Tag: nba

7 Strong Social Plays During the NBA Finals

By Jessica Smith On June 21, 2016 In NBA

The NBA is one of the most innovative digital and social leagues, so it’s no surprise that the digital and social coverage has been top notch. From embracing technology to a focus on original content, the league, teams and other outlets nailed their coverage of the NBA Finals. Below are seven strong plays worth noting:

 

Sharp Graphics

Strong visual content is key to social now. Not only are people visual by nature, but it helps your content stand out from the crowd. The NBA, Cavs and Warriors had strong visual content throughout the NBA Final

The Warriors and Cavs defined a consistent look and feel, while the NBA mixed up their creative. I like the approaches respectively. For teams, there’s something to be said about strong, consistent branding. For the NBA, since they cover so many teams and games, it’s interesting to see different creative elements throughout the season.

Here are some of the highlights:

 
#NBAArt UGC
As a bonus, I also like how the NBA crowdsourced designs using #NBAart to give fans a chance to be featured on their Instagram and on @NBATV broadcast. There are so many creative fans out there. Not only does this leverage their creativity, but it build community and loyalty by getting your fans engaged. Below are some of the amazing UGC submissions they used.

 

Messenger Experimentation

There has been a lot of talk in our industry about bots. Thanks to the rise of messenger apps and the need for a personalized experience industry leaders are leaning to chatbots as the future, Here’s a good read on chatbots if you’re interested.

The NBA capitalized on this trend by launching a chatbot on Messenger. The bot delivered fans instant highlights during the NBA Finals. The process to set it up was easy and seamless, and I was pushed wonderful highlights at the end of each game.

Screen-Shot-2016-06-03-at-10.23.12

While there are limitations to what the chatbot delivers, I applaud the NBA for being on the forefront. All the data points to a strong rise in messaging and chatbots. And for a league that has built so much equity in their online and digital presence, it makes sense that they would be on the forefront. Brands that fall behind the curve risk being cut out of the conversation. The NBA won’t be one of those brands.

 

Snapchat Geofilters

Snapchat has been on the rise for awhile now, recently reaching 150 million daily users. And while teams, leagues and brands are going all in on it, there is one thing all of us as marketers should note: this platform is a lot different than others. It’s not about the push. The power on the platform is in empowering OTHERS to share brand love.

Snapchat gives teams, leagues and brands the opportunities to empower others to share brand love through their geofilters and lenses. And there were some strong, creative ones during the NBA Finals.

As you continue to build out your Snapchat presence, it’s worth investing heavily in geofilters around games and events. Be creative, have fun with it and empower your fans.

 

Smart Messaging to Fans

The Warriors did a good job of messaging to their fans. The content saluted Dub Nation and created an emotional, FOMO-like effect, whether it was their hype videos or their ticket promos.

When you directly speak to fans, it makes the content more personal and emotional. And, content that resonates emotionally is more likely to be shared. Don’t just push messages to your fans; speak to them directly and personally. It’s not about a push, but about pulling them in.

 

3-Second Ads

@UABasketball created three second ads for every three pointer Curry made during the playoffs. And, before you call me biased, let me state that I DO NOT work on the basketball business at UA. I’m extremely proud of the place I work, but I try to stay away from our own work… this one deserves a nod though.

There’s power in simplicity. The concept of three second ads for three pointers is simple, but that’s why it’s brilliant. UA Hoops doesn’t have to be everything to everyone during the finals; instead, they can offer their unique value. It’s an easy concept to grasp and the content is entertaining and humorous.

The lesson here is that the best ideas are often simple ideas. If you can’t communicate your big idea in 60 seconds, then you probably need to focus and hone in more. You can read more about the three-second ad activation here.

 

Bleacher Report’s Original Content

In the crowded social media and sports space, it’s hard to stand out from the noise. The key in doing so is creating your own, unique point of view and Bleacher Report has done just that. Throughout the finals and playoffs, Bleacher Report killed it with their own, branded content. They tap into humor, pop culture, drama and the sentiment of the internet. Their content not only performs well, but if often beats out the likes of media competitors, the league and teams. Here are a few highlights:

The approach Bleacher Report takes to content might not be right for your brand or team, but it’s an important lesson in defining your point of view. What’s your purpose for your fans online? It’s time to give some serious consideration to it if you want to stand out from all the noise. Read more about defining a POV here.

 

360-Video

During the NBA Finals, Twitter partnered with the NBA and Samsung for 360-degree video deal. Twitter cards linked out to videos shot with 360-degree cameras, allowing users to click and drag around the scene. Read more about it here.

