NRL Digital Best Practices: Newcastle Knights Let You Email Players

If you've been following this blog for awhile (thanks!), you may have come across a best practice I discussed from the NBA World Champion Dallas Mavericks. They created a way for fans to email the players (revisit that one here). It was a great thing because it just felt personal -- like you could reach out to anyone you wanted.

That was the only example I've seen of this.... until I saw what the Newcastle Knights were doing.

Hit the Newcastle Home Page and hover over "Fans." As you can (hopefully) see below, this will reveal the option to "Email the Players." Let's move in...

Clicking ahead takes you here, to a simple screen with a drop down menu. You are asked to "Send the players your messages of support" and you simply provide your name, email, and message.

I like the execution because it is extremely intuitive and has almost no barriers to participation. And, like the Mavericks example, the concept of emailing a player feels personal -- especially in this era of Facebook & Twitter.

All that said, how could this be better? You'll note in the image above the phrase "Support Wall". I'd love to make this space feel more emotional. Perhaps it is showing past emails (that people submitted and agreed to publish publicly) and responses. I've seen this in action in local grocery stores -- consumers post comments/questions and employees post responses. It's simple, but the fact that you can see other fans' questions and, importantly, some responses makes this idea more personal.

I'll be back tomorrow for another day of NRL coverage. As always, you can follow me on Twitter (I'm @pawlow34) or on Facebook (Digital Hoops Blast).

Thanks for hanging with me!

Andy

NRL Digital Best Practices: Melbourne Storm Gives Emotional Imagery in Facebook

It's amazing what a powerful visual treatment can do for your team's brand.

If you need a friendly reminder, the NRL's Melbourne Storm give that for us all, today. Our journey begins on the Melbourne Storm Facebook Wall, shown below or linked here.

No doubt you noticed the profile picture on the left-hand side, but I'll paste it again below, for your blog-reading enjoyment.

The Profile Picture is extremely important, and not just because it delivers a tone when someone hits your page. It's important because this is the piece of your brand you'll take with you when you appear in each of your fans' news feeds. So the image should speak to the excitement and emotion in your team -- it should reinforce why fans will follow you. Great example here that we can all learn from.

How could this be better? I'd love to take the same idea and expand it. Change out the image before every matchup with a powerful image and a rallying cry for fans. You'll extend your brand, but you'll do it aligned with the calendar of games -- making it even more effective as a marketing strategy.

I'll be back tomorrow for another day of NRL coverage. As always, you can follow me on Twitter (I'm @pawlow34) or on Facebook (Digital Hoops Blast).

Thanks!

Andy

NRL Digital Best Practices: Manly Pushes for a Trending Topic on Twitter

Social networks working together. That's something I love to see, but seldom see them unite around a cause. Today we'll see a great example of this in action.

Manly used Facebook to rally fans on Twitter.

How?

Let's start by taking a look at the Manly-Warringah Facebook Page (shown below and here). There are a few key things to note on this image. First, you'll note that there's a big goal on the page. On the left hand side, it reads "Let's get #LetsGoKingy trending on Twitter". You can click on "Read Tweets" and see what others have written. And, of course, you are one click away from sharing this on Facebook with your friends (see bottom right)...

So Manly has found a way to set a Twitter goal for their fans and elevate that goal right here, on Facebook. Cool.

How could this be better? I'd love to see a reward introduced. As in, if the fans get "Let's Go Kingy" trending on Twitter, what happens? There needs to be something more. Just trending is cool and all, but adding the "so what" can take something and unite a fan base. For example, what if the club would release #LetsGoKingy tees and give them away to anyone who had tweeted to make the trend happen? Rewards don't have to be monetary, but I'd love to see a payoff in exchange for hyping what the club wants us to hype...

I'll be back tomorrow for another day of NRL coverage. As always, you can follow me on Twitter (I'm @pawlow34) or on Facebook (Digital Hoops Blast).

Thanks!

Andy

NRL Digital Best Practices: North Queensland Cowboys Give Permanent Access to the Latest Social Posts

Happy 4th of July everyone!

One of the biggest challenges we face is bringing new people into the social media funnel. Said differently, how do teams convert site visitors into social media followers or fans? And how do they do this without overwhelming them with messaging that they just aren't looking for? It starts with access, the right kind of access when you need it.

The North Queensland Cowboys give us a great starting point to look at. Let's begin on the Cowboys home page, here, and below.

You'll notice (I hope) a toolbar at the bottom of this image.




I'll isolate the toolbar, here, but for some reason I've had trouble enlarging it!




As you'll see in the image below, this toolbar remains with you no matter where you are on the site - it's fixed at the bottom of your web browser...





So what does this mean? As you'll see in the next series of images, you have the ability to not just access their Social Networks, but to also participate, and of course follow right from this window. No pop up windows, no taking you away from what you're already doing (surfing the Cowboys site). It's a really nice system.

Here's Twitter:




Facebook is here, which includes the ability to see the individuals who already LIKE the squad. (I'm guessing if your friends LIKE them, they will appear here)...




Finally, YouTube videos can be browsed right here as well.



Pretty inspiring thinking, huh?

How could this be better? The danger of having social media built into an always-on framework is that, by it always being there, regular visitors may not notice it. The challenge becomes, how do you gently remind people that this exists, without turning the web experience into a digital version of a Vegas casino. In the end, I'd love to find a happy medium - find a way to enable the site visitor to turn on the latest feed of social buzz around the Cowboys. Let's call this a "LIVE NOW" button. This could aggregate their three feeds (Facebook, Twitter, & YouTube) and combine it with commentary/posts/activity from fans, players, and experts. This would allow fans who want more to get it without requiring everyone to see it.

