Keeping fans engaged is what brings them into stadiums and allows teams and leagues to spread their brand without having to constantly pump money into marketing. Without fans, sports organizations are useless, and organizations that have the most loyal and engaged fans never have to worry about losing revenue. However, fan engagement is something a lot of organizations are struggling with, and, in many cases, it’s because they fail to harness the full power of digital media. Let’s take a look at how sports brands can use digital media to keep fans engaged.
Manage their Content Better
As a sports organization, you cannot just have a social media manager and send random footage of games and players. You need to have a repository where you, your players, and other members of your organization can post content to be vetted and then distributed to different channels. And, when this content is distributed, performance has to be closely monitored to see what type of content is getting traction and on which channels.
The only way sports organizations can do this is by using digital media management software. If you want an example of one, you can check out https://www.greenfly.com/solutions/sports/. Digital media management platforms allow organizations to not only distribute content to fans but their promotional partners and broadcasters as well. This is a must for any league or team that wants to distribute massive amounts of content efficiently and constantly refine its strategy.
Take the Fans Behind the Scene
Another thing that sports organizations can do is use digital media to bring fans closer to their operation. You might not think that fans care about the business side of sports organizations, but you’d be surprised. Taking people behind the front office is one of the best ways to keep hardcore fans interested.
Hardcore fans are the bread and butter for any organization, and the more access you give them, the more dedicated they will be. Take them into training sessions, and we’re not talking about practice here. Take them into the weight rooms and have interviews with trainers, nutritionists, and therapists. You could even have a few conversations with concessions stand workers and ask them about some of the interesting things they’ve seen over the years. These are the kind of things that will help put a human face on your team.
Have Your Players Participate
You also need to get players involved and allow them to create content on their own. Everything doesn’t have to be polished either. Raw footage will make it seem more authentic.
Make sure that you don’t cover star players only either. People relate with role players much more than star players, so let them tell their story as well. You might be surprised by the reactions.
Digital media and sports are a match made in heaven. Organizations that are lagging in this department will eventually start losing revenue and overspending on fan outreach, so do everything you can right now to improve your strategy if you feel like you’re falling behind.
