What To Consider In #SMSports In 2024

After a long hiatus (yes, I’m talking years), I’m finally bringing back the annual list of things for sports social and content teams to consider in 2024.

This list is not a forecast of trends or a prediction of the future. Our industry is way too unpredictable to play that game. Instead, it’s a list of things to consider focusing on in the year ahead based on observations, lessons learned and insights from others. 

While there were some themes from previous years’ lists I wanted to bring back because they’re still as relevant as ever, I tried very hard to keep the things to consider new topics of conversation. I also understand everyone’s goals and objectives differ, but hopefully, something here will spark a new idea, approach, or thinking.

So, without further ado, here’s a list of what to consider in 2024 with some help from Twitter and friends in the industry in no order or importance.

Focusing On Getting Rid Martyr Syndrome.

Too often, I see people in our industry, especially young professionals, talking about missing big life moments to work in sports. We aren’t curing cancer, though, and to me, there is no reason to miss out on the milestone moments of those closest to you.

The reality is that too few organizations keep a perspective on what we do. We encourage people to make sacrifices, chalk it up to being part of the business, and then create a vicious cycle of martyr syndrome because people who grew up in sports have zero ideas of what some semblance of balance looks like. And in the end, we create burned-out, jaded people in what should be an incredibly fun industry to be part of.

Yes, I understand you can’t take 75% off game weekends. There are times when we in sports will have to RSVP “no,” but sports shouldn’t be at the cost of everything else. In 2024, we need leaders in sports orgs who champion a culture with a perspective on what we do. A culture that allows a give and take between employees and the org and encourages people to show up in the personal moments that really matter to them.

Sports will always require some long hours and sacrifices, but I don’t think we’ve worked hard enough to help people in the industry find some semblance of balance and ensure that they can RSVP “yes” (and not feel guilty) to the moments that really matter. Leaders need to step up and figure out how to eliminate martyr syndrome in their organizations — whether they need to structure their teams differently, show up differently, change their perspective, and champion balance.

Redundancy in Tactical Roles. 

As mentioned above, working in sports will always be a different beast from other industries, but every leader should think about how they can find solutions to create balance for employees. One of the key ways to ensure that employees have balance is to set up an organization with enough redundancy in tactical roles. 

I want to be clear that redundancy in tactical roles isn’t about employees not having individual ownership or creating a bloated organization. Instead, it’s about hiring and structuring teams to amplify collaboration and support within the team. Ideal team structures are set up to have employees still “own” specific responsibilities with the ability to step in, assist and collaborate seamlessly with their respective counterparts. 

Long gone “should” be the days of most sports organizations having one person dedicated to social, one person dedicated to brand strategy, one person dedicated to video, etc. And because we have multiple people contributing, we should be able to set up teams to allow them to flex different schedules. The idea that everyone must be at every game is an outdated idealogy — so take advantage of where and when it makes sense of the redundancy we have in tactical areas. 

Working in sports is fun. And it should be. But if we don’t find a way to let people RSVP “yes” to those important life moments and not feel guilty about it, our industry will not keep the best and the brightest. In 2024, let’s take advantage of our teams’ more robust digital & content structures to help everyone find some balance.

Teams Having Fun.

In 2024, sports teams need to loosen up a button (or two) on social media and not be afraid to have some fun. This is one where my perspective has evolved and lightened up quite a bit, and others in our space agree.

 Here’s what I’ve come to believe firmly: People like sports because they allow them to connect with others & disconnect from the rest. People need fierce competition and a FUN fan experience. Teams, like people, can and should flex. Yes, for most sports orgs, there’s a time and a place. You must know the nuances, but people connect with personality, emotion and humor.

There’s no better example of why fun matters in sports than the Savannah Bananas. I know for me, seeing their approach has been humbling because it’s the ultimate proof of thinking about the fan above all else. I mean, the numbers on these videos speak for themselves:


I know the Savannah Bananas are an extreme example, but they are a massive reminder that social is fun and sports are entertainment. As long as teams care about the foundation – partner, brand moments, etc. – there should be space for fun. 

I do want to emphasize that taking care of the brand foundation is key. The strongest social teams understand that social should be fun but not with disregard for the business. Why? Because fun without purpose is just aimless.

So, in 2024, encourage your social and content team to have fun and take risks. One of the biggest pieces of advice I can give is to try to say yes more than you say no, even if some of the yeses make you uncomfortable. Of course, ideas must fit within the brand box, but let your team push even if it’s outside your comfort zone. 

