NCAA Basketball Marketing: What We Could Learn from #16 Arkansas Pine Bluff

We're in search of inspiration- things that all of us can take and apply into our worlds. Then we will apply a "Plus One" method to make each inspiring thing even better. Thus far, we've looked at top seeded Duke, #2Villanova, #3 Baylor, #4 Purdue, #5 Texas A&M, #6 Notre Dame, #7Richmond, #8 California, #9 Lousiville, #10 Saint Mary's, #11 Old Dominion, #12 Utah State, #13 Siena, #14 Sam Houston State, and #15 Robert Morris.

On to the final stop in the South. Let's go!

South Region #16 Seed Arkansas Pine Bluff: What's Inspiring about Arkansas Pine Bluff Marketing? (link here)

1. The Calendar

You can see this from the athletics department home page, above, and I'll zoom in below. Sometimes the best things in marketing are the simplest. A calendar? Yes, take a peak at the image and realize that, at a glance, you can quickly see what is coming up. And if you think of one of the biggest things a college website can do is to drive fans to games. This enables it!

Plus One: Take this to your calendar. Like we saw with the Dallas Mavericks, here, there is an opportunity for fans to download the Pine Bluff schedule to their calendar. That way you don't have to go to the site to find out when games are happening -- just look at your own calendar!

2. Pictures of Recruits

Another simple and powerful thing. Pine Bluff gives us their new recruits in visuals and words right from the website. I love this, as it mimics what we see when a player is drafted into the Pros and announced at his new team. It elevates the act of choosing to be a Golden Lion, and thus makes it a more aspirational move for a prospect. Well done!

Plus One: Could we get to the point where recruits are actually announced as new members of the squad on the site? Offer a question/answer session with fans or students here!

3. Golden Girls

Linked here, the Golden Eagles offer a look into their dance squad right from the comforts of the site. As we saw in the NBA, the dance squad played a big deal in marketing every team. And, as a recruit, elevating the dance squad reminds them that they are the center of the universe on campus. Not many college programs are doing this -- and it's a smart step!

Plus One: Connect the Golden Girls to the hoops team. This can be done by showcasing video or photo galleries of the dance squad during games. It may not sound complicated, but this can create a big impact in the mind of a recruit -- let's remind them of the destination that a Golden Lion game is for the community!

What's next?

We'll be back Wednesday with a look at the 10 Best Digital Features across this South Region. Trust me you'll want to check it out!

As always, you can follow along on Twitter - I'm @pawlow34.