Basketball Ireland: Social Media Best Practise

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1 Basketball Ireland: Social Media Best Practise Ross O Donoghue Media & Communications Manager Basketball Ireland Hons B.A. in Media & Communications (UL) Hons Dip in Digital Marketing (EIC)

2 Outline: 1. Why Social Media? 2. Basics: Social Media Platforms 3. Facebook 4. Twitter 5. Video & Periscope 6. The Importance of Real Time reporting 7. Contributing to media 8. FAQ s 9. Further reading 10. Discussion

3 WHY SOCIAL MEDIA? Digital Platforms can: Engage your your community to grow wider Emote your community to grow deeper Employ your community to help with financial & development goals Empower your sponsors to achieve their objectives

4 WHY SOCIAL MEDIA? Other media uses: Negates reliance on tradition media for news coverage 92% of Irish journalists are regular social media users* Sports journalists are the most active users of social media* Social Media is now the #1 Driver of all website referral traffic** Social Media is free and/or cost effective Can demonstrate the power of the basketball community If we re not talking about it, why should anyone else? * Heravi, Harrower & Boran 2014 NUI Galway ** Shareaholic 2014

Basics: Social Media Platforms I am playing #Basketball I like Basketball This is where I play basketball Here is a vintage photo of basketball Watch me playing basketball My skills include

5 Basics: Social Media Platforms I am playing #Basketball I like Basketball This is where I play basketball Here is a vintage photo of basketball Watch me playing basketball My skills include basketball Here s an inspirational basketball quote I am a Google employee who plays basketball Vine: Here s that one bit of basketball you have to see Periscope: Watch me playing basketball now Snapchat: I don t want my parents to see me talk about basketball

6 Basics: The Value of Facebook 1. Still the most popular platform across all ages 2. Key influencer for households 3. Easy to build audience 4. Value for money marketing 5. Key platform for sponsors 6. Strong driver for website clicks 7. Easier to tag people and amplify reach.

7 Facebook Best Practice percent of a Facebook page s interactions happen on photo posts. *Social Bakers 2. Do you share a lot of weblinks? Find out how to debug urls and suck in shareable content using the Facebook crawler 3. Time your posts for when your users are online 4. "Every time someone visits news feed there are on average 1,500 potential stories from friends, people they follow and pages for them to see, and most people don t have enough time to see them all. Facebook's news feed algorithm boils down the 1,500 posts that could be shown a day in the average news feed into around 300 that it prioritises. Algorithm Positives: Algorithm Negatives: 1. Posts that receive high interaction in a short time. 2. Post types that users prefer e.g., photo, video, or status update. 3. Link posts 4. Videos uploaded to Facebook that receive a large number of views or extended viewing duration 5. Pages with complete profile information 1. Frequently circulated content and repeated posts 2. Text-only status updates from pages 3. Posts that contain the words like, comment, or share 4. Spamming by overposting

8 Facebook Best Practice Why a page? Against the Facebook Terms - you could lose data Appears insular - Makes casual fan less likely to engage Facebook Page offers marketing opportunities

Basics: The Value of Twitter 1. Live feedback to your community 2. Quick to update e.g between quarters. 3. Easily shareable 4. Best practice possible from a phone via mobile 5.

9 Basics: The Value of Twitter 1. Live feedback to your community 2. Quick to update e.g between quarters. 3. Easily shareable 4. Best practice possible from a phone via mobile 5. Doesn t require 3G signal 6. Connect with others and unite conversation 7. Promote role models within your community 8. No algorhythm to limit reach 9. Easy sponsorship fulfilment

10 Twitter Best Practice 1. Be regular and reliable 2. Provide context 3. Be consistent with hashtags 4. Don t link to facebook 5. Be human but don t speak in first person 6. Remember it s for the world to see 7. A picture says a thousand words but a video is made of a thousand pictures 8. Limited characters and time contraints is no excuse for poor grammer and speeling. 9. Reach out to others 10. Use clear calls to action

11 Twitter Best Practice

12 Video: Content is King Video is the crown Facebook: Heavily promoting by upweighting the rating of native videos in their algorithm. (They ve also reduced YouTube scrape) Twitter: Can now share 30 seconds of video Also developed Vine app for 6 second gif style videos Instagram and Snapchat using video Youtube: 1 Billion users can t be wrong. Did you know? You can now stream video from a standard Mobile Phone!