I'll be back tomorrow for another day of NRL coverage. As always, you can follow me on Twitter (I'm @pawlow34) or on Facebook (Digital Hoops Blast).

Thanks!

Andy

NRL Digital Best Practices: Canberra Raiders Bring Local Entertainment to Enhance Experience

One of the things I always geek out about (yes, there's lots of things) is that come big sporting events you get to see who the team has chosen to sing the National Anthem. It's always a local artist, but depending on the sport and the market, "local" may be a monster name. And there's something about the local artist or band playing on behalf of his or her team's fan base that just sets the mood.

But I've never seen this played out onto a digital stage.

The Canberra Raiders put us in this direction. Let's start our journey on the Canberra home page. Hover over "Game Day," and you'll see "Raiding Canberra Talent."

Clicking in takes you here, where we see their POV on getting local musicians to perform before each match.

I'll paste an excerpt for you, as this screen grab doesn't do the idea justice...

“Everywhere you go in Canberra you can see live music acts and talented performers and we’re giving those people a chance to get some exposure by playing to big audiences,” Pollack said. “The Raiders want the crowds to be buzzing by the time the boys run out onto the field each week and we believe the talented local performers in Canberra can help do this.”

So what they are saying is that they seek to create energy (read: an experience) by hyping the crowd with the best performers from the area. Cool...

How could this be better? Musicians have followings - physically and socially. So if you have a team that is social and musicians who are social, how do you bring this all together? I think the opportunity here isn't just to create a YouTube channel of pre-game entertainment but rather to link the team's presence socially with those of each performer. They can promote each other and create a better experience for the fan base in the process. Everyone wins.

I'll be back next week for another week of NRL coverage. As always, you can follow me on Twitter (I'm @pawlow34) or on Facebook (Digital Hoops Blast).

Thanks!

Andy

NRL Digital Best Practices: Canterbury-Bankstown Maximizes Their Social Profile Pictures

The profile picture.

This is the #1 thing that will pop out of the News Feed inside Facebook or Twitter. Given the fact that most of us don't visit a team's Facebook or Twitter page (we simply visit our own page and get our fix of our favorite team's news here), many teams or conferences don't fully maximize that component.

According to Pixable, one in 10 Facebook pictures is the profile. Said differently, 10% of all pictures on Facebook are profile pictures. And as you can see below, the trend is to update this more frequently -- tripling since 2006.

How should we do this?

I prefer to think about why people tend to change their profile picture. Life changes, season changes, or big moments in their life often lead to a change. But so do creativity or boredom. As you can see below, the average user has 26 profile pictures. The average team? I'm guessing one or two.

Which brings me to Canterbury-Bankstown. The journey begins inside social for the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs (here and here). As you'll find on those links or in the images below is that all roads lead to the Bulldogs iPhone APP. Said differently, Canterbury-Bankstown swapped out their profile image on both Facebook and Twitter to drive fans to their iPhone APP. And every post they make brings that message to each of their followers' news feeds.

So how could this be better? Love the idea, but would love to have it feel more branded less advertising. Rather than promote the fact that it's a free app, why not promote the best thing about it (which hopefully isn't that it's free!) You can swap out benefits over time. If it's inside access, show a insider photo of a player and hype the app, for example. That way you continue to build your brand while simultaneously driving awareness and traffic to your app. But the profile takeover is a fantastic strategy for all to use.

Hope you're digging this.

I'll be back tomorrow for another day of NRL coverage. As always, you can follow me on Twitter (I'm @pawlow34) or on Facebook (Digital Hoops Blast).

Thanks!

Andy

NRL Digital Best Practices: Brisbane Broncos Go Bold With Facebook

Maybe I can't get enough of the land down under? Fired up from my tour through the Australian Football League, I'm going to stick here for a little longer - sharing the best digital practices across the National Rugby League (NRL) We'll go strong through next week and then I'll be taking a couple weeks off as I recharge, upon which we'll finish the NRL.

Today I start with a question -- how bold can you be in your description of your social media? Can you write a description in such a way that any fan would feel compelled to click straight through to follow you?

The Brisbane Broncos Go Bold.

We start our journey inside the Brisbane home page. Click onto Fan Zone, Facebook & Twitter... which takes you here.

Here's where the boldness kicks in. Check this quote (shown below but tough to read.)

"This is your chance to be part of the Broncos' social media family - the biggest sporting club social media group across any code in Australia. The Broncos have the biggest Facebook following of any club - NRL, AFL, or any other sport in Australia included - and this is your passage to be first to know what is going on in your club. The club endeavours to hold its biggest news & announcements exclusively for our Facebook followers."

I love this, as it is what it is - authentic and bold. And the aspirational point of being the #1 Team (socially) in Australia is a bold statement the team, front office, and fans can rally behind. If you're leading the world, you act differently!

So, naturally the question becomes are they backing this strategy up? Clicking on to Facebook leads you here, to the Broncos Facebook stream. From my perspective, they are doing a nice job sharing posts as they happen on the .com site -- thus using Facebook as a distribution plan rather than as a content originator.

Which leads me here. How could this be better? Let's go back to the statement that set this whole post up, "The club endeavours to hold its biggest news and announcements exclusively for our Facebook followers." Wow. Bold yet actionable. I'd love to see the Broncos back this strategy up here in Facebook -- and take that bold step to share news only via Facebook, rather than simply re-posting what's already been posted. Give access to those who want it most!

That's a wrap.

As always, you can follow me on Twitter (I'm @pawlow34) or on Facebook (Digital Hoops Blast).

Thanks!

Andy