Encourage ideas vs. deflate, and magic will help. And I’ll leave this thought with some of the “fun” I stumbled across this year in sports: 


No More “What’s Always Been Done”.

Because sports is a small community and we often constantly follow other teams and our peers in the industry, it is easy to get caught up in mirroring the approach of others. But in 2024, the teams that stand out and maximize resources will stop doing what’s always been done, focus less on mirroring other teams and being bullish on the bold things, maximize resources, and genuinely connect with fans.

Standard game coverage and play-by-play. Over-the-top all-star campaigns. A ton of creative resources on holiday graphics. Insane schedule release moments. I’m not saying these things are wrong for all teams, but do we do them because that’s always been done or because we have to keep up with everyone versus doing what’s best for our brand and business?

Want to win? Double down on an approach that’s right for your organization and your fans, regardless of the status quo in sports. There is no sports organization, no matter how big or premiere, that has unlimited resources, so every single team has to prioritize what’s important to them. We can either prioritize the “same old same old” or prioritize the big, bold, meaningful and sometimes scary work. 

In today’s age of endless options and competition, the cookie-cutter approach to content and social channels will no longer work. Sports teams must break away from the formulaic tendencies that often result in generic, easily forgettable content. You don’t have to play by old rules. You don’t have to play by the rules of other teams. You don’t have to play it safe. In 2024 the teams that will win will stop doing what’s always been done and write their own rules.

Flexing YouTube’s Full Ecosystem.

If you are investing in video content, you should invest in YouTube. While the platform is slower to build than other social platforms, I would argue that YouTube has one of the strongest and most stable audiences out of any social network.

The numbers speak for themselves. YouTube has 2.70 billion monthly active users worldwide and approximately 122 million users per day. More than that, though, they reach every age demographic—every marketer’s dream, right?

What I find most interesting about YouTube heading into this New Year is that they’re building a robust ecosystem. Thanks to YouTube Shorts, this platform is no longer just for long-form video; it’s a platform that will support an entire video ecosystem. 

The teams that invest in YouTube and follow best practices will find a video ecosystem that works hard and delivers for them. In 2024 if video is on your radar, YouTube should also be.

Building Out Internal Capabilities.

You can’t compete today online without a strong creative team. The teams that win in 2024 and beyond will be committed to building out their internal capabilities, which include not just the execution part of creative but also the strategy and concept part. 

What’s the benefit of this? A strong internal creative team will allow your org to work quickly and nimbly (as long as you don’t have a cumbersome process in place, which, trust me, you don’t want). But it’s more than just speed. Your internal team knows the brand best and has relationships with internal stakeholders and sports operations. You don’t have to be educated on how to get to x, y, and z; your team already knows this and has built trust.

This isn’t just about having more hands on deck and adding more people. It’s about having the right people with the right skillsets deeply embedded in your brand. In 2024, organizations that focus on building the right creative capabilities with enough breadth and depth to tackle any project will win.

Brand Intentionally Beyond Season Start.

We all know the blueprint for the start of the season. Countdown hype. Tagline push. Season hype video. Too often, teams kick off the season epically and intentionally, only for that to fizzle the minute we get into the gameday routine. The one-and-done approach to a team’s brand has to stop.

In 2024, it’s time to consider a more consistent drumbeat of intentionality around your team’s brand. It’s time for teams to resist the fade into a rhythm of score updates, player statistics, and game results that so often happen as we get into the swing of the season. The game action is undeniably essential, but so is building, protecting, and fostering your brand foundation (if you want to know why, I’ve written some about that here). Building an emotional connection with your fans helps through the highs and the lows, and it’s not just a nice to have today. It’s essential. 

Looking for an example of this? While it’s only one tactical example, the Ravens do an excellent job of reinforcing their brand DNA in their weekly trailers. They aren’t just hype videos. They reinforce their identity and scream Baltimore in their look, vibe, and tone.


Not Being Too Precious With Production.

I believe one of the biggest challenges for digital and content teams moving forward is figuring out the balance between quality versus quality, imperfect versus perfect, and nimble versus work that requires editors to dive deep. We live in a space where creative capabilities have become next-level, the world moves fast, and sports, more than most industries, require more volume.