While I wish users were not driven away from the platform, I love the immersive experience and how intuitive it is to mobile. As technology improves, fans expectations are going to continue to grow around the experience we provide through digital. Part of that expectation will be a more immersive experience, and this is a great example of how it can be delivered.

 

 

What stood out to you from a social and digital perspective with the NBA Finals this year? Share your thoughts below.

Thanks for reading!

NBA Social Media Managers Share Top Moments from the Regular Season

By Jessica Smith On April 23, 2015 In Lessons Learned, Social Media with 2 Comments

If you follow the NBA on social media, then you know the league and teams get the social media and digital landscape. From fun banter to crazy trending hashtags and good video content, they have embraced social media unabashedly as a way to connect with their fans and their target audience. The focus is paying off as the league has added 240 million new fans since the end of last season.

Now that the regular season has ended, seven social media/digital managers shared their top moments from it. Here they are, with my takeaways on what we can all learn:

 

Atlanta Hawks- All About the W’s

Twitter | Facebook | Instagram |

For Atlanta Hawks, their top moment was the W’s in their Twitter name during the 19-game winning streak. They started adding a W to HaWks for every game of the streak. When it got too long for Twitter, they had to scramble, and they started adding them to their avatar.

Not only did they add W’s to their name, but the Hawks created social content to highlight the all-important update to their Twitter name. It was a simple tactic, but smart, tactic that diflucan-fluconazole.net attention from both the media and fans.

 

 

Lesson: The Hawks have not played by the rules this regular season. Whether it’s platform best practices or Twitter name character limits, the Hawks do things their way and creatively. It’s a great reminder that we don’t always have to play in the box we have been given.

Thanks to Jaryd Wilson, the Atlanta Hawks Digital Content Manager, for his insight with this post. Give him a follow on Twitter: @JarydWilson 

 

Portland Trail Blazers- LA Returns and #WeTheNorthToo

Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Piece on the Digital Team

1- LA Returns
It was probably the best news their team received this season. LaMarcus Aldridge, thought to be out for the rest of the season, decided to postpone surgery and play through injury the rest of the season. The news caught everyone – even the PR staff – off guard. After tweeting the official “news”, the team decided to stay true to our voice and have some fun with it. As you can see from the tweet below, it certainly resonated with their fans:

Lesson: There are many times when your team or league is going to have to put out official announcements in a formal manner. If the news is positive though, keep the momentum going with fun, on brand content that will really resonate with your audience (just like the Trailblazers did). Big news and announcements should not be a one and done approach.

2- #WeTheNorthToo
Someone pointed this out earlier in the season, so the Trailblazers team had this content in the cue. According to Simply Measured, the tweet received 41x more engagement of their average tweet and earned the highest engagement of the season.

Lesson: Listen to your audience and those around you for content ideas. Take the ideas and store them away for the perfect timing.

Thanks to Kris Koivisto, the Trail Blazers Managing Editor, for his insight with this post. Give him a follow on Twitter: @KrisKoivisto

 

San Antonio Spurs- Inspiring Homework

Twitter | Facebook | Instagram |

This tweet was one of the best stories from the Spurs’ season. The photo below was sent to the Spurs Facebook account by the mother of a little boy who asked her to check his homework. The social media team gets hundreds of messages a day, but this one stood out. The reaction on Twitter was wonderful and Danny Green retweeted it himself. Later that week, Danny grabbed a Spurs franchise record for 3-pointers made in a season. After his post-game interview that night, he told us that his friends have started calling him “moneyball” in honor of the homework assignment.

Lesson: Fans are generating fantastic content for you to share everyday. Keep your eyes and ears open for user-generated content to leverage. User-generated content is cost effective, pulls fans into your community and provides a different perspective. Start leveraging it now!

Thanks to Megan Julian, the Spurs Social Media Coordinator, for her insight with this post. Give her a follow on Twitter: @emjayy22

 

Denver Nuggets- Embrace a Gold Medal Run

Twitter | Facebook | Instagram |

The top social moment from this past year for the Nuggets was their campaign around Kenneth Faried’s gold medal run during the World Cup of Basketball. The team used the hashtag #GoFariedGoUSA, changed the name of @denvernuggets from ‘Denver Nuggets’ to #GoFariedGoUSA throughout the campaign and promoted/supported the USA’s run to gold and Faried’s involvement on all digital platforms. It was truly a cross-platform approach for the Nuggets. Here’s a look at some of the content from the campaign:

Snapchat content.

