The Big 12's Social Media Footprint

Today we'll continue our look into the Big 12. We will review their social media presence -- what they do and where they could improve. And I'll plot it all in one spot on a Social Media Report Card.

Then, we'll finish the week out by looking into the 12 member institutions (for now) and elevating the best digital features I've uncovered.

You can stay plugged into this journey via this blog, via the Digital Hoops Blast Facebook page (linked here) or on Twitter -- I'm @pawlow34.

Let's start.

Social Media Exposure

The journey always begins with the conference's weight to social media. There are always stories, teams, and schools weighing in for home page worthiness. But the question I start with is... how easy is it to follow the conference? That doesn't necessarily mean quantity of places. But it does mean exposure to ways to follow the conference.

Hit the Big 12 home page and you'll find 3 ways to follow the conference: Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. These are accessible in 2 areas -- at the top and bottom of the page (shown below). I have very mixed feelings here. On the plus side, the exposure for Twitter with the latest tweets is nice. On the negative side, these are all accessible from the menu "Fans Only". This would be a 180 degree difference from what we saw Maryland excel at a few weeks ago -- putting Twitter underneath "Recruits". Putting social media in a Fans Only area biases things before Recruits even take a peak.

Bottom of home page...

Top of home page...

Social Media Roster Depth

Twitter is the priority. That's evident both from the exposure shown above and from the order it appears on the nav. Let's dive in, here, to the Big 12 on Twitter and their 7432 followers.

1. 6.5% of the time that a fan subscribes to the main Big Ten feed, they put the conference into a list. That makes 484 lists.
2. The Twitter equivalent of student-to-teacher ratio: Tweets per Subscriber. The conference has tweeted just over 7100 times -- or 0.96 per subscriber.
3. Activity is very consistent. There's a personality and a tone to this, and the twitter activity definitely is set up to engage with fans. For example, they share an article on the best mascots and then ask fans to respond with the best in the conference. Nice work...

As you'll note on the right hand side, the conference has created three groups. Big12 Friends appears to be a listing of national writers, who cover college sports in general. Big12 Associations is a mix of the NCAA & Football Bowls. And Big12 Family is the schools/teams that make up the conference. (That link is here).

These names really aren't very intuitive, but I want to focus in on the 3rd group (here), and I'll paste the images both of the "Following" boxes and of the feed below. Note the contrast between the images below and the ones we showed above...

Powerful, huh? That's a visual statement.

So, how could this be better? Focus in on the member schools by elevating this group to the home page. Putting the member squads alongside the conference is pretty powerful. I'd also say that "Big12 Friends" should really be a list of writers who exclusively cover the conference. The KC Star, for example. Make it easy to get an objective look at the conference, not just of sports in general.

The Big 12 Elevates Fan Photos inside Facebook. The Big12 on Facebook, here, has over 11,000 fans. As you'll see below, they have a pretty sweet gallery of fan energy via photography. You get quite a feel for the level of passion inside fans of these teams, and it really makes you want to be a part.

How could this be better?

Tag the photos. (Isn't this one screaming for a tag?)

Have fans go to the conference site and tag themselves -- thus getting more exposure for the gallery and adding a level of connection between fans and their league. We could also ask fans to submit photos by tagging them "Big12".

The Big 12 Positions YouTube as Success. The Big 12's YouTube page, here, has 88 videos across all sports. What I loved though was the hidden tie of YouTube videos to performance. The site was packed with players of the year, plays of the week or year, and just success in general. Nice. Most impactful though was the ability to take a lesser revenue sport (softball) and create a highlight package for the player of the year. Then tie this to the YouTube page and generate a nice branding moment. Solid.

How could this be better? Take the concept and create playlists by sport. Over time we will have an extensive highlight package, which would be fantastic for recruits of that sport to see. Naturally we should also see the conference's version of One Shining Moment (discussed here, yesterday) inside this space as well.

Buzz.

To gauge buzz, I did a quick search for #Big12 on Twitter. There were 22 mentions in the past 24 hours, along with references to the ESPN Big 12 feed and the Big 12 Tour. Meaning there's a lot of energy in this space and it's a great one for the conference to steer.

Intangibles

Synergy. I'm looking for the total impact the conference has across social media to be higher because the pieces work well together. In this case we need it badly as these pieces are great but need to work together. I see this as an opportunity area for the conference and one that could be delivered via a blog.

Report Card

Strengths: Twitter, Facebook, YouTube strategies are great. Twitter Groups. Buzz.

Weaknesses: Intangibles, Exposure

Neutral: Depth of Roster

That's it for now... But come back tomorrow as we start elevating the 3 best practices I found through the Big 12 member Schools!

You can stay plugged into this journey via this blog, via the Digital Hoops Blast Facebook page (linked here) or on Twitter -- I'm @pawlow34.

Andy