But I think we have gotten caught up in the wrong things in the creative arms race in many ways. Teams don’t need SportsCenter-level studio sets or 20-person production shoots to do great work. We don’t have to sweat the tiny details, fuss over edits that don’t matter, and try to perfect everything about a video. The reality is that to truly get our audience’s attention, we have to evoke something in them — and that doesn’t come from an elaborate production. It comes from a strong idea, narrative, and solid execution. It’s a realization that the most compelling content—the ideas that stir emotions and forge connections—transcends the obsession with perfection and broadcast-level production. 

So, in 2024, let’s realize production doesn’t have to be so precious. Teams that understand this are more agile and resourceful. Instead of sweating the small stuff, they can be laser-focused on strong concepts, testing & learning, and scaling.


Understanding The Power of Access. 

The best social and creative team’s job in sports is to tell the story/narrative of the team, bring fans inside, and build an emotional connection (through the highs and lows). All of this is done through access and buy-in from the competition side. 

The other day I watched this long-form piece from the Detriot Lions, though, and it made me think about how the power of access goes far beyond the week-to-week content churn of a team’s channels. 


Yes, access helps bring fans closer to the team during the highs and lows. I’ll argue that value all day, but the impact runs deeper than fostering a closer fan-team relationship. Access holds historical significance. It can provide a window into the past, offering valuable historical footage that encapsulates the journey and legacy of an organization. We’re fortunate to live in an era where we can preserve the moments that define the team’s history forever in an intimate and personal way. And here’s the kicker: access becomes an invaluable asset when a team embarks on a magical run (hence how the Lions inspired this thought). Those behind-the-scenes glimpses, the candid shots, and exclusive footage? They transform into cherished keepsakes, documenting the magical journey for fans and becoming a part of the team’s storied legacy. 

So, while access humanizes and brings fans closer, in 2024, I think teams must understand and pitch its broader significance. Access is not just about the now. It’s about preserving the past and potentially capturing the extraordinary moments that become the stuff of our team’s histories. 


Drive Awe Through Creative.

This one is purely driven by my love and admiration for the Aston Martin F1 Team’s creative flair and captivating creativity. As someone who works in the industry, I typically do not become a fan of social accounts, but their work has pulled me in. They have a style; they push the boundaries and truly awe people through creativity. I will not harp much on this one, but I believe the teams that will win in 2024 will continue pushing the envelope in the creative space and surprise and delight fans with exciting concepts and fun, creative flair. 

Here are a few of their recent examples:

That ends my list of things to consider in #smsports in 2024. As always, there are no hard, fast rules here, and every team has to do what’s right for them, but hopefully, something inspired you here. And before we wrap, I’ll leave you with a few other great points from others in the #smsports community.

Now it’s your turn to sound off. What do you think teams should be considering in 2024?

Six Things The Best Social Teams in Sports Do Differently

Working in the social and content space in sports is a different beast from other industries. You can’t predict the final product. The volume of content and information flow is high and constant. And the passion for the product is unmatched. 

Despite our industry’s uniqueness, marketing in our space often feels the same. There’s a lot of rinsing and repeating year over year— many of the same on-the-field or on-the-ice moments, game highlights, etc. 

It’s not easy, I get it. But the teams that can get away from the rinse and the repeat are the teams that will win and build a brand fans have an affinity for for years to come. So, what separates the best social and content teams from the rest? While this list could be even more exhaustive, here are the top things that stand out to me:

1. Understand moments are a platform for the brand.

Significant moments in sports — season start, player signings, milestones, important wins, etc. — are more than big moments. They’re a platform for your brand. At a time when fan emotions are high and their attention undivided, this is a team’s chance to reinforce who they are and shine a light on why fans root for them.

Too often, though, content created in these moments is so generic it could be interchangeable across teams. How many player signing announcement graphics or videos have you seen that all feel the same? If the creative pieces are so generic they could work across any team, then the moment has not been done justice. 

Owning big moments as a platform for our brand is something we have worked hard to do at Stewart-Haas Racing. And while I often avoid talking about any of our team’s work, what we did when we announced Josh Berry to the No. 4 car is an easy way for me to showcase what it means to use big moments to reinforce your DNA. Here is our announcement video:

For those less familiar with NASCAR, Berry is replacing Kevin Harvick. Harvick is a future hall-of-fame racer who elevated the expectations for SHR and will go down as one of the greatest drivers in our sport. With the announcement, we needed a strong passing of the torch moment that would emotionally connect with fans, solidify Berry as the right racer for the moment and reinforce WHY he is the guy for the No. 4 ride and fits our mold at SHR.

