Yes or no? Does it depend on what sector of the sports industry we are talking about? Should we even care?
Whether it’s a sports teams using a Facebook fan page, professional athletes on Twitter, sports agencies trying to promote their brand from blogging, sports management programs looking to recruit new students, or other sports organizations looking to find ways to increase sales and drive profits…. do they fully understand social media and are they ready to include it in their game?
I have been pretty frustrated with the somewhat ignorance I continue to see with sports teams and leagues banning social media, sports agencies thinking social media is a waste of time, or even sports pr and marketing companies believing social media in sports should not be used, period.
WAKE UP PEOPLE!!!
The fans that watch your team on weekends, those students that want to learn about your sports management program, companies that need your marketing expertise or are looking to buy advertising are all online using some form of social media! Even top sports business experts like CNBC’s Sports Biz reporter Darren Rovell talks about the power of social media on his blog and is tweeting daily to get his message out there.
And yes, there are ways to get your message out there with little or no cost to help you achieve your goals within the sports industry. If you need a more in depth marketing strategy just ask top social media sports professionals Amy Martin, AJ Vaynerchuk, Jason Peck or Ryan Stephens as they can easily help any sports organization figure out how to achieve their goals and what action to take to reach them.
I am just tired of hearing that the sports industry still doesn’t have a forward thinking mindset when it comes to using social media and it is really frustrating me (and you don’t want to see my football playing aggression come out in my blog, or it may get ugly!). My goal is to start providing more articles that help give the information the sports industry needs to start taking action with using social media so they can start to see the same successes other industries are gaining from it.
Are you as upset as I am and ready to strap on the helment, lace up your pads and kick some butt? If so, leave a comment with your thoughts on which sports organizations are and are not using social media correctly. What are they doing right, what are they doing wrong, and what can they do to make it better? Ready…. Set-Hut!
