Posts Tagged 'Social Media'

NHL Teams on Facebook: FanPage Rankings

Published September 20, 2009 Facebook , NHL , Social Media 5 Comments
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fbook logoHere’s a list of the NHL club’s “official” (i.e. owned and operated by the club) Facebook FanPages ranked by total population – with some analysis to follow…

Montreal*: 491,271
Pittsburgh: 119,073
Vancouver: 94,714
Chicago: 75,806
Philadelphia: 73,366
Boston: 66,307
Washington: 47,881
Buffalo: 45,028
Minnesota: 32,463
NYR: 22,210
Colorado: 21,452
Dallas: 20,876
St. Louis: 20,066
Anaheim: 19,188
San Jose: 19,129
Carolina: 19,125
Ottawa: 18,542
Toronto: 18,494
Calgary: 16,526
Edmonton: 16,201
New Jersey: 13,014
NYI: 9,172
Nashville: 9,078
Florida: 5,981
Tampa: 4,808
Phoenix: 4,787
Los Angeles: 4,707
Atlanta: 2,381
Columbus: 933
*Montreal leverages a 3rd party app for their Facebook Fanpage.

Analysis

Montreal’s “official” page uses a WaterCooler app – I blogged about this in an earlier post. It works in a much different way… Pittsburgh’s 2nd place rank seems quite obvious as they possess some of the games’ brightest talents and stars and are the current Stanley Cup Champions.

Vancouver stands out here at #3. Without a Stanley Cup in its history, the primary reason that the Canucks rank so high is their positioning and focus on social media.

I am most surprised by Toronto – an original 6 team in a huge market with loads of history and success; Toronto’s numbers are not strong compared to their brand, profile, status in the league and widespread fan base.

What are your thoughts on this list?

Social Media Adoption: Slow Process for Teams

Published September 16, 2009 Leadership , Social Media , Sponsorship 2 Comments
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Last year, many teams and leagues recognized the potential and flat out requirement to be more involved in social media – but how far have they come in adopting these sites for fan engagement or integrating sponsorship opportunities?

This is the high season for sports – the kick-off of the NFL season, MLB playoff races, the NHL season is about to start and the NBA is just around the corner. There are more eyeballs on more teams and leagues than any other time of year. Right now.

But is this opportunity being leveraged?

For the most part – I would suggest the answer is no. Despite interest, there is a lot of tire ticking and/or reluctance. There are also teams who are looking to be leaders but are not willing to put up the investment in time or dollars without the classic ROI path in advance.

There are some teams who are fully engaged – nothing new for the Phoenix Suns – well regarded as thought leaders in the sports and social media field. And there are other teams out there I am in conversation with and aware of who are taking the steps now to organize and launch major social media initiatives and sponsorship integrations.

This is the exciting future path – this is where thought leaders are taking the industry, and this is where the others will follow in time.

Upcoming Social Media and Sports Webinar: Aug. 6th

Published August 4, 2009 Branding , Social Media , Sports Marketing 3 Comments
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zu

Check out the link for the webinar by clicking here. Hurry – it’s this Thursday, August 6th!

This great presentation comes from a contact of mine - Trevor Turnbull at zu. These are the folks who built StampsConnect which I posted about a few weeks ago. I received some great feedback on this site – this should be an informative webinar and I encourage you to join in and check it out.

I first met Trevor via Twitter during the Pens/Caps series of the NHL playoffs – since then we have traded lots of good ideas. Zu is working on some exciting stuff, so be sure to attend.

A Tale of Two Calgary’s

Published July 21, 2009 Facebook , NHL , Social Media , Sponsorship , Sports Marketing , Twitter 2 Comments
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calgarydomeThe other week, I posted about StampsConnect – a true social media aggregator site developed for the Calgary Stampeders of the CFL. Recently, Calgary’s other pro sports team – The Flames – came out with their social media package titled “The C of Red” via KickApps (now adopted by the NHL league wide).

So let’s compare and contrast what Calgary has on the go.