Everything we did, we created with those goals in mind. Having Harvick be our voice for the announcement wasn’t just a nice to have; it was a strategic play to give validity to the passing of the torch. The language in the script was written to reinforce our expectations of the No. 4 and our racers at SHR. The theme of #4WARD was to showcase our excitement for this next chapter and give fans an anchor to rally around. 

Additionally, we were strategic about our ancillary content leveraging assets that would help reinforce Josh being the right guy for the ride and the fact that he’ll fit in with our “bunch of racers” mold at SHR. Everything from copy to image selection plays a part. 


There are so many moments in sports that you can’t control. When teams have these big moments, they must capitalize on them to reinforce their DNA and maximize fan attention. It’s one thing to execute against big moments — it’s another thing to maximize them. And the best social teams in sports leverage the heck out of them. 

2. Don’t rely solely on game and practice coverage.

One of the biggest challenges I see for content teams in sports is the reliance on games and practice for content. You might wonder what the issue is. After all, games and practices are the key components of our product. 

The issue is that relying solely on games and practices for content creates a sea of sameness. How many times can we see the same touchdown play from 20 different accounts?

Getting buy-in well outside of games and practice was an area the industry was shifting toward, and for some reason, most teams never got there. Now I scroll, and it feels like there’s less “newness” and lots of “sameness” in the sports and content space. In reality, game and practice coverage is rarely ownable as so many people have access to highlights. 

If teams can get buy-in for content out of games and practice, they’ll win big. It puts less reliance on performance and more emphasis on personalities. Yep, it’s challenging. That’s why it’s a big win. 

I’m not devaluing the challenges that come with getting this buy-in. I understand it’s a tall task. But, leaders in the sports marketing space have to push their teams to find creative solutions to make this happen. And the leaders need to advocate for its importance to those who push back. 

But what’s the pitch to advocate for it?

The pitch is that getting buy-in beyond the games allows our team to control our narrative. It helps our team humanize our players — and people connect with people. It builds a long-term play with our fans so that they can build a connection with the team regardless of the on-the-field product. And it helps us build a stronger brand presence, which makes us more valuable to current and future partners. 

Teams that figure it out will separate themselves.

3. Take care of the business.

We sometimes see griping and moaning in the #smsports space about wanting more credibility, appreciation, and understanding of what the work brings. But the reality is social and content teams need to care about and execute against the business needs to get credit where credit is due. It’s our job to show the value we bring.

Here’s the truth: Sponsored content isn’t a burden. It’s a blessing. And the best social teams in sports understand this — and work hard against it. 

Years ago, it took a lot of work to advocate for resources on the social and content side because we were still learning the value it brought to the business overall. Today, the business case for social and content is easy — thanks to a rise in sponsor interest and paid media for ticket sales — as long as you’re committed to executing against it.

The best social sports teams focus on serving their partners and ensuring their sponsored content is authentic, interesting and engaging. Gone are the days of slapping a logo on something or pushing content that doesn’t belong on a team’s channels. It’s all about integration and providing value. 

Instead of looking at sponsored content and ticket initiatives as a burden, consider them an opportunity. An opportunity to get more resources, test new things, and showcase the team’s value to the business.  

4. Tap into the emotion of sports. 

Emotion is one of the most powerful tools we have as marketers, in and out of sports. Whether it’s thrill, awe, empathy or humor, content that evokes emotions connects with the fan in a way that compels them to pay attention. It’s the most critical component in creating valuable content.

And lucky for us, sports are full of emotion.

The best social teams in sports know how to harness, curate and spot the emotion of sports to create strong content. They have an eye for human moments beyond the scores and understand innately the type of content that resonates with the fanbase. They tug at the heartstrings because, let’s be honest, people gravitate towards sports because of how they make us feel. 

Here are a few examples of strong emotional content I’ve seen recently in sports + a link to a post on X with more examples from the sports community:

Jonah Berger said it best. When people care, they share. So, unlock the power of emotion and sports to connect with people and capture their attention. If you want people to stop, care and share, evoke a feeling. 

5. Execute like a human but within their brand box.

Passion runs high in sports, and fans seek an authentic connection to feel closer to their team. And the best way to connect with fans while ensuring you are driving towards business goals is to think like a brand but execute like a human. Let me explain what I mean by this. 