Snapchat content.

 

Lesson: When there’s an opportunity to tell a broader story, like Kenneth Faried’s gold medal run, be sure to take a cross-platform approach and vary your content. The Denver Nuggets campaign was strong because they tapped into all their platforms, varied the content and told the story from beginning to end.

Thanks to Jared Harding, the Social Media + Digital Director at KSE, for his insight with this post. Give him a follow on Twitter: @jaredharding

 

Detroit Pistons- Emotional Reunion

Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

For the Pistons, one of the coolest things from their season was a surprise military reunion in March. They worked with some partners and military organizations to surprise the mother of Private Namon Bledsoe. Their halftime performer Gloria Gaynor helped with the surprise and Andre Drummond helped lead out Private Bledsoe to his mom. The Pistons used the opportunity to also tell the story of Private Namon Bledsoe online through video (which earned more than 60K YouTube views):

Lesson: Many teams have in-venue moments and promotions that could also be a strong story to tell online. Find which promotions have emotional elements to tell online in a compelling way and leverage them like the Pistons did. It’s important to merge your in-venue initiatives with your online ones.

Thanks to Doug Wernert, the Social Media Director at the Pistons, for his insight with this post. Give him a follow on Twitter: @dougwernert

 

Cleveland Cavaliers- Digitally Dominant

Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

This season the Cavs embraced several digital initiatives that really set them a part. One example is their 2014-15 Season Timeline. The Cavs created an interactive, sliding page that encapsulated the tremendous year for their organization — and it is being updated through the postseason. While it’s a webpage, they will be sending social highlights of the moments included and directing fans back to cavs.com/timeline.

Screen Shot 2015-04-23 at 2.34.26 PM

Lesson: 140 characters alone isn’t always enough to stand on. Think through the stories you want to tell strategically and then find a way to tell them, both through digital and social platforms. Make sure that both components work together and not in a silo. Together, your web and social presence can tell a more powerful story.

Thanks to Michael Conley, the VP of Digital at the Cavs, for his insight with this post. Give him a follow on Twitter: @mpconley

 

Sacramento Kings- Got Tacky

Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

In November, Sacramento launched their Kings “Ugly Sweater” with a photo shoot of some of the players rocking the sweater in various (clearly staged) locations. It was immediately shared across several National blogs as well as featured on The Today Show. And, the sweater ended up selling out online and in-store within a few hours. They also hosted an “Ugly Sweater Night” a few weeks later to build off of the excitement and momentum of the initial launch.

tweet 3

tweet2

tweet

Lesson: One of the great things about working in social media is the platforms should to be fun. There’s no need to be stiff and robotic all the time. If there’s an opportunity to show humor through content with a campaign, while remaining on brand, then go for it. As the Kings show, humor resonates.

Thanks to Jason Wise, the Manager of Digital for the Sacramento Kings, for his insight with this post. Give him a follow on Twitter: @Jason_Wise

 

This list just skims the social highlights of these teams and the league throughout the season. As you can see, there’s a lot of inspiration in the NBA so give the teams a follow to get inspired digitally and socially.

 

What were some of your favorite social media moments from the NBA regular season? Be sure to share them below!

Thanks for reading! 

4 Ways to Close Out a Season Socially

By Jessica Smith On April 19, 2015 In Lessons Learned, Social Media

For some NBA teams, the clock ran out on their season this week. But as the clock struck zero, the social media work didn’t end. Many of the teams took to social media to close out the season the right way.

This approach, to close out the season on social media, is important. Whether a team wins or loses the last game of the season, it’s important that the social media manager thinks through how to approach the season finale. Fans have been a part of the journey all along; they want some emotional closure beyond the scores. Plan to get it right.

But how do you plan to close out the season socially, especially when it has been a losing one? It starts with asking the right questions:

  • What about this season stood out that can be highlighted?
  • What is fan sentiment like?
  • What will you do if you win your last game? 
What will you do if you lose?
  • What can you prepare content-wise ahead of time (for both outcomes) to ensure you are ready to go?

Take the time to work through these questions and come up with a plan, win or lose, on the content that is important to share. With an understanding of season highlights and fan sentiment, it’s much easier to plan content that will resonate.

To help serve as inspiration on how to close out the season socially, here’s a look at how some of the NBA teams handled their season coming to an end:

 

Thank Fans

Whether a team wins or loses, thanking fans is a must these days. Social media is not just a broadcast platform; it’s a way to build a community. Don’t take your community for granted. Show your fans how thankful the entire organization is for their support.

