play by play: a guide to social media strategies in sports marketing
TRANSCRIPT
FINDING THE END ZONEW I T H S O C I A L M E D I A I N S P O R T S
TABLE OF CONTENTS
T H E G A M E P L A N
OVERVIEW: The Social Playbook
AUDIT & IMMERSION: Going Deep for Alignment & Insights
SOCIAL STRATEGY: Creating the Playbook
CONTENT STRATEGY: Establish the Run Game
CHANNEL EXPANSION: Running a Spread Offense
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT: Leap Into the Crowd
OPTIMIZE: In-Game Adjustments
3
6
9
11
18
28
33
THE SOCIAL PLAYBOOK
THE TEAM
The Line (Designers, Community Managers,
& Copywriters)
Unsung heroes who handle the lift
The Coach (Account Manager & Strategist)
Sets the strategy and calls the plays
Analysts (Social/Digital Analysts)
Observe and measure the action
Quarterbacks (Creative/Art Directors)
Spearhead the plays
Every great social plan needs a strong, dedicated team behind it that never stops fighting for wins.
THE PLAYBOOK
SOCIAL AUDIT & BRAND
IMMERSION
1
SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY & PLANNING
CONTENT STRATEGY &
PILLARS
SOCIAL CHANNEL
EXPANSION
EXECUTE THE GAME PLAN
OPTIMIZATION
2 3 4 5 6
Together, a successful social team will build a complex plan for any situation.
GO DEEP FOR ALIGNMENT & INSIGHTS
A U D I T & I M M E R S I O N
SOCIAL BRAND IMMERSION
TEAM STRATEGY
SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY
ANNUAL MARKETING STRATEGY
BRAND POSITIONING
BRAND VOICE
MARKET RESEARCH
BRAND ASSET INVENTORY
COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE
SOCIAL MEDIA PRIORITIES
SOCIAL MEDIA AUDIT
A winning game plan is based on a deep understanding of your team, your players, and your competition.
CREATING THE PLAYBOOK
SOCIAL “ZONE” STRATEGY
S
OC I A L B R A N D V O
I C
ESO
CI A
L BR A N D I N G & S T Y L E G
UI D
E
CO
M
MU
N I T Y & C R I S I S M A N AGE M
EN
T
CH
A
NN
E L S P E C I F I C C O N T E N T P L AN
S
ME A S U R E M E N T & R E P O R T I N G
TA R G E T A U D I E N C E I N T E R E S T S
C O N T E N T S T R A T E G Y & P I L L A R S
ESTABLISHING THE RUN GAME
D A Y- T O - D A Y
CONTENT PILLARSCreate themed, recognizable posts to build fans’ expectations. Define content pillars on a specific topic or theme, which can be broken into various sections, pieces, and materials.
CONTENT CREATIONUnderstand the landscape of content that is distributed and consumed to identify and construct future content that reaches your target and maximizes effectiveness through:
• Identifying and tapping into content trends
• Leveraging existing behaviors to plan future content calendars
• Taking advantage of engagement triggers
• Refining personas and story creation
• Creation of digital assets and artifacts
• Designing & developing of media assets
PRE-EMPTIVE CONTENT PLANNING
1st Home Game
Rivalry Game
Player Injuries
End of Season
PlayoffsFree
Agency
DraftOff-Season Community
Service
Training Camp
With so much going on during the season, it’s easy to get wrapped up in the hype and fall behind. There are always some things that will happen every season though,
and you can plan for that content in advance to be more effective.
REAL-TIME FAN ENGAGEMENT
Celebrating Birthdays, New
Jobs, etc.
Providing Solutions
Responding to UGC
SOCIAL CHANNEL EXPANSION
S P R E A D O F F E N S E
CHANNEL EXPLORATIONWith so many new and emerging channels, it’s important to evaluate where teams should look next. Youth participation is on the decline in virtually all major sports, so a presence
where those ever elusive millennial currently engage is the only way to continue to expand your fan-hood.
CREATE A SOCIAL STADIUMSocial can not only be a great way to keep fans connected from day to day, but also to increase excitement and connectivity during games, and to continue expanding sponsorship activations.
