social media marketing

Sports Marketing Using Social Media

by |December 3rd, 2010

Sports marketing is a very important part of any successful sports franchise.  Imagine attending a game and not seeing people wearing jerseys, hats, giant foam fingers, or other vibrant gear emblazoned with their favorite teamʼs name or mascot image. Crazy. Sports marketing is about getting the word out about a team or team member in order to gain capital for the franchise and the sponsors. Out of all the sports jobs in the sports industry, sports marketing is one of the most versatile especially now that social media marketing has made marketing so much easier.

If you want to work in sports as a sports marketer and be a success, you should consider these tips for successful social media marketing: [click to continue…]

About Lewis Howes

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Playing Within Facebook’s Rules

by |November 2nd, 2010

(This is a guest post by Joseph Yi)

While there are plenty of articles that discuss the advantages of running a promotion on Facebook, what few mention are the difficulties in actually getting a promotion that falls within Facebook’s promotions guidelines launched. In what can only be described as ambiguous and unclear, Facebook’s Promotions Guidelines leave sports teams in particular, scratching their heads when it comes to knowing what’s right and what’s wrong.

In particular, one of the big problems that sports teams face when trying to incorporate Facebook into a promotion is that they must not only play within Facebook’s rules, but also league rules. While creating a promotion that complies with both league and Facebook rules isn’t impossible, it can be difficult.

What You Can and Can’t Do

Looking over the most updated Facebook Promotion Guidelines (December 2009), here are a few examples of what can and cannot be done that all sports professional should take note of when thinking about launching a promotion on Facebook: [click to continue…]

About Joseph Yi

Joseph is the Social Media & Marketing Solutions Manger at GAGA Sports & Entertainment where he works with professional sports teams, including the Lakers, Clippers, and San Francisco 49ers, where he develops engaging content as well as social media and digital strategies to help teams better understand and engage their fans. Read more from Joseph and follow him on Twitter.

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Limits of a Team’s Brand

by |September 23rd, 2010

(This is a guest post by Joseph Yi)

When sports teams first began using social media, they gained followers and fans primarily because of their brand. Fans wanted to be part of their favorite team’s community and sports teams were more than happy to have them. Still, many sports teams eventually faced the realization that their brand could only bring them so far. Teams that relied on their brand identity to generate interest soon discovered that after most ‘hardcore’ fans had discovered their teams Facebook or Twitter page, the numbers dropped off. To attract the casual fan, teams had to prove to them that they could bring value.

For teams, providing value to fans means winning games. Winning games fills seats and keeps fans happy. When it comes to creating value on social media platforms though, winning doesn’t necessarily translate into happy fans or engagement. Winning will get fans interested in a team, but it doesn’t necessarily mean it will get them to follow or like their fan page.

While there are exceptions to this such as the Los Angeles Lakers and the New York Yankees, if you look at some of the sports teams on Twitter and Facebook, you will notice that the teams with the highest number of followers and fans accomplish this by leveraging their brand to create engaging content that creates value for their community of fans rather than relying on their brand to push them forward. [click to continue…]

About Joseph Yi

Joseph is the Social Media & Marketing Solutions Manger at GAGA Sports & Entertainment where he works with professional sports teams, including the Lakers, Clippers, and San Francisco 49ers, where he develops engaging content as well as social media and digital strategies to help teams better understand and engage their fans. Read more from Joseph and follow him on Twitter.

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Creating Brand Advocates Through Word of Mouth

by |August 26th, 2010

(This is a guest post by Daniel McLaren)

This is another side to Social Media that is often overlooked, when organisations plan their online approach yet can be as important, if not more so than having a Facebook/Twitter page.

A old approach that has taken on a new meaning and been opened up by social media is creating brand advocates and generating positive ‘Word of Mouth’.  This is important because you as a brand can only generate a certain amount of trust in what you say to people. [click to continue…]

About Lewis Howes

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Should teams look beyond Facebook & Twitter?

by |February 25th, 2010

dullhunkWe’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?

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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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Will Social Media Become Ambush Marketing’s Favorite New Ammo?

by |December 29th, 2009

riacaleAs we turn the page and look ahead to 2010, let us address a topic most marketers have a strong opinion on: ambush.  Whether you believe ambush marketing of official events is creative and cost-efficient or an unethical and illegal mortal marketing sin, the fact is 2010 will see more of it than many marketers care to envision.  Global events such as the Olympics and World Cup will fuel the fire, as they have in the past, but this time the battleground may be waged on a relatively new frontier: social media.

Sure, some will attempt to solve ambush with legal claims such as trademark infringement and unfair competition. Last week Major League Soccer filed a lawsuit against Black and Decker for their Dewalt promotion around exhibition matches (competitor, Makita, is the official sponsor of MLS). However, ambush marketers – and their legal teams – will likely find new ways to skirt IP issues with the Olympics, especially in an environment without precedent like social media. When you’re spending 100 million for an official deal, both property and sponsor should probably be proactively identifying ways to mitigate ambush rather than (or at least as well as) relying on reactive legal remedies. Consider this, Coke spent an estimated $70 million to be one of the top 12 Olympic sponsors — and $5 million to $15 million more on the torch relay, but according to at least one study, up to 60% of consumers believed Pepsi was the official sponsor in Beijing. Scary stuff for CMO’s and properties.

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About Kris Mathis

Kris Mathis is the Founder/CEO of SponsorPitch.com, a New York City-based sponsorship networking start-up. Kris started his career in sponsorship representing Fortune 500 clients at Edelman PR's sponsorship consulting division prior to jumping to a brand management position at Paris-based mobile gaming startup, Gameloft. In between, Kris attended graduate school in Nashville (Music City!), Tennessee. In his spare time, Kris enjoys eating, running, the beach, UFC and Bryant Park. Follow Kris on Twitter @Sponsorpitch!

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