Let’s talk about “think like a brand”. When building their strategy and plans, strong social media teams wear their brand hat first. They think through what it will take to reach their goals, all while playing in the box that’s been defined. They also understand that a brand’s voice, tone, and personality should feel consistent across channels regardless of admin.

 But, while everything teams do should ladder back to the brand and business, we must also remember why people like sports. We can serve our brand and business and still have fun.

This is where “execute like a human” comes in. The best social media teams in sports unbutton a button on social. They don’t reach for a stiff presence that is overthought, overprocessed, too polished, too overdone, built-for-awards, and not built for the audience. Instead of being corporate when they execute, they execute like a human and understand the nuances of social, which require a more casual tone, approachable manner and attention to fans

The reality is people don’t want to be sold to, preached to, or talked at. They want to connect, and the best way for sports teams to do that is through a personable tone, engaging in conversations, sharing behind-the-scenes glimpses, showing empathy, and being honest.

So, if you want to foster a sense of community, trust, and loyalty among fans, make sure your team thinks like a brand but executes like a human.

6. They don’t overthink the creative process.

The best social teams in sports don’t overthink the creative process. Now, I realize this probably sounds contradictory to someone who believes in over-investing in “brand” and ensuring teams are incredibly intentional, but hear me out. 

Too often in the creative process, we obsess about the things that don’t matter and aren’t intentional about the things that do. I’ve been part of a variety of organizations and organizational structures. The biggest mistake I see is how organizations set up creativity and content to “happen” in organizations.  

A lot of organizations want to treat creative as a precious commodity. They want to separate the strategy from the creative and vice versa. It’s like some sacred entity that only a few can contribute to. It’s a thing where risks are avoided and overanalyzed so much it’s water-downed. When creativity becomes so precious that no one outside of creative can contribute to an idea or create, organizations don’t maximize it. 

Orgs need to stop overthinking and overprocessing creative and content. Instead of making it difficult to execute, marketing in sports orgs should be built to:

– Allow people to flex different muscles
– Build natural collaboration
– Create an environment of yes
– Move quickly
– Fail & learn
– Freedom

Creative and content is too important in social today to let ego get in the way. Organizations need to be intentional about building an environment that maximizes creativity and let’s team execute freely.

Bonus: They have an evergreen content strategy.

One of the critical pieces to moving beyond the scores and on-field action is to define an evergreen content strategy, and the strongest teams take the time to develop and execute one. An evergreen content helps provide year-round relevance by focusing on timeless content that is relevant regardless of where you are in the season or how the team is performing. Don’t let the highs and lows of a season define your social presence. Invest in an evergreen content strategy!

As mentioned, this list isn’t exhaustive of everything that separates the strongest social media teams in sports from the rest. To get an outside perspective on what the strongest social media teams do, I sourced some answers on X, and I’ll leave you with them. You’ll see some overlap from the ones above and some new ones as well:

It’s Time To Redefine What Quality Content Means

In this era of TikTok, memes and lofi content, we face a unique challenge for creatives and digital teams. The challenge? To redefine what we view as quality content.

For so long, “quality” content has referred to the level of production value – how polished, how pretty and how much work was put into it. Creators and marketers have historically defined the standard for quality content and advertising by what they deem aesthetically and creatively appealing. And, we have been looking at it all wrong.

Digital, with instant feedback from consumers and a generation that’s creating straight from their phones, is forcing us to rethink how we approach and think about all aspects of marketing — and the definition of quality content should be one of them. For so long quality content has been based on a marketer’s definition and has completely ignored the audience.

Are you ready for the truth about content?

Our audiences don’t care how much time was spent creating something. They don’t care if a piece is polished or it isn’t. They don’t debate 4K video vs. iPhone video or care if Photoshop or Canva were used to make a graphic. And, they especially don’t care if something went through a 100-person approval process.

Our audiences care if the content is interesting to them, period.

Because of this, it’s time to flip the definition of “quality” content on its head. Quality content should not only be defined by production value. Quality content should be determined by how much it resonates with the audience.

This is not to downplay high-production value. I believe production value and creative integrity matter, but there’s a time and a place. For far too long creative has been upheld as a very precious thing that has to be perfect. And in our audience’s eyes, that’s not the case.