Periscope: Periscope a live video streaming app for ios and Android.

13 Periscope: Periscope a live video streaming app for ios and Android. The startup behind the app was purchased by Twitter for a reported $100 million in March Make sure you have wifi or a 3G connection from the place you will be broadcasting from. Appropriately title your broadcast Share it socially with your followers and friends Commentate just tell people what s on the score board. Save video to use on other platforms (vine, facebook etc)

14 Why is Real Time important? Imagine that once your event happens, an hour glass Is turned. Every grain of sand falling down is another Person losing interest because sport is at it s most engaging in real time. Real-time means you re not left behind after everyone else is gone home trying to share content. Real-time reporting increases the value of the content your sharing to other media outlets such as local broadcast, digital media and Basketball Ireland platforms by reducing the lag between primary and secondary source media.

15 Contributing To Media RADIO: Identify clear path of communication. Give proper notice. Give updates in real time. Report promptly and accurately. Supply audio of coaches & players Be consistent NATIONAL: Real detail in real-time Access to player & coach audio Photography Score-sheet details Win or lose consistency Radio runs on routine and in real-time. PRINT: Identify clear path of communication. Agree a format Know the deadlines A picture is worth a thousand words Be consistent Provide score-sheet level detail DIGITAL & PRINT: Press Release Min 200 Max 400 words Use quotes Write in third person Give advance notice Supply photo Print runs on routine and with detail.

16 FAQ s: We don t have any experience in setting up social media platforms? Basketball Ireland does and we re here to help. Basketball Ireland s Media & Communications resource can: Facebook: Convert your friend page into a fan page Facebook: Set up your account, assign page roles to volunteers, complete your profile, schedule your first couple of posts to get you going and issue a brief best practice guide. Twitter: Set your account, complete your profile, schedule your first couple of posts and issue a brief best practice guide.

17 FAQ s: Our volunteer doesn t have time to be consistent in updating social media? There are a number of time-saving practices that can help a busy volunteer with the important job of keeping their club connected with their community via digital media. 1. Schedule posts: Facebook Pages and the Facebook Pages app have a built in function to allow you to post in advance. E.G. if you need to promote a fixture, you can schedule posts on Sunday to go live on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Tweetdeck allows you to do the same for Twitter on desktop and mobile. Hootsuite allows you to manage all your platforms from a single app.

18 FAQ s: Our volunteer doesn t have time to be consistent in updating social media? 2. Go Mobile: Managing Digital Content is now easier than ever to do on the go. Social Media Apps: Twitter, Facebook are better optimised (Vine, Instagram, Snapchat are native to mobile) and you ll be viewing your content as the vast majority of your audience will see it. Social Media Management: bit.ly and hootsuite allow you to manage content. Content Management: Imagery: PicStitch, Over Video: Filmic Pro, imovie

19 FAQ s: Our volunteer doesn t have time to be consistent in updating social media? 3. Bank Content: Imagery, Video and Rich Media will help your messages go further and deeper every time. A bank of usable imagery (generic club content, bank of player content, simple logo graphics) will give you the flexibility to post content when you need it and without depending on live content. 4. When you can t post, share Likeminded Facebook pages may be posting content that is relevant to your community or share a common goal. Your Twitter followers may well be saying the things you need to say only better! You can amplify a conversation that your club needs to be had an recruit your role models to do some of the work for you.

20 FAQ s: Our volunteer doesn t have time to be consistent in updating social media? 3. Make Viral Content work for you: The latest must see clip or pic from your league or beyond. Piggy back it with your message and share out to your community. NB: When posting URLs remember to link properly: Facebook Image Dimensions (Using Graphics on Facebook Page) Facebook Debugger (For your Facebook Crawler)

22 Appendix 1: Best Practice in Sports Communication The task of sports communication (Rein, Kotler & Shields, 2006) Five key objectives in effective sports communication: 1. To engage the [stakeholder s] interest 2. To imprint the sports brand s identity for a longer-lasting impression 3. To humanize the sports brand 4. To encourage the [stakeholder] to identify with the sports brand and feel a personal connection with the participants 5. To place the outcomes of competition in more than just a winning context

