We've spent the past 7 weeks or so checking out the best digital marketing practices from the NBA. The question for this week is simple but powerful: what does this mean for college basketball marketing? What are the best practices we've seen at the NBA level, that college programs should take into consideration?
I'll do my best to answer this question over the course of a few posts. Here's the 3 part plan of attack:
Today: Websites
Wednesday: Facebook
Friday: Twitter
Then, next week, we'll return to our breakdowns of the NCAA Tournament landscape.
Ready?
5 Things NCAA Basketball Websites Could Steal from the NBA
1. Leverage the power of experts
We all have experts around us. We just don't always realize it. This is an area I think many NBA squads do extremely well -- they identify an expert voice and tell you what's new with the team through the voice of people who have access to the program that the average fan doesn't have. The Utah Jazz excel at this through their Broadcasters Blog, shown below and linked here.
Think about it, there's perhaps no one better suited to cover a team than their announcers. You have a couple people who are privy to inside information and access to players/coaches/trainers that we all would love to have. They are good communicators. And they travel to the same places the team goes. The Jazz deliver this in a blog headlined by announcers Craig Bolerjack, Pace Mannion, Steve Brown, Ron Boone, and David James. It's authentic, and available often.
NCAA Impact: Who has access to your program, through practices, road trips, locker room pep talks, and game day shootarounds? Your website could become a platform for them!
2. Photography is really powerful
Sounds simple huh? I can't speak enough to the impact great photography can have on a website. I saw this up and down the NBA. Photo by photo adds up!
The Grizzlies elevated Team Photographer Joe Murphy. Murphy was asked to choose his favorite photos of the team in the 2009-2010 season. This is all covered on the site, here and pictured below, in a feature entitled "Behind the Lens." Clicking in and you get a thick gallery of shots of the squad in all facets -- locker room, weight room, in game, and in the community.
As you'll note at the bottom of this image is a caption that goes into the specifics of what was striking on the picture, according to Joe. "I love how the kid is peeking over to get a look at the book..." Brilliant.
The Kings delivered a Weekly Photo Blog. I've never seen anything like this one! The Kings created a photo blog, which publishes new photos every Thursday. See this here. You can then click in and share any photo you want, as you can see below.
The Spurs offered Spirit Photography Contests. The Spurs offered fans a chance to submit their Spurs spirit via photography, with the winners posted on the site. Wow did they ever! Amazing stuff here.
The Kings delivered a Weekly Photo Blog. I've never seen anything like this one! The Kings created a photo blog, which publishes new photos every Thursday. See this here. You can then click in and share any photo you want, as you can see below.
NCAA Impact: How can you make sure the photography is a priority? How can you encourage others to share photos? And how can you give access to photos from places fans (and thus recruits) don't normally get access
3. Find success. And celebrate it.
Perhaps no part of the NBA journey was more rewarding than to look at the teams that didn't make the Playoffs. Why? Because they had a tougher marketing challenge -- they needed fans to see them as on the rise. As successful. And as something you'd want to be a part of. The Kings finished with the second-worst record in the West. But they found the reason to hope: Rookie-of-the-Year Tyreke Evans.
Hit their home page and you get stopped with a message of success. There's a splash page (shown above and you can find it here) for Tyreke Evans and his 20/5/5 rookie season...
This features a 4 minute highlight reel, that lets you feel the excitement the Kings have for the future. Doing this not only paints the team around success, but also shows the team that they will elevate the successes!
NCAA Impact: What is success for the program? Or, better yet, what makes you love them? How can you elevate this, week-in, week-out. Don't let wins or losses define whether or not you can define your program as successful online. And make sure fans (and recruits) see it. It may not require a roadblock like the Kings delivered. But it just might.
4. Use your website as a hub of social media
Access. Not everyone has the time to go to Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, or whatever else comes up. So a fan (or recruit) hits your site. Don't see the website as a highway, pointing you in the direction of another place to visit. The NBA did a great job with this -- witnessed in many places, of which I'll highlight a couple.
Clicking in, you are given easy access to the Mavs on Twitter, layed out by Team, Dancers, Front Office, and Players. I especially like the description, "Want to follow the Mavs on Twitter but don't know what Twitter accounts are official? Following these insiders will give you information before anyone else..."
You'll also note below that other Mavs accounts (from the mascot to the web team) are up on Twitter and available to connect with you. This whole set up has a feel of inclusiveness. Solid.
The Timberwolves found that social media was the key to their site feeling alive -- check the image below or click here. You can see not only the latest Tweets from the Wolves staff and roster but, as you see here, all of the fan chatter around the team. Anyone hashtagging "#Twolves" gets elevated to the home page feed. Hot.
The Suns elevated the latest Tweets of their players. If you're just interested in following the Suns on Twitter, click no further than right here. You'll see a very well designed page that gives you the latest posts from the players, along with quick access to all Suns Twitter feeds. Really well done.
NCAA Impact: You don't have to do it all. You just need to recognize that the website is a great forum to elevate the work that you are doing. By doing so you get more bang for the buck, and you also develop a website that is alive!
5. Give your fans a voice
NBA teams allowed fans to have a say in things. These are different tactics at the same concept -- telling fans that their opinion matters. And the impact is pretty monstrous.
The Nuggets gave Fans a chance to vote for their plays of the year. This is something that all teams should do, as it combines the right elements: fan interaction around good and exciting parts of your team. As you can see here, the Nuggets post the top plays of the 2009-10 season and ask fans to vote for their favorite. It's pretty simple but a great way to tie your squad to performance.
And the Spurs gave fans a chance to speak up and tell them how to get better.
Clicking in, I saw that this was not just a space to give feedback on your experience at a game but actually a forum to submit ideas. (And if you see the headline, it's pretty clear which of the two is the most important topic to take away)...
Here's the link, the image is below.
NCAA Impact: Where are the opportunities to bring fans (and thus recruits) into the conversation on what you do? Could you let fans ask questions of coaches on their coaches show or post game interview via the website? Could fans vote for which topic or player would be featured in a week? Or are you willing to ask fans what they'd like to see next from you, online?
Hope you dug this.
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