It’s actually empowering and freeing for all creatives out there when you realize the standard of creative you’ve set for yourself is higher than the audience you’re catering to. All the rules we’ve been taught or enforced on ourselves are out the window. We have permission to experiment; not everything has to be perfect.

If quality content can take many shapes and forms, then we don’t need to get bogged down in the details that simply don’t matter. We can test and try and let some less-so-polished things fly.

If we can remember that consumers scroll, tap and move on quickly and that the shelf life of content is short and fleeting, then we can permit ourselves not to have to make everything perfect.

If we can understand that quality content is less about the time spent on something and more about how much it resonates with people, we’ll spend more time on how to evoke emotion in people and less time worrying about how to simply make it pretty.

Quality content is about making people feel, not making something pretty. It’s always a win when you can make people feel something with pretty content, but it doesn’t always have to be high production and artistically perfect to resonate.

Creatives and marketers have to get comfortable with what makes us uncomfortable. We should always want to put our best foot forward, but that doesn’t mean we have to be so precious that we don’t recognize that lofi and less polished content has its place — and that it actually reosnates.

So here’s to lots of quality content ahead, whether it’s a lofi Tiktok created straight from your phone or a long-form video that tells an emotional human interest story. As a consumer, I hope my feeds are filled with both.

Brand Matters In Sports & It Takes Work To Get There

One of the things I’ve believed for a long time is the need for sports team to build up their brands well beyond the scores. In an unpredictable industry with so many variables you cannot control, a team’s “brand” should be the one constant.

If you spend all your energy focusing on the team performance, then you put all your bets on building a brand based on winning. After all, if you’re only focused on team performance, then the only way you’re going to connect with fans is if you perform at a high level and win consistently. 

This video below from Steve Jobs on their Think Different campaign captures the essence of what brand marketing is about. As Steve says, it’s about values. It’s about being clear what your brand stands for and what you want fans to take away from it. 


More than that though, Steve nails it when he says “even a great brand needs investments and caring if it’s going to retain its relevance and vitality”.  It’s this idea that really hits home with sports. If you want to remain relevant during the highs and lows of team performance, then you need to give fans a reason to care and feel invested beyond wins.

But what does it take to build a brand for a sports team? I’ve been spending a lot of time working through brand work and how we define it, execute it, and bring it all to life. I’ve come to this place where three core components are required: your brand identity, your brand strategy, and your brand plan. And while I think many people lump these all together, I believe they are all three distinct building blocks that must work together.

Brand Identity 

The first building block of your brand is your brand identity. I realize this might be counterintuitive to all the “strategy first” that’s been ingrained in our heads, but hear me out.

So often, when a brand identity is talked about, the only focus is on the logo and look and feel. Your brand identity is not just a logo; a brand identity is about your DNA and the things that make you unique. Visuals are a huge component of any brand, but to believe it’s the only thing that defines your brand identity feels fundamentally flawed and ultimately waters down the work it requires to build one. 

Before marketers build out any plans, they must understand why a brand exists, and your brand identity helps you get there. Building your brand identity should be strategic in nature, but it’s not your strategy. Think about your brand identity as the team’s compass for how to bring the brand to life. 

I don’t believe there are hard fast rules for building out your identity, but a few things to consider including in the identity work that will help you understand what you stand for:

Your Origin Story – How was your team or company founded? Are there any interesting facts, moments or themes from the beginning that helped to build your foundation today? 

Your Why – This is where you include things like your brand ambition, purpose, vision, and values. 

Your Personality – If your brand was a person, how would it talk, write, and interact with others? This is where you outline your muse, your voice & tone and your writing style. 

Your Look & Feel – This is exactly what it sounds like. Your logo, visual identity and style guide. 

Your Brand Platform – A brand platform is what you want to communicate and your public-facing messaging points and tagline. 

The result is a brand book to guide internal and external partners when you put this all together. For the most part, this won’t change and any additions or changes should be subtle. 

Brand Strategy  

On the other hand, your brand strategy is about the visionary roadmap to bring your brand identity to life. 

Your strategy should first start with your goals, but these goals must cascade down from “your why” that you outlined in your brand identity. 

Once you understand your goals, it’s important to take a look at your competitor landscape, the opportunities and the challenges. By doing this work, you’ll start to see the white space opportunities that could help you reach your goals, stand out from your competitors and ultimately build a strong brand identity. 

The final part of your strategy is to outline the methods – those key big focuses – that you’ll take to reach your goals and vision. 

