Social media marketers are often a little timid to ask fans to interact with their content. We tell fans when to cheer in-venue though, so why are we so shy about encouraging them to interact online?
Yes, it can feel gimmicky and forced to give instructions to fans asking them to click, comment and like. When done right though, calls-to-engagement can be a powerful rallying cry. They can catapult a great piece of content further, draw new fans in and build a stronger community. The key is to use them strategically, sparingly and creatively.
The good news is that you can get fans to engage with your brand and content, without it feeling desperate. You have to go beyond the surface. Tap into creative, visuals, emotion and unique platform hacks to get your fans and consumer to interact with your content.
Below are a few recent examples of teams who have engaged fans in interesting ways, whether through creative or platform tactics. All of them do a good job of prompting fans to take action and brining them into their content and community.
Sacramento Kings- #Winning On All Levels
In a brilliant off-season play, the @SacramentoKings leveraged Twitter’s polls and thread features to create a “choose your own adventure “game. Through the thread, fans get to make the decisions on how they would handle the final possession at a chance to win it all for the team. The result is a well-executed and unique fan engagement play that puts the story in fans’ hands.
https://twitter.com/SacramentoKings/status/889648180006178816
The @SacramentoKings have also leveraged graphics to do a number associated play. In the example below, they created a graphic and associated all four of their draftees with a number(s). Fans become one of the new King additions based on the last number of their like. Not only did this prompt fans to like the photo, but it also prompted fans to comment who they got.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BWqwQxFF0hj/?taken-by=sacramentokings
Both of these examples from the Kings draw fans into their content in a more personal way. They make fans feel a part of the story and that’s a powerful, powerful thing.
PGA Tour- Reaction Snaps
During the drama-filled Open, the @PGATour asked fans to send in their best reactions via Snap. The best of the best were featured on their Snapchat account. This is a great example of using UGC in a way that’s relevant to the platform. Snapchat is all about people and first hand POVS, so it’s only natural that people would share reactions there. Empower your fans to join your story—this is an easy example to execute.
Things might get crazy. Snapchat us your emotional reactions as the drama unfolds. We might share! 😰😱😁😫🙃
👻: pgatour pic.twitter.com/A5BeS28cEV
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) July 23, 2017
Loved the @PGATOUR reaction snaps yesterday … cool way to get fans involved. #smsports
Some of my faves: pic.twitter.com/hkRZf1lleE
— Ann Drinkard (@anndrinkard) July 24, 2017
ESPN- Design that Prompts
EPSN has been using graphics and design to prompt fans to comment. The creative execution below is strong, making it feel like a poll versus a tactic just to get comments. The post generated 23K comments (that’s way over their average engagement).
The lesson? Design can play a key role in promoting fans to engage. And, a little push every now and then to encourage them to take action never hurts.
Suns- TBT
Make fans part of your publishing game! In a fun and easy TBT play, the @Suns asked for their fans to share their favorite memory. The @Suns, in return, found some of their favorites from the archive and shared them.
Hey Suns fans! Think way back and tell us your favorite moment from our 50 years and we will find it in our archives. Time for #SunsTBT! pic.twitter.com/fhTzk31qJz
— Phoenix Suns (@Suns) July 20, 2017
In conclusion, there are plenty of ways to get fans involved without it feeling like a gimmick. They want to be a part of the conversation and the community, so give them that extra confidence push.
What good examples have you seen from teams or leagues? Share below!
You hit the nail on the head with the Kings. I always felt like they do a great job with fan interaction and engagement on social. Same with the Trailblazers. Both of them find ways to make their social media outlets fun and loose without crossing the line, which also leads to more fan engagement because fans can join in on the fun and what being a fan is all about as well as supporting the team.