Tag: #smsports

10 Great Examples of Teams Using Exposure

By Guest On February 11, 2015 In Best Practices

I first laid eyes on exposure.co in January of 2014 when Purdue Athletics used it to document what gameday is like at Mackey Arena. For me, it was love at first sight. If you aren’t familiar with Exposure, the platform lets you tell a story through stunning photo narratives. The end product has a “wow” factor that’s hard to resist. Here’s their pitch:

You’ve got tons of photos and stories. Don’t they deserve better than hashtags and slideshows? With Exposure, you can easily create beautiful photo narratives that look amazing on computers, tablets, and mobile phones. Exposure is also a community of passionate photographers and storytellers just like you.

Thankfully, there are quite a few teams in the sports industry that have caught on to this beautiful storytelling platform. Here’s why I love that it’s catching on:

It focuses on the story. Between the busy world of social media and website clutter, we rarely just let pictures and strong copy tell the story. Minimalist design interacts with pictures in a powerful way. Exposure challenges users to put their best content foot forward. Without strong copy and pictures, the package will fall flat. You have to focus on telling great story… period.

If you like Exposure, but don’t know where to get started, I’ve compiled a list of some of my favorite sports-related pieces. I think you’ll see that there are many, many ways to leverage it:
Student-Athlete Perspective

Student-Athlete Perspective

My favorite use of Exposure has been the stories that lift up student-athletes or offer their voice / perspective. There are some stellar examples too:

Clemson: Thank You, K.J.

Oklahoma Sooners: Poll Position (this one might be my favorite, so take the time to click) continue reading »

11 Recent Sports-Centric Videos to Watch Now

By Guest On November 8, 2014 In Video Content with 3 Comments

For those of you that follow this blog or my Twitter feed, you know I’m big on video content that evokes emotion (surprise, joy, sentimentality, passion, etc.) or tells a story. For a while it seemed like stellar sports-centric video content was lacking across teams and leagues. A lot of video content was produced, but I rarely saw pieces that made me want to stop and watch all the way through; pieces that really tap into the emotion of sports.

I’m happy to say that’s beginning to change. Over the last month, I’ve seen stellar video content in the sports industry from athletic departments, professional teams and brands. I’ve compiled a list of 11 videos that caught my attention recently. They range from intro videos to ads, and I hope that something serves as inspiration to you. Enjoy!

South Carolina Men’s Basketball: Here

I was lucky enough to get insight on South Carolina’s “Here” campaign earlier this year from their CMO Eric Nichols. This latest addition to the campaign does not disappoint. I really like how they picked a theme (toughness) and weaved that into the entire video. What I love most about this campaign (and video) from USC is that they aren’t selling; they are telling what makes their program and team unique.

Indiana: Defining the Hoosier Nation

This video actually uses fan submissions to define what the Hoosier Nation is, although you probably won’t realize it until the end. I’ve talked a lot about leveraging user-generated content lately and this is a great example of how you can involve your fans. I especially love that the video showcases how being a part of the Hoosier family is much more than a game.

If you want to learn more about the video, you can read a great post from the Convince and Covert team here.

continue reading »

Replicating a Simple Idea From Nike

By Guest On June 9, 2015 In Video Content with 1 Comment

I realize that the words Nike, simple and replicate aren’t normally used in the same sentence, but yes, here they are. Last week I saw an awesome, yet simple, idea from Nike that teams and leagues can replicate. It all starts with their glorious new video welcoming LeBron James home (which I’m sure by now you’ve seen):

If you watch the video all the way through, you’ll notice that it ends with a compelling image of LeBron standing in the middle of a huddle and three buttons at the bottom that direct you to the Nike Basketball’s website, subscribe and poster.

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When you click on poster, it takes you to this jpg:

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This simple action is something that would translate really well to teams, leagues and others in the sports industry looking to share their game schedule posters, title / championship posters, TV schedule posters, etc. The best part about all of this? YouTube allows you to add annotations (clickable text overlays) to videos for free. You can learn all about them here.

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If you are looking to create something even more robust,  Interlude is a great option. The pricing is reasonable and their web application is easy to use. It could be a great tool for schools, teams, conferences and leagues to use:

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I realize this barely touches the surface of what interactive videos can do for sports, but I thought this was a simple idea that can be replicated now.  There are many more options than simply driving people to schedule posters, but I’ll conquer more robust ideas for interactive videos down the road in another post.

Thanks for reading!

Clemson Shows Us the Power of Social Listening

By Guest On April 15, 2015 In College Athletics with 1 Comment

Today I’m excited to share a special story on the power of social media, social listening and caring about your fans. The story starts with a simple observation from a man named Rusty Elrod in Six Mile, South Carolina. Just like any normal day, he drove by the assisted living center to find Clemson fan W.T. Wooten standing outside waving and cheering as people passed by. Wooten does this nearly every day, spreading cheer to all who encounter him. The odd thing though, was that Wooten wasn’t wearing his beloved Clemson baseball cap. The sight of this gave Elrod an idea:

Elrod took to social media to see if the Clemson community could rally to get Wooten new gear. And rally they did. The Facebook post above was shared nearly 2,000 times with friends, family and the Clemson Athletic Department. The minute the athletic department staff saw the story, they knew they wanted to do something to show Wooten they appreciated how much joy he brings to people everyday.