Your strategy should be more long-range, forecasting ahead and giving you a roadmap of the big vision for an extended period of time (often spanning two to five years) — but it will need to be revisited and re-built, unlike the brand identity. 

Brand Plan 

Your brand plan is about the actionable actions you will take to implement your strategies, and these are the tactics that the team executes on a day-to-day basis. 

Your brand plan changes more frequently. Even if your strategy is a three to five-year roadmap, you’ll look at your brand plan yearly, quarterly and even in opportunistic moments. 


All of these components come together for a robust plan that will make sure your team is standing out, well beyond the scores. This is important for everyone within the organization to know — and is most likely relevant for external partners as well. Building a strong brand requires buy-in from everyone within an organization, and it’s not just the job of the marketing team to contribute.

Once you have your work on paper, I also recommend distilling it into a simple framework that people can easily digest. Like the work above, there are a lot of ways to do this, but here’s a sample of what a brand architecture can look like.

Take this work and evanalegize it.

Does this sound like a lot of work? That’s because it is. But if you only focus on short-term tactics, you’ll only get short-term gains. Teams and leagues must play the long game.  

If you build your brand right, you’ll build fan affinity that

Why We Have To Stop Screaming “Buy Tickets”

Digital marketing has come a long way from the early days. It’s no longer a platform to just push information. We can now reach consumers, engage them and ultimately get them to convert.

With the strides over the years in performance media, digital has become a powerful tool for brands to drive results quickly. The ability to map revenue back to the platforms has been a huge catalyst in leadership taking digital more seriously.

There’s a challenge to all this though. In the search for a better ROAS, we’ve become obsessed with data and quick results. We’ve become impatient as marketers often playing the short-game instead of the long-game. We’ve become flat and uninspired in our advertising often pushing people to the end of the funnel at all cost.

If we aren’t careful, we’re going to lose the true magic of what digital allows us to do. As marketers, we can’t be focused on brand marketing alone and we can’t only be focused on performance marketing alone. We have to do both and ensure they work together.

The rise of performance media has led to marketing that is often too transactional. There is a misconception that telling people to “buy tickets” and spending dollars broadcasting it across channels will drive “butts in seats”. The result is marketing that is generic, annoying to consumers and dilutes the brand foundation that’s been built.

Here’s the thing. It’s not enough just to sell. We have to sell well. This means getting consumers to buy through campaigns that feel authentic, relevant and engaging for consumers and celebrates the brand. It’s about building up brand equity, while also getting people to convert. Doing this requires a strong understanding of the brand, our consumer and what makes good creative.

Instead of treating performance marketing and brand marketing as separate entities, it’s time to treat them as partners. These two things must work together if we want to drive the strongest results possible and play the long-term game.

Nik Sharma, one of my favorite thought leaders in the space, coined the perfect term: It’s time to focus on performance branding.  Take the time to read his thread on it:


Performance branding is about driving a connection while also driving business results. It’s about building a nimble plan that puts the brand first, builds long-term affinity, leverages the right data with creative and sells tickets. It blends the magic of why people love sports (the emotion) with what we’re all hired to do (sell tickets and drive revenue).

If you are looking to adopt this mentality, here are a few things to keep in mind:


Fans don’t want to be sold too.

Fans don’t want to be sold too. They want to be entertained, engaged and delivered relevant information. If you work for a sports team there’s a good chance people already know that tickets are available. And because of that, screaming at people that tickets are on sale won’t do much except maybe close the loop on those who were probably going to buy one way or another. It’s not about saying “tickets are on sale now”. It’s about capturing fan attention.


Emotion over selling tickets.

Instead of selling tickets to fans, performance branding is about showing fans what the experience is all about. It’s about tapping into the emotion of why people love sports. The community, the camaraderie, the action, the excitement. Don’t tell people that tickets are on sale. Show them what they miss out on by not attending a game in person.

Emotion is the most powerful tools we have as marketers. Performance branding leverages the emotional connection fans have to the game versus a transactional tone. When we tap into emotion instead of transaction we pull consumers in instead of turning them off. And when we have their attention and capture their hearts, it’s more likely that they’ll convert. Sell the emotion, not the tickets.


Know what makes good creative.

For whatever reason, there tends to be a “check the box” mentality with creative in digital advertising. Too often teams have an extremely engaging presence on social, but a completely dry and boring approach to how their brand comes through digital advertising.

