I’ve been doing some consulting with the NHL’s Canucks on their strategies for their Facebook Page and Twitter.
The Canucks have made a focused effort on growing their Twitter followers (1800+ today). Here’s a look at some of the efforts being implemented that are getting them results:
- A custom Twitter page (Twitter has some scaling issues)
- Twitter based contests and give-aways
- Use of tools like Tweetdeck to help use and organize their efforts
- Cross platform promotion via Facebook
Beyond loyalty and fan engagement, the Canucks address the ROI effort by looking at possible sponsorship activation opportunities once their numbers are strong (at least 5K+).
With a healthy number of Facebook fans (27K+ today), the Canucks are looking to promote Twitter through that platform. These fans are already active on social media and fans of the team, so they are most likely to follow the team on Twitter. The Canucks can also feature Twitter contest winners on their Facebook page – this makes for a great duality of social media platform crossover.
One of the great things about using Facebook for sports marketing is the visibility chain reaction of Friend engagement. When someone joins a group or makes a comment, their entire Friend network is alerted about it – so a residual marketing message is carried through Friend networks adding an exponential touch to the Facebook marketing strategy – much like WOM (word of mouth), Facebook style.
The whole NHL is on the social media market, but what’s most interesting is the fact that they have yet to exploit the oldest and most famous of them all, myspace as a medium. Perhaps they should start some cross promotions with rock n’roll artists to boost their image. Without much exposure on national networks, the NHL needs to find a way to make themselves attractive to future fans. I definitely will blog about this soon. http://www.chicshockey.com
Thanks for your comment – it’s true that myspace is not really embraced by the NHL… here in Canada, it is not widely embraced either… Let me know when you blog about this!