Today, every sports organization has a digital team that’s in charge of the upkeep and management of the teams digital assets. From the articles that go up on the website daily, to the Tweets and Facebook updates that are shared with fans, a teams digital presence has grown from just banner ads and email blasts to fan interactions and real-time content. Still, although every sports organization has a digital team in place, not all are making an impact with their efforts.
5 Questions To Ask
So how do you know if you are doing a good job? While it would be convenient if there were some sort of grading scale where A’s and B’s were easy to distinguish, instead we have to develop our own scale of what is considered ‘passing’ and what is ‘failing.
Here are 5 questions that every digital team should ask themselves in no particular order:
1. What ‘brand’ do I want to present versus what people actually think of my brand?
Fundamental to any digital effort is the question of what the main focus will be in regards to representation of the teams ‘brand.’ By having a clear idea of what ‘brand’ you would like to present as well as what people actually think of your brand currently will help you determine what areas need work. Without knowing this, it’s like trying to build a bridge without knowing how far the distance is between the two sides.
2. Do I know what people are saying about us?
A popular catch phrase in the mid 80’s, GI-Joe’s “Knowing is half the battle” PSA is still very relevant. With the digital space become an ever growing collection of conversations and ideas, sports teams need to make sure that they are ‘listening in’ on what their community is saying. A great example of brands that are benefiting from listening in on what their ‘community’ is saying include BestBuy, ComCast and Whole Foods.
3. Is everyone on the same page?
Having a set goal is great, but unless everyone is working toward that same goal, reaching it will be twice as hard. Similar to the ‘united we stand, divided we fall’ motto, teams need to make sure that everyone involved has a clear understanding of what the goal is and more importantly, why. Too often are individuals asked to do something without having an understanding of why. By educating someone on why they need to do something or why something is done a certain way, you create an environment where everyone feels like they are part of something important.
4. Do we offer a unique experience?
Having a digital presence not only means putting out content and engaging fans, but offering them something unique. For example, putting out last nights box score and a recap of what happened is good, but what’s to stop a fan from going to ESPN or Yahoo! Sports for the same content? Sports teams need to focus on providing fans with exclusive content and the ‘can’t get anywhere else’ opportunities.
5. Would I share the content we create?
A key part that many of us forget to ask ourselves about the content that we create and publish is whether we would actually share it with others. When it comes to content development, we often forget to put ourselves in the shoes of the fan or consumer.With the digital space, content that is ‘share’ worthy helps to grow and further a brands reach and influence. As a rule of thumb, digital teams need to be the biggest critic of their own work.
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Awesome write up, Joseph. Even though these questions are geared more toward the sports industry in this article, they apply across the board for social media teams in all fields. Great stuff my man.
@jmatthicks Thanks! I’m glad you liked it. As you said, these are questions that are fudamental toward any industry!
@jmatthicks Thanks! I’m glad you liked it. As you said, these are questions that are fundamental toward any industry!