Brand creative and performance marketing creative should not be a separate thing. In fact, the overall brand creative should help drive and influence how creative comes to life across performance marketing. If creative feels completely disconnected from the brand values, the brand messaging and what makes the team/fan base unique, then something is amiss. The stronger the creative, the stronger the results.

At the end of the day, what works on organic is most likely going to work in your digital advertising efforts. It’s not about the sell with the content, but capturing attention, hearts and minds.


Not all consumers are created equal.

Too often there’s an approach with digital advertising to “spray and pray”. We have so much data today, yet so often we bombard our data lists with the same message, same creative, same frequency. If we don’t have a true understanding of our target consumers, then we’ll never have a true understanding of what they need from us.

It’s important to keep in mind that not all consumers are created equal. If your job is to sell tickets, then take the time to define and understand what your target audience looks like. Not everyone you are trying to reach is going to have the same reasons why they come to a game or cheer for a team. From diehard fans to social fans, their needs are different.

Do the hard work to understand your current and prospective fans. Know why they care and why they buy, then mold the message to them. More relevant messaging and products can go a long way in getting fans to convert.


Conversions can take time – that’s okay.

As mentioned, performance marketing has made us impatient as marketers. We look for the quick conversion instead of playing the long game. Not all conversions happen quickly though – but that does not take away from the important of building brand affinity, prospecting and warming up a lead. When teams invest in an approach that blends brand and performance, it allows them to still build equity with a fan or consumer that is not quite ready to buy.

Think about it. A consumer that is being retargeted from your site or cart abandoner is a completely different consumer than one that hasn’t even considered buying a ticket. Hitting up a less warm lead with a  “buy tickets now” message does not build any equity. But, hitting them up with an emotional ad that pulls them in and piques their interest helps build brand affinity. They might not convert today, but at least you got their attention and have them thinking about your brand.

Not all conversions are created equal. It’s important to remember that your investment in digital advertising does not have to be a “this or that” approach. You can build up fan affinity and brand equity, while also drive ticket sales. It’s the teams that invest in the long game and not just the short game that will win over time.

Here’s a really smart thread on why you should be invested in both brand and performance. It’s about DTC, but still extremely relevant:


Touchpoints matter.

The traditional consumer journey is changing drastically. Today, we need to think less about the sequence of messaging and more about the different touchpoints and the context/intent of the channel. Reaching a consumer through SEM is different than social; SEM is more lower-full, while social help makes a lead warmer.

So often though, we look at reporting through channel-based metrics. And, I don’t think it paints the full picture. Just because someone bought through SEM does not mean that the rest of the efforts did not play a part. We shouldn’t focus only on where people convert. It’s about the totality of our efforts and not one single ad.

We need to think about how we measure the totality efforts and look at attribution differently. It’s important to understand how all the touchpoints all work together to move consumer along to convert.


Touchpoints matter.

The traditional consumer journey is changing drastically. Today, we need to think less about the sequence of messaging and more about the different touchpoints and the context/intent of the channel. Reaching a consumer through SEM is different than social; one shows intent while one might help to warm up a lead. It’s doesn’t mean that one is less important than the other though.

So often though, we look at reporting through channel-based metrics and we invest in the areas where we see the most direct ROI. And, I don’t think it paints the full picture. Just because someone bought through SEM does not mean that the rest of the efforts did not play a part. We shouldn’t focus only on where people convert. It’s about the totality of our efforts and not one single ad.

We need to think about how we measure the totality efforts and look at attribution differently. It’s important to understand how all the touchpoints all work together to move consumer along to buy.


Be nimble.

One of the beauties in digital advertising is it allows us to be nimble. Unlike traditional marketing channels, we can test, try and tweak daily. If something isn’t working, then change the approach.

A campaign should never be pushed live and walked away from. The best results are driven through daily monitoring, making changes and keeping creative fresh.

Specific to sports teams, it’s also important to make sure your digital advertising efforts have a pulse on the team and fan sentiment. Creative should not be tone deaf to what’s happening on the field. Be nimble and tailor your creative accordingly.


At the end of the day, performance media and brand should go hand-in-hand. As marketers, we need to close the gap and make sure that we’re driving both fan affinity and ticket sales for long-term growth. Performance branding is the ultimate sweet spot that allows us to tap into why our fans love our teams while also driving business results.

Looking for a few examples of strong creative focused selling the experience, emotion or engaging content versus transaction? A few examples below: