ENTERTAINMENT SPORTS: HOW TO LISTEN/ENGAGE WITH FANS – Sports fans are tribal and fanatical. You have to be inserting instead of reacting. Media and Entertainment have to use content distribution on channels and make it more about the viewers on the program. Here are some insights from a great panel at Social-Shake-Up:
- Kate Richman, Director of Social Strategy & Product at ESPNW & X Games @ESPN_ProdGirl
- Dan Fleetwood, Group Director of SAP @fleetwab
- Morgan Dewan, Senior Director of Social Media of Turner Sports @morgandewan
- Brian Vellmure, Principal of Innovantage @BrianVellmure
Turner Image
Turner uses micro-content analysis with tags like type, intended action, brand, etc. There has been an extreme success with the use of native video to reach fans for them. Look at “Inside the NBA.” They use software and votes for Shaq Vs. Charles Barkley to pull questions. There is a narrative we are trying to tell and not every piece of content will sell. We need to serve more as thought leadership and funniness oozing out like Turner. For Turner, “their workers’ trash is social media gold.”
“How do you measure success and organization?”
ESPN Image Here
As the worldwide leader in sports, ESPN has the most fanatical fans. We must keep the social top of mind, by facilitating and not just being idea generators. Social is just another thing on the checklist. For example, did you know that Men are the biggest consumers of women’s basketball for ESPN? Investment in the platform is the initial investment. Producers want to know what is your storyline. ESPN leverages topical influencers through creative experiences like Zoom and Flycam.
SAP Image here
Set-up a case study. It’s not as big of a commitment. Set a timeframe of 90 days to try things. For example, the German national soccer team creates a player tracking platform for spacing at SAP to match insights. Ask yourself, “Why are we doing this?” Would I like this social media post and share it? Have a parking lot of ideas. Corporate sponsors are pulled from teams and players. For example, the Ray Rice incident was amplified on social. However, Turner for example just has to take the stance of the league and disseminate the information.
Social Monetization
- Social as a distribution channel
- Social specific to share in brand under spots
CPM (Cost Per Distribution) / CPE (Cost Per Engagement) – Spots and Dots
Innovantage Image Here
Share rate and engagement rate have always been a great measure of Social ROI. Reporting needs to lateral up to your overall business objectives. Have a good balance of monetized/sponsorships sales, ratings, digital consumption, and different micro KPI’s too macro ones. Reiterate the effectiveness of social media until it becomes a truth.
It can be hard to do a sentiment analysis due to refs. Bads calls, soliciting fans for opinions, or state bias is in open court. NBATV and ESPN.COM monitor their comments by using Facebook comment better for trends. We want to increase follows and engagement. Facebook is a great way to measure that in Sports and Entertainment.