Trends that stood out when thanking fans include strong copy, good graphics and personal messages from the players themselves. Below is a look at some of the content:

https://twitter.com/MiamiHEAT/status/588760517851930624

 

Put a Positive Spin

If the season has been a tough one, don’t focus on the negative. Find a way to reflect positively on a lesson, record, milestone, team perseverance, etc. Focusing on the positive will help redirect negative sentiment (at least some).

The two examples below showcase how teams can focus on the positives attributes of the team or season. For the Pistons, they ended their season on a good note. For OKC, they never gave up. It’s all about the positives:

 

Highlight Team Reflection

It’s natural for everyone– fans, players, coaches, etc.– to reflect on the season. And, bringing that aspect of reflection into social content is a great way to close out the season. It taps into an emotional element that fans gravitate towards. And of course, emotional content resonates.

When a season closes out, it’s important to gather quotes from players and coaches whether it is through press conferences or one-on-one interviews. Capture those moments of personal reflection. The quotes can be shared as text alone or turned into graphics:

https://twitter.com/SacramentoKings/status/588572432920772609

 

Move Forward

When a door closes on a season, a new one awaits. This anticipation is exciting for fans, and honestly, it’s rarely too early to start drumming up excitement for it. As the season closes out, don’t be afraid to look towards the future. Tap into the team’s focus for the next year, workouts planned and the emotion of waiting in general:

 

So as a season ends, remember to focus on closing the door the right way socially: Thank your fans, put a positive spin on it, reflect and move forward.

 

 

How else can teams close out a season socially? I would love to hear your thoughts below!

 

Thanks for reading. 

A Quick Overview of the Warriors’ Social Media Night

By Jessica Smith On March 19, 2015 In Social Media

I recently wrote about UNC’s awesome Social Media Night. When done right, these events can help to bridge the gap between the online and offline world, empower your biggest advocates and attract new fans. And, the opportunities for events like this are endless as long as you unleash your creativity.

This week the Warriors host a Social Media Night that proved, like UNC, how fun these events can be. And while the theme was the same, the initiatives from both teams were different. It’s a great example of how wide open the opportunities are.

I’ve compiled some of the Warriors great ideas from Social Media Night to give you more inspiration. Between this one and UNC’s, you should be ready to roll with a fabulous social night anytime. Here they are:

Social Media Shooting Shirts

The players wore shooting shirts that featured their Twitter handles. The shirts are also available for fans to purchase.

Screen Shot 2015-03-19 at 8.48.37 PM

 

Screen Shot 2015-03-19 at 8.57.17 PM

Snapchat Geofilter

The Warriors uploaded a social media night themed geofilter to Snapchat that fans could use in-venue for the game. This is a great way to promote the initiative and empower your audience to spread the word.

Screen Shot 2015-03-19 at 8.58.05 PM

Social Insider

Fans dream of tweeting for their favorite team! So, the Warriors picked a fan to cover the game socially for them as the “Dubs Social Insider”. This is certainly a great way to reward a brand ambassador, under guidance and supervision of course.

Screen Shot 2015-03-19 at 9.00.57 PM

Contest for Viewers at Home

When you host a social media night, getting your fans engaged at home can be tough. In addition to great content, the Warriors also hosted a contest for fans at home to win free swag. For the contest, they asked fans to snap a picture of #FitzandJB during the broadcast. A simple, easy and fun way to get fans engaged at home and reward them for tuning in.

Screen Shot 2015-03-19 at 9.05.41 PM

In-Venue Integration

To encourage social sharing, Instagram photos and tweets were featured on the scoreboard. The Warriors also had section giveaways determined by the volume of fan tweets; a fun and creative way to get people to rally.

Social Media-Themed GIFS / Graphics

The Warriors created GIFS and graphics that included social media elements like emojis and hashtags. This is a great way to incorporate the theme of the night into social content.

Photo Opportunity

To encourage fans photos, the Warriors had an Instagram frame prop that fans could pose and take pictures with. If a fan used the appropriate hashtag, their photo was then featured on the Instagram Wall. The Instagram frame is a fun and easy way to give fans a photo opportunity. The mobility of the prop is great for in-venue activations too.

 

While the Warriors had a few other initiatives during the night, this gives you a great overall idea of their fun and successful Social Media Night. And as you can see, the opportunities are endless. These themed nights are a great way to rally the troops and reward your biggest ambassadors. Just remember, if you are hosting a social media night, it’s important to promote the event across all your channels.

 

 

What do you think would work well for a social media night? I would love to hear your ideas below!

Thanks for reading!