StampsConnect vs. C of Redcalgarystadium

First off – “The C of Red” hits a little too close to the “Red” brand/tag used by the Washington Capitals. (POST SCRIPT: Please review the comment by Rowan regarding other NHL teams use of “Red” as a tag or brand. My apologies to the Flames, I was wrong.)

KickApps is more of a “push” strategy, as opposed to a “pull” strategy employed by StampsConnect. In order to be a member of the C of Red, fans must sign up via the NHL in order to participate. With StampsConnect – users can simply view and leverage the social media content already out there on the Internet now. These same social media sites – namely Facebook and Twitter – are available to the C of Red as well, but exist completely outside of it.

StampsConnect succeeds because it is so simple – by leveraging the web tools and content that is already there, fans do not have to sign up for anything new, or “float” between platforms/logins to be part of the community.

Ultimately – these networks build loyalty and fan investment and will drive revenue indirectly as such. There is limited opportunity for sponsorship via KickApps itself as this would result in traditional web advertising possibilities. However, via true social media networks – sponsorship is much more dynamic and open to possibilities – not to mention the viral component of user visibility that provides a greater marketing footprint.

Summary

It remains to be seen how NHL teams will be using the KickApps platform – and what kind of engagement their fans provide vs. existing social media networks. I believe the goal is not to build isolated networks that borrow concepts of sharing and connection – but work with sites that are already doing this like Facebook and Twitter. Smart teams will be making the most of these opportunities and layering on sponsorship activation to provide a ROI in addition to fan loyalty and engagement.

The NHL Draft and Twitter vs. ROI

Published June 22, 2009 Social Media , Sports Marketing , Twitter 2 Comments
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LA KingsWhile NHL Tweetups are nothing new, the LA Kings are making a bit of a splash as they will have front office personnel tweeting from the floor of the draft.

More on that at the Sportsin140 blog .

And you can follow the LA Kings on Twitter here.

Another Twitter first for an NHL club – it will be interesting to see how this plays out from a fan engagement perspective. Here again – some significant attention is being paid to the Kings Twitter feed and there is no apparent sponsorship. Some people will criticize me for my attempts  to  monetize social media – and some people will hire me for it. I believe  it’s naive to think that ROI just doesn’t need to apply – “adding value” doesn’t add up at the end of the day (as this article attempts to counter).

My point here – and a big part of the reason I am interested in sports marketing and social media – is that sponsorship is 100% plain as day, in your face, front and centre ROI. I recall some radio broadcasts of games in Toronto with the “Home Hardware out-of-town scoreboard” (Blue twitter birdJays, I think). There weren’t too many people complaining that sponsorship was ruining the free medium of radio. Social Media is still just media.

Tweeting from the draft floor is an innovative move on the part of the Kings – but now it’s time to take that innovation a step further into revenue.

The Offseason: 6 Ways to Stay Plugged In

Published June 17, 2009 Social Media , Sponsorship , Sports Marketing 3 Comments
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plugThe NBA and NHL championships have come and gone.

It’s a bit too early to start talking about the NFL, and MLB is not the most social media focused league in town.

So one might think that there is very little to discuss regarding social media and sports right now – but that would be a mistake. Now is a very important time for teams and leagues to keep fans engaged.

Why? Because, if you follow my path to social media then you know that sponsorship is not far behind. Through social media, there are still opportunities to keep fans active, and to keep sponsors activated.

Consider the following… How can you leverage:

  • Ticket Sales – Do you have a social media angle for marketing tickets?
  • Contests/Give Aways – Are you giving your market a reason to keep plugged in?
  • Off Season Drafts/Trades/Personnel Changes – Can you provide perspectives and insight from the source?
  • Discussion – Can you generate discussion and debate?
  • Access – Can you provide visibility on team insiders?
  • Announcements – Can you release info via social networks prior to a press release?

If you give your market good reasons to stay plugged in – then they will. Staying plugged in is what your sponsors want and need to see.

Information is Free

Published May 20, 2009 Blogging , Business Tips , Facebook , Linkedin , Networking , Sales Tips , Social Media , Twitter 6 Comments
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FreeBeware of sales resources that charge for information on social media.

