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 ContentSome 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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[…] a series on social media concentrating on how sports teams using social media. One of his posts discusses how to create content and can be applied to anybody dealing with social media. There are 3 great points in which he goes […]