TWEET-BY-TWEET COVERAGEMore and more fans are turning to their social networks to stay up to date with current events, including live sports. So, whether they're on a plane and can't catch the game, or just looking for another take while watching on TV, live Tweeting play-by-play coverage in the team’s voice can keep fans connected.
BUZZER BEATER by @KingJames Cavs win!!!
@Cavs
GAME TIMEAfter being purchased by Amazon for nearly a billion dollars last year, Twitch has developed from a place for video game enthusiasts to view and participate in real time gameplay, to a unique social sharing environment where people from around the world can watch users game, play board games, train, play music, or just socialize. It now accounts for more than 43% of all live video streaming traffic by volume, and represents an exciting opportunity to target the ever-growing audience of fans through non-traditional channels.
SNAP TO OUR YOUNG FANSWith sports viewership declining (NFL viewership - arguably the U.S.’s most-watched sport - seeing a 5.3% decline alone),* it's important to speak to young fans on social platforms popular amongst their age group. Snapchat sees over 400 million shares per day, with 71% of its users under the age of 25.
*Nielsen data prepared by Horizon Media, 2010-2013.
#PINNINGWith over 73 million users, and reaching a staggering 42% of online adult women, Pinterest is especially powerful at reaching female fans. Opportunities in this platform extend directly to merchandising, with Pinterest leading against other social networks in terms of retail conversion in the past 2 years.*
*Source: Adobe Digital Index 2014
INSTANT REPLAYSAs digital users share videos 1200% more than links and text combined,* connections will not only be made with existing fans, but new fans across the globe. From short snippets of only a few seconds, to live streaming video that can span hours, there's a variety of ways to connect fans through social video. Social video content may include live streaming of draft day or training camp through Periscope, or brief tips and insights from staff through Vine or Instagram, and can then be syndicated on YouTube and Facebook along with longer form content for further views and shares.
*Source: Adobe Digital Index 2014
TRAINING CAMPAll of these networks are in use by many team staff, players, coaches and personnel with or without official team endorsement or oversight. Taking a proactive role in defining the “dos” and “don’ts” will benefit the team by reducing any potential mis-steps or audibles in times of crisis. Create a social “playbook” that outlines the proper use of each channel, why it’s important (or unimportant), the type of content and conversation that should be disseminated, and how to best interact with fans using the network.
*Source: Adobe Digital Index 2014
OTHER CHANNELS
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
L E A P I N T O T H E C R O W D
LEVERAGING CHANNELS TO THE FULLEST
There is great opportunity for interaction between any organization and its communities. For the purposes of feedback, increasing favorability, and conversation it’s important to
activate advocates, inspire more user-generated content, and create surprise and delight micro-moments, all while assisting with any customer service needs.
67%
of consumers have used a brand’s social media for
servicing
20-40%
of customers spend more with a brand that responds
on social media
67%
of consumers expect a same day response from a brand
71%
of people who have a positive experience with a brand on social media will
recommend that brand
Create a response
document we’re all aligned to
Implement crisis escalation plan,
outlining possible issues
Add terms of engagement to
Revisit the profanity filter and blocked
words on Facebook
COMMUNITY & CRISIS MANAGEMENT
TRIBES & INFLUENCERSThe power of Tribes and identifying the influencers within them to create powerful advocates:
• Activate advocates to share their love for the your team.
• Empower advocates to speak about the team.
• Reward advocates for their loyalty with team-sponsored giveaways.
USER GENERATED CONTENTActivate the “Tribe” by inviting imagery from their tailgates, parties, holiday decorations, and home decor to fuel content for branded digital profiles. Contests can create even more opportunities for people to share their favorite photos and memories on a regular basis. Recognition of fans and their best recipes and Halloween costumes will create even more love and appreciation among a strong fan base.
IN-GAME ADJUSTMENTS
O P T I M I Z E
PLATFORM INTEGRATIONIntegration of enterprise and custom tools for measurement, content approvals, and community management not only allows for “on-field” approvals and monitoring but also provides more in-depth insights for optimization. Investing in robust management tools, like a star player, is well worth the hit on your marketing salary cap.
KEY METRICS TO MEASURE
Impressions, Reach & Video
Views
Engagement & Amplification of
Posts
Sentiment Benchmark to other Teams
Community Growth by Channel / Platform