23 Appendix 2: The Role of Social Media in Sports Communication: An Analysis of NBA Teams Strategy Based on the interviews with social media specialists of NBA teams: Social Media Strategy Many NBA teams have identified their own strategy and objectives in utilizing social media. Most organizations use social media primarily as a branding and marketing tool to easily reach their fans. Ultimately, every organization strives to drive stakeholders to its website to increase ticket sales, merchandise sales, and sponsorship deals. Social Media Platforms Most NBA teams have found great success with Twitter and Facebook Twitter gives audiences a two-way conversational tool that offers up to the minute updates and can generate fan interaction. Many NBA teams noted that Twitter and Facebook are very different for their uses. NBA teams see Facebook as a brand extension of their website that requires a more calculated approach with less frequent updates.

24 The Role of Social Media in Sports Communication: An Analysis of NBA Teams Strategy Social Media Campaigns Many teams have found success in developing social media campaigns around specific thematic content. Posts typically do not have a long life span; therefore connecting each post to an overarching campaign can strengthen its effectiveness and better promote the NBA team s brand. Twitter is especially useful in developing hashtag campaigns around a season-long hashtag or using game-night hashtags. The Sacramento Kings have found success in building their brand for the season around the #KingsAllDay season-long hashtag. The season-long hashtag allows for fans and stakeholders to easily search for one uniform hashtag. In-Arena Presence Social media presence inside NBA arenas is a critical element to each NBA team s social media strategy. The team s brand is everywhere inside NBA arenas. Connecting with Fans Outside the Arena Social media enables fans to interact with NBA organizations when not in attendance of games. Tracking, Measurement, & ROI With numerous social media initiatives in place, many NBA teams are still struggling to put a dollar value on the return on investment (ROI) for these efforts. However, there are many online tools to track and measure social media. The most common of these tools that teams are utilizing include Facebook Insights, Twitter Dashboard Analytics via Tweetdeck or Hootsuite, Bit.ly link tracking, Resources: Most teams have between two and six employees dedicated to social media. Many of these professionals are also responsible for other key tasks within the organization such as public relations, marketing, and website management/ editing.

25 The Role of Social Media in Sports Communication: An Analysis of NBA Teams Strategy Best Practices: Based on the interviews with social media specialists of NBA teams, reviewing relevant literature, and analyzing NBA team s online social media efforts, the following best practices were established. The best practices were drawn from the similarities in social media usage by NBA teams. Additionally, the best practices recognize the common drawbacks of current social media use in the NBA. These practices should be used to establish a social media plan for NBA teams in their year-round strategy and tactics. Give quality content: The content an NBA team provides over social media should give fans value and make following the team worthwhile. The content could include text, pictures, video, links, news articles, incentives, trivia, polls, free giveaways, tickets, merchandise, team website, and access to other social media channels. The content should also be exclusive. The information and visuals provided over these channels should be unique such as behind the Best%Practices:%Social %Media%&%Sports%Communication 24 scenes footage or highlights of close proximity to the team. Additionally, within the content, there must be a call to action. Simply posting news or links will not be effective but creating a reaction will lead to likes, comments, retweets, tweets, and discussion about the brand. Incorporate social media offline: The goal of an NBA team from a marketing perspective is to have your fans consistently talking about your brand. Therefore, wherever your brand is your social media channels should be present as a means to continue the conversation online. These placements include tickets, posters, billboards, television channels airing games, the Jumbotron, and all in-arena signage. Social media channels and the organization s website should also promote each other. Every event or promotion should highlight the team s social media channels, specifically the Facebook URL and Twitter handle. This is critical in reaching new fans and expanding the brand s following. The future may see these aspects further explored potentially with the integration of social media on player jerseys and on the basketball court, among other specific placements. The NBA Store online has begun selling shirts that feature the leagues top players that include their Twitter handles and team hashtags (NBA Store, 2012).