Tools like Linkedin, Twitter and Facebook are free and hardly new. There is a great deal of information about their use and value for sellers available on the Internet. Charging hundreds of dollars for seminars and using terms like…

“By this time next year, the gold rush to social media marketing will be near complete.”

… are misleading and false.

In addition, announcements like this one (eNewsletter focused on sales and social media) use sales techniques that are just plain cheesy and a turn off for many buyers. It just rubs me the wrong way and reinforces the sales stigma that I try to combat in my own training.

My Method

I freely share information to sellers, marketers or interested persons on what social media tools can do for them through this blog. My way is to share information that people may value and continue to follow. I appreciate this and their ideas/comments. Sometimes, those conversations turn into opportunities or projects – things that I do charge for, but only when it is for my direct services – not for information that is free to all.

Charging for such info flies in the face of what social media marketing is all about.

MakeItSeven.ca Turns to Social Media

Published May 15, 2009 Branding , Facebook , Marketing , Social Media , Sports Marketing , Twitter 1 Comment
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MakeItSeven LogoAs I thought, it didn’t take long for the MakeInSeven.ca campaign to ratchet up social media engagement.

For those who read my original post and follow up post may recall my analysis was that this was essentially a branding attempt. Some people challenged me on that idea – but the most recent development re-enforces my assessment.

Here’s a breakdown:

What I am most suprised about is that MakeItSeven has corporate sponsors – I think it is a bold move for these brands to align themselves with this undertaking.

If anyone doubted this was a brand in development, it is very clear now that this was the intent from the start. How this will play out in the media, let alone bankruptcy court remains to be seen.

Click here to see what MakeItSeven.ca looks like now…

The Core of Direct Contact: Sales Direction

Published May 4, 2009 Blogging , Business Tips , Facebook , Linkedin , Marketing , Sales Methodologies , Sales Tips , Social Media , Sports Marketing , Twitter 4 Comments
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DollarSome poeple know me as a sales trainer.

Some know me as a social media consultant.

Some think of me as a sports marketer.

I blog about Facebook, Twiter, Linkedin, sports marketing, selling skills, sales theory… a range of different topics – that have one common point at the core. Sales.

My perspective always comes back to the $. These are tools to help find, establish, listen to and reinforce customers/clients and keep the dollars following. Is this cold? No – this is business. And (most) businesses are about generating revenue and profit – it is that simple.

As it has been just over a year since I started this blog, I felt it was important to talk about my focus – why I write what I do. I have appreciated all the comments and emails that I received and I look forward to many more.

Thank you for being a reader – thank you for your interest. Now, what are we going to do next?

Is Twitter a Fad?

Published April 30, 2009 Social Media , Twitter 4 Comments
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Beached Whale

It was a pretty strong ride…

No doubt – I am a Twitter user. When I blog about Twitter, I am:

  1. Considering that I am preaching to the converted, and…
  2. Also hoping to help explain the “why Twitter?” as well

Point #2 is the focus of this post. First off – have a look at:

Looks like the meteoric rise of Twitter has plateaued. And let’s be honest – it was a good ride. For while, Twitter was all you heard on the web, on TV, everywhere. Everyone was getting on Twitter, Facebook wanted to be Twitter… Getting popular very fast has 1 scary side effect – the slide back down to earth. Don’t get me wrong – I am a firm believer that Twitter is a powerful and engaging social media platform, and it will continue to be – as it continues to evolve in its own right as well as change the way we communicate.

The trouble with Twitter’s popularity is that many people join up simply because Ashton Kutcher, or Oprah, or Ellen or Obama told them to. This all coincided with the race to 1M followers (did we all just get Punk’d?!?) and ultimately results in millions of people who figured out that they just weren’t that interested after all.

That’s not a bad thing – it’s a good thing. The world has been experimenting with Twitter, and we are all seeing what we will do with it as individuals, as marketers, as businesses as brands.

Is Twitter a fad? No.

What do you think?

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Direct Contact is:

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. . . Sports Industry Services . . .

Carson McKee
Owner, Direct Contact
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