This is part of a short blog series where we take a look at how social media can be utilized to grow a sports team’s fan base, regardless of whether the team already has a large following or is starting from the grassroots level. You can see the other posts here.

In the first two posts of this series I covered the importance of listening in social media and turning your sports team into a social experience. In last week’s post I briefly touched on the importance of content. Today’s post we’re going to take a deeper look into this subject.

You Have Great Content

Everyone has the ability to produce great content, whether you’re an amateur soccer team or an NBA franchise. Producing great content is not about glitz and glamour. If you’re making videos, it’s not the quality of the camera that makes the difference; with blogs it’s not the widgets and plug-ins that make it successful. It’s the content quality.

Think about what content people will want to see: fans, players, coaches, sponsors – what appeals to them? What will make them continue to pay an interest in you? And importantly when you’re looking to expand your fan base and reach new fans, what will they share? That is your great content.

Go Behind the Scenes

People love behind the scenes content, it’s why we love reality TV and the extras on DVD’s. We like to see the work that goes into something and find out how things are done. So why not take advantage of peoples curiosity and use social media to give people a behind the scenes pass and show them how your team works.

Showing people what goes on behind the scenes will change their perspective and relationship with you. They’ll start to see you as real people, start putting names to faces and start to develop a deeper understanding of your team and what you do. Take a look below at Boston Celtics’ Nate Robinson‘s use of twitvid:

User Generated Content

Some of the most frequently visited sites on the Internet are primarily based around user generated content. One of the best examples is Facebook. Facebook doesn’t upload images, videos or start conversations – we do that ourselves, Facebook simply gives us a platform to do so.

You can utilize this same concept to help grow your fan base. Give your fans a platform and encouraging them to generate their own content. Whether it’s videos, text or images, they are all great ways to help you grow your online following, spread the word about your team and also reach new fans.

One team that has had great success with user generated content is Manchester City FC. They use Flickr as a way to embrace their fans creative side allowing them to use photography and design to express their feelings about the club. Some of the images that have been posted in the Flickr group have even been taken on board by the club and helped inspire new PR and retail campaigns.

What content do you think sports teams should share? Do you think content can help teams reach new fans? What are the best examples of user generated content you’ve come across in sports?

For a full guide on how you can utilize social media check out ‘The Ultimate Guide to Grass Roots Sport and Social Media’

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Image by keith allison

About Ash Read

Ash is the co-founder of FundSport.com a grassroots sports community providing sports clubs and athletes from around the world with professional, easy-to-understand advice and articles on all aspects of grassroots sport including sponsorship, fundraising, the Internet, social media, club management, PR and marketing. As well as being passionate about the development of grassroots sport Ash also has a keen involvement in the sports social media industry. You can follow Ash on Twitter at @ashread14

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We’re now starting to see more and more teams getting involved with social media. This is great, but I think it’s time they start to look beyond only utilizing the major platforms (Twitter, YouTube, Facebook) and really start to embrace more emerging and niche platforms (Ustream, Tumblr, Flickr).

Every platform offers something different and therefore appeals to different types of people. Facebook and Twitter are (currently) more popular than others and should demand more time and resources, but surely the fans that use these emerging platforms deserve some love too? And surely there is value in these platforms for teams?

One team that has had great success through getting involved in a niche network is Manchester City FC with their use of Flickr. They are the first team I have seen using this platform, if you have seen any others please let me know. They use Flickr as a way to embrace their fans creative side allowing them to use photography and design to express their feelings about the club.

Flickr gives Manchester City fans the chance to see all the latest images from the clubs official stream as well as inviting them to share their own images and get involved in discussion. Some of the images that have been posted in the Flickr group have even been taken on board by the club and helped inspire new PR and retail campaigns.

Another team who have started to get involved with an emerging platform is the New York Knicks on Tumblr. Personally I’m a big fan of Tumblr and feel it has huge potential because it offers a great way to find and share information.

It allows users to easily post a range of content with just a few clicks – everything from photos and video, to links and even short voice recordings making it the perfect way to keep fans up-to-date. Currently the Knicks mainly use Tumblr as a way to share videos, short blogs and promotions. I’d like to see them mix up posts a bit more and maybe include a few behind the scenes images, quotes and audio clips from the coaches and players.

It may be a while before Tumblr becomes main stream, but once it does I’m sure it will be a powerful tool for both teams and brands.

Conclusion

Obviously the major platforms shouldn’t be overlooked. Every team that isn’t involved with them is missing out on a big opportunity because they offer great value for both the teams and fans.

However, I feel that niche and emerging platforms allow teams to build up closer relationships with fans and also open up many new engagement and participation opportunities. Teams can choose to share images on Flickr, post short blogs on Tumblr or run live chats or showing live training sessions on Ustream – there’s plenty of potential and opportunity out there.

What do you think?  Is there value for fans and teams on niche and emerging platforms? Have you seen any examples of teams or athletes getting involved? What platforms do you feel offer potential?

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Image by dullhunk

About Ash Read

Ash is the co-founder of FundSport.com a grassroots sports community providing sports clubs and athletes from around the world with professional, easy-to-understand advice and articles on all aspects of grassroots sport including sponsorship, fundraising, the Internet, social media, club management, PR and marketing. As well as being passionate about the development of grassroots sport Ash also has a keen involvement in the sports social media industry. You can follow Ash on Twitter at @ashread14

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