26 The Role of Social Media in Sports Communication: An Analysis of NBA Teams Strategy Gamify social media efforts: NBA teams can incorporate competitive gaming applications that spark fan interest. The games may or may not relate to the teams on the court efforts but are effective in generating engagement and directing traffic to NBA team s social media platforms and website. The Boston Celtics have developed the 3-Point Play Facebook application that Best %Practices:%Social%Media%&%Sports%Communication 25 allows fans to predict the scoring outcomes of three players in competitive spirit. After each game, the winning fan receives free tickets to an upcoming home game. This gamification ties fans closer to the team, creates more impressions, and allows NBA teams to gather information on fans. Furthermore, sports fans are more likely to be gamers, which gives more incentive for a gamification approach to engage fans (Consumer Electronic Association, 2008). Personalize fans on social media: Be authentic and use personality. Show that the relationships with the audiences via social media are genuine. Provide customer service through answering questions, responding to problems, handling tickets and merchandise concerns, and related issues. At times, communicate accordingly by utilizing abbreviation, appropriate slang, and punctuation. Additionally, NBA teams should maintain a consistent plan of communication over social media channels and avoid gaps as it applies to game days, non-game days, in-season, and off-season. Collect fan data: NBA teams can use social media platforms, applications, and related contests to gather fan information and fan input. It is essential to track which fans interact with individual NBA team s social media and provide applications where fans can sign up or input data such as , phone numbers, and zip codes. From these efforts, NBA teams can build a database of fan information, and directly contact fans inside and outside of social media to market tickets, merchandise, and related deals. The ability to identify who and where fans are allows NBA teams to better market to their key audiences. Best%Practices:%Social%Media%&%Sports%Communication 26 The previously mentioned Boston Celtics 3-Point Play Facebook application has allowed their social media staff to add over 85,000 people into their fan database and sell over $200,000 worth of tickets (Stringer, 2012).

27 The Role of Social Media in Sports Communication: An Analysis of NBA Teams Strategy Fansource/Crowdsource: Give fans the opportunity for their input to be heard and to make relatively important decisions for the organization. NBA teams can develop campaigns around allowing the fans to decide on a component of their organization. The Philadelphia 76ers allowed their fans to vote on the final three designs on the team s new mascot in which the winning design was used for the season. Furthermore, the 2012 NBA All-Star Sprite Slam Dunk Contest gave fans the judging role through Twitter, SMS and website voting (Laird, 2012). These social media initiatives give fans a voice within the decision making process, and closely connects them with teams and players. Use fans to amplify the NBA team s message: NBA teams can increase the impressions of their messages, and their following by utilizing fans and their networks. Providing quality content will lead to re-tweets, likes, and sharing, but teams can go even further with the fan relationship by asking fans to amplify the message through incentives. Teams can ask fans to re-tweet and then the team will follow them on Twitter. The Denver Nuggets held the Nuggets Big Give campaign where they would donate five dollars for every share of their information on Facebook. These small initiatives can yield major results in increasing the fan base, brand impressions, fan interaction, and social media awareness around a given team. Furthermore, the Phoenix Best%Practices:%Social%Media%&%Sports%Communication 27 Suns have developed the Planet Orange Ambassadors initiative where they mobilize eleven volunteers that are social media activists on behalf of the organization and promote the team via Facebook, Twitter, message boards, live chats, and other channels. In this initiative, fans enjoy promoting the team and having the Phoenix Suns social media ambassador title. In return, they receive tickets to a game and merchandise which proves to be a great investment in generating impressions and assisting staffing efforts.

28 The Role of Social Media in Sports Communication: An Analysis of NBA Teams Strategy Track, measure, analyze, and adjust: Utilize social media tracking analytics to measure and analyze the NBA team s ongoing initiatives. Facebook Insights and Twitter Dashboard Analytics via Hootsuite and Tweetdeck are especially effective in providing quality data, visuals, and reports. Additionally, the Twitter Dashboard Analytics can provide link tracking as well as Bit.ly Analytics. All of this data can provide measurable insights to social efficiency and return on investment of an NBA team. This data can provide foresight to potential times of day to post, type of content to post, and most influential fans. Once the data has been measured and analyzed, it is essential for NBA teams to adjust their social media tactics to provide a more engaging fan experience via social media. These best practices establish not only how to use social media in sports communication but why these practices are important. These best practices include guiding examples in which teams have utilized these methods. It is essential for sports entities to understand the most effective ways they can utilize social media tools, and why those tools work for them. Each of these practices should be integrated into an overarching social media communications strategy.

The Use of Social Media to promote Cricket

Guidance Document The Use of Social Media to promote Cricket Version Date Description Release 1.0 April, 2017 For anyone interested in making more use of social media to promote their club. First issued.