The Big East's Social Media Footprint

Today we'll continue our look into the Big East. 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 16 member institutions 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 East home page (here), and you'll see at a quick glance that Facebook is hyped. In fact, it appears in a side-by-side position below. It should be noted that the Facebook tab on the left appears to be consistent through other parts of the site, while the right Facebook tab changes. In any case, it feels like an opportunity to tell another story...

Scroll down the page and you will see that the conference also gives you access to Twitter via the graphic below. And both Facebook and Twitter are accessible via the Big East Digital Network section shown below...

Social Media Roster Depth

I actually love the contrast above, as it makes it simple. The Big East wants you first and foremost to follow them on Facebook. Linked here, the Big East has 13,229 fans. From a wall standpoint, there really isn't anything unusual going on here -- short of its definitely a wall for fans to shout out about their teams. (I wonder if there's a way the conference can actually leverage that behavior -- encouraging it ala what Jim Rome does on his radio show. Just a side thought.)

Let's take a quick look at what's going on... The Big East gives us truly insider photography in Facebook. Click into the Football Media Day album (below or here) and you'll see not just a look at the student athletes, but also of the food (lobster, wow), the venue, essentially the life that is the Big East.

How could this be better? I'd love to see this elevated, with personality, into the wall. You have to dive in pretty deep to experience this -- and I'd love to see selected photos elevated. Maybe hold caption contests for fans?

Next, the Big East leverages Facebook to unveil new content. As you see below, they will be publishing 8 days worth of video previews and are announcing it here, in this world. I love the idea, as it creates a feeling of exclusivity for belonging to the Big East fan group...

How could this be better? Actually load the video here, first. Don't make us go elsewhere (Big East TV, YouTube, or wherever....) Put it here, and make this the stage fans come to first. You can put it up on the site later, but lead in the social world.

Finally, the Big East Elevates Championships in Facebook. I love this. Literally love where it could go! Why more people don't leverage this is a mystery. But for now let's dive into what is going on and why it is great. Click on Events and you will find a listing of all Big East Championships (all sports). By each event you can "View Guest List", to see who has signed up to attend. Naturally, when you sign up to attend, your whole social network can be notified -- thus quickly letting your friends know to make plans.

How could this be better? First, put them in chronological order. And then keep that updated. I need to know what's coming next, and right now the order appears very random. Then, offer encouragement for people to sign up online -- maybe they get a discount... or a free gift upon showing up at the venue?

Let's shift gears to Twitter. Big East on Twitter, here, has just over 3,000 followers. The tone is good, and the conference leverages hashtags when talking about member schools. It was in checking out the feed though that I uncovered this nugget: There are other Big East Twitter accounts: @bigeastchamps, @bigeastmbb, @bigeastwbb, and @bigeastfb. These are all followed -- from 373 for Big East Champs up to roughly 2,300 for both football and men's basketball. Women's hoops is in the middle at 1,300 followers.

Here's my metrics for what this means:

1. 6.0% of the time that a fan subscribes to the main Big East feed, they put the conference into a list. That makes 180 lists. When you get sport specific for the lead sports, this rises -- 9.0% for Big East MBB and 7.0% for Big East Football. It is a little smaller for women's hoops - at 4.0%.
2. The Twitter equivalent of student-to-teacher ratio: Tweets per Subscriber. The conference has tweeted just over 1100 times -- or 0.37 per subscriber.
3. Activity is strong but could be better connected. Perhaps a shared hashtag for the conference by sport would draw us in?
   

Buzz.

To gauge buzz, I did a quick search for #BigEast on Twitter. There were 19 mentions in the past 4 days (3 in the past 24 hours). When you consider the fan energy on the Facebook wall, there's a missing opportunity here.

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, and the impact has the most potential by bringing the pieces together within Twitter. Big time potential, but we need to bring things together. Perhaps a Twitter directory, a Twackle account, or a leveraging of hashtags could help make us aware of the wealth that's here?

Report Card

Strengths: Facebook Events, Photos, Elevation

Weaknesses: Intangibles, Twitter Exposure

Neutral: Depth of Roster

Hope you dug it.

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.