in arenas across the country.

Even before the game started, fans were reminded that Clippers wins mean a deal on Papa John’s Pizza. I swear like 75% of NBA, NFL, and NHL fans get 50% off pizza on days after their team wins. This was the only time it was mentioned during the game, and it was promoted on Clippers social media, as well.

While the crowd wasn’t huge, the Clippers entertainment and game operations did their best to create a visually exciting atmosphere with lighting and throbbing music.

Draft Kings may not be as ubiquitous on TV broadcasts as they once were, but the daily fantasy giant still has partnerships with many pro teams, including the LA Clippers. Draft Kings was featured and activated in an endemic, relevant manner, including the ‘Draft Kings Starting Lineup,’ as well as a Draft Kings fantasy lounge/bar fans could frequent to watch other games and catch up on fantasy performances.

The Clippers had several replay sponsors, an easy way to get a brand logo in front of eyeballs, as all the fans’ gaze turns toward the scoreboard to check out an instant replay of a suck play. Arco was featured more consistently and frequently, a way to ‘pump up’ the crowd.

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With all the LED and video board mentions of the Toshiba ‘Hologram Station,’ I simply had to check it out. While calling it a ‘hologram’ was a bit of hyperbole, the station offered fans the opportunity to get a picture or video with their favorite player, with the LA Clippers backdrop behind them. Fans, especially kids, very much enjoyed it, especially the way they could see themselves next to an animated player on the screen, Hall of Presidents style (yeah, I made a Disney World reference).

Next to the Hologram Station was another sponsored, AR (green screen) activation was a fun ‘Posterize Me’ promotion. Another great way to collect fan data and give them the opportunity to make memories to share and preserve <– The is major key.

The Clippers had a couple of airlines – American Airlines and Delta – integrated into the game presentation. Certainly interesting to consider the different ways the brands were showcased and how the partners value the means and the value. American was featured in a ‘Taking Flight’ fact about a rising player (does every branded ___ start with a play on words? Ha) and Delta was a sponsor of the Spirit team.

City National Bank had a strong presence all night at the LA Clippers game, at which they were sponsoring a Clippers coin bank giveaway to fans in attendance. The bank also had a presence in the game presentation, including a simple Hi-Lo fan contest, in which a fan guessed whether a player’s stat line was higher or lower than the number given (it was easy). The second Hi-Lo question, however, was not Clippers or basketball-related, but related to finance, to tie it back to City National. It seemed a bit out of place, but it certainly reinforced who was behind this contest and what they do. Later, gifts tied up were “parachuted” from the rafters, to fall into the waiting hands of lucky fans.

Most pro sports teams nowadays have fan social media posts aggregated, typically using Tagboard to aggregate, filter, and display on the video board. But not all have a salient sponsorship, as the Clippers did with Car Max. Nothing too relevant about this activation, but an easy way to take advantage of eyeballs going to the screen to make sure fans know of the partnership.

Nothing special here, I just found it interesting that, for both in-arena hosts, their personal Instagram profile was listed under their name, as opposed to their Twitter handle. Also notable was that, unlike their NBA roommates, the Lakers, the Clippers did not have their Twitter handle spelled out on the floor.

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Kia is all over the place as an NBA partner and the car brand was all part of some branded entertainment during the game, delivering both the Sounds of the First Half audio (helping to bring what fans are accustomed to seeing on TV broadcasts), as well as the Kia Noise Meter, in which a meter that looks like a car speedometer ratcheted up as the crowd got louder (ok, so it wasn’t that loud).

One of the most fun activations came during a media timeout late in the game with an on-court contest in which furniture company Jerome’s Furniture provided motorized recliner chairs for a race between fans, that culminated with a having to shoot and score while reclined in the chair. A great way to take a fun contest, while also activating the brand and their product for fans watching.

While walking around the concourse, I caught a glimpse of several tablets provided by Stubhub, presumably to allow fans to peruse and purchase while they were at the game. It’s certainly interesting to see Staples Center (these looked like permanent installs, not just rolled out for the Clippers game; though they could be turned off, as they were late in the game this night) facilitate the secondary, just steps away from the official arena box office and ticket sales tables throughout the arena.

Chick-Fil-A is a heavy sponsor of many pro sports, and they love the word play of foul / fowl. At Clippers games, when an opponent misses two straight free throws in the fourth quarter, fans can take a coupon handed out at the with to Chick-Fil-A for a free chicken sandwich. (There has to be a mobile/digital way to do this, one thinks, fans don’t have to hold on to a piece of paper). I am starting to see this activation (two straight opposing team missed FT’s late in the game) quite frequently in college and pro basketball, and is a great way to keep fans engaged until the end, especially for those interminable free throws that are inevitable in the waning minute or two of a close loss.

When the final score alert went out (to all fans that had the LA Clippers app installed, presumably, as opposed to just those inside the arena), it included a CTA to book an uber for a safe ride home. Clicking on the alert opened the Clippers app, which then asked to open the Uber app. While not the most seamless experience and surprisingly no first-time rider promo code [though hard to execute in this work flow], a timely and relevant time to integrate Uber, of course.

Lastly, a quick look at the collection of Snapchat geofilters available during the game at the arena. Besides some of the banners hanging from the rafters, this was really the only presence of the Clippers’ co-tenants in Staples Center and worth the investment of those teams to pay for those filters to be up, even on nights when a different team is hosting thousands of fans in the arena.

Once you work in sports business, experiencing a game is never the same. The fan engagement activations, the sponsor integrations, the data capture and marketing efforts,

Category: Sports Venues

A Sports Biz Trip Around a Somerset Patriots Game

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A Sports Biz Look at a LA Galaxy Home Game at StubHub Center

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A Sports Biz Look at a LA Dodgers Game

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Review of Los Angeles Lakers Game Sponsorship and Content

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A Sampling of LA Clippers Game Activations

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