So yes, Clemson set out to hand deliver new gear to him. The trip resulted in two things: A wonderful memory made for Wooten and a treasured story for Clemson fans to share. You can view the digital package the athletic department put together here.

The story of W.T. Wooten is a great reminder of the powerful connection teams, leagues and athletic departments can make with fans on social media. Thankfully Jonathan Gantt, the Director of New Media for Clemson Athletics, was nice enough to take some time to answer a few questions about this wonderful story and how to harness the power of your fans:

Why was it important for Clemson Athletics to tell this story?

The most important thing was to show W.T. how much we appreciated him and to make sure he knew how much he positively impacted people every day. But being able to share his story through our channels meant we could spread his joy to an even greater audience. We were able to introduce the story to a lot of people and also provide many who see him frequently with background on who he is. We plan and work tirelessly to provide unique content that resonates with our fans. But occasionally, situations like this pop up out of nowhere that you could never plan for and provide the best opportunities for creating memorable experiences.

The story has been received really well on social media. Can you give me an insight into some of the stats?

When you include the 2,500 shares from other Facebook users, our Facebook post from last night has already reached 530,000 people and generated 15,000 likes and 1,100 comments. The line you hear so often with stories on the Internet is “don’t read the comments” because they can be unnecessarily negative or off-topic—but the nearly 500 comments on our post are probably the best part of the story. Jane Crawford, W.T.’s daughter, received more than 800 likes on her comment alone. And it’s so much fun to read through people’s responses and see how W.T.’s story has had a positive effect on so many people.

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At the end of the day, this story is a powerful demonstration of social listening. Why should all teams, leagues and athletic departments harness the power of social listening?

As I mentioned above, we can plan and strategize all day but sometimes the best stories come from unexpected places. And if you’re not paying attention to what your fans are talking about, you’ll miss out. We can’t be everywhere at all times but with social media we have that opportunity. Certainly you won’t see a story like this every day but you can absolutely benefit every day from listening to the discussion that’s taking place around your brand.

Do you think it is important to tell fan stories? If so, why?

The overwhelming response to W.T.’s story is evidence enough that it’s important to tell fan stories. We care about our fans and value who they are and what they care about. And if you have that approach with customer service, you occasionally get the opportunity to share stories like this that help reinforce that close relationship we have with our fans.

What are some of the ways athletic departments can leverage social media and digital to find these stories?

The more we communicate with our constituents and get everyone on the same page that we’re interested in telling these types of stories, the more top-of-mind that strategy becomes when people are going about their everyday lives. The simple fact is that we never would have been able to share W.T.’s story if others hadn’t told us about him. And if we don’t facilitate that kind of relationship with our fans where they can communicate those things with us, then we’ll miss out on great opportunities like this one.

Closing thoughts from Gantt:

Like most people in the sports industry, the most rewarding part of my job is having the opportunity to create memories and experiences like the one with W.T. I’m fortunate to work for Clemson Athletics and be involved in something that can generate those kinds of emotions for people. And I enjoy sharing those kinds of stories with as many people as I can. W.T. brings smiles to plenty of people every day standing out by the road. And now hopefully he brought smiles to a lot more people who saw his story through social media.

So, what’s the lesson for social media professionals in the sports industry?

This is what teams, leagues and others in the sports industry can takeaway from this great story:

Listen for stories.
There are amazing stories being shared about your brand across social media. Keep your eyes and ears open for those stories, and when you see them, seek to learn more. Sports bring people together, give people hope and enrich lives daily. Listen for the stories.

Stories can extend beyond athletic department / team / league walls.
It’s easy to look inside the walls of an organization when you are searching for stories. The power of sports extends far beyond the team and personnel though; sports impact people in positive ways everyday, even thousands of miles from where the team calls home. People want to hear the emotional stories about the fans and communities your team inspires because they can connect with the hope, joy, laughter and camaraderie. Look beyond your walls for inspiration.

Surprise and delight.
If you know of a lifetime fan that is deserving of a little joy or thank you, then take the time to surprise and delight them. Don’t take the passion of sports fans for granted. Be thankful and let your fans know.

So remember, there’s power in social media, social listening and being thankful for your fans. Take a deep breath and look around you: You could be missing a hidden gem.

 

 


I would like to send a big “thank you” to Jonathan Gantt for sharing his insight. Please be sure to give him a follow on Twitter (@Jonathan_Gantt) and check out Clemson Athletics’ social media accounts here. 

Thanks for reading!