Capture Your Fans' Social Network

Are you looking to tap into your fans' social network? If so, which non-traditional initiatives have you implemented in the past year to capture their attention in this space?

The Milwaukee Bucks are a leader among others (Portland Trailblazers, Indianapolis Colts) who have made significant efforts to capture their fans' attention in the online space. The Bucks feature a "Social Section" sidebar on the organization's main page, highlighting their presence on Myspace, YouTube, Facebook, and MyNBA.com. This is a very cost-effective way to drive fan awareness for new ways to connect with the team during the off-season and off-days during the regular season. When you have a moment, check out their sites:

• My Bucks World (Myspace)
• YouTube.com/user/bucksdotcom
• Bucks Facebook
• My Milwaukee Bucks

Note: The Bucks didn't hide their social applications within their team site. They created a unique space on the site's sidebar for these elements to live and drive fan interaction. This is a vital component to their success!

Did You Know? ... Online Sales

Did You Know?

Online retail sales are projected to increase 17% in 2008, based on a survey of 125 retailers. - Forrester Research

In other words, boost your efforts and resources to support online merchandise sales, etc. in the near future! Begin identifying online sales trends and patterns and develop effective mediums to better understand your consumer base!

Need Help Driving Online Buzz for Your Brand?

Are you looking to create positive buzz around your brand/organization but lack the resources to do so? Have you exhausted all television, print, and radio efforts for promoting new ticket offers, initiatives, and team-related moves?

Here is a new option for you to consider:

Doe Anderson

I recently came across the services of Doe Anderson and was very impressed that such a company even exists. Doe Anderson is a company that prides itself on being "Building Brand Enthusiasts". The company features professional bloggers that build positive brand mantra on message boards, online discussions, and circulates positive awareness for your brand throughout the digital landscape. Doe Anderson did an incredible job enhancing Jim Beam's "Rally for Robby" campaign (supporting NASCAR driver Robby Gordon in '08) and appear to have an impressive client list:

• Wendy's, Valvoline, Umbro, Skoal, Papa Johns, Copenhagen, Maker's Mark, Louisville Slugger, etc.

I really like the idea of a team/organization outsourcing some of its marketing dollars to a company like Doe Anderson, among others, to build positive buzz in the social landscape. Why not put some of your dollars within the hands of professionals, who can take buzz building to another level in an area (the digital landscape) that you may not specialize in? Control systems would need to be implemented (to ensure that the correct messages are being relayed to consumers) but I think this would be a great trial-and-error move for an organization looking to drive messaging and awareness through the web.

NOTE: This article does not support Doe Anderson in any nature. The objective of the article is to simply to inform readers that Doe Anderson serves as an outlet for building brand buzz in the digital space.

You May Want To Re-Analyze Online Advertising...

The future is digital media... everyone knows that. But is online advertising as effective as everyone thinks it is? Maybe not, according to a recent study conducted by comScore, media agency Starcom USA, and the ad network Tacoda, owned by AOL. The study's results found that:

• Just 6% of Web surfers ccount for more than 50% of all clicks on display ads (i.e. banner ads)
• The majority of these "heavy clickers" earn less than $40,000 and account for less than 15% of the actual shopping online

What does this mean for sports marketers and property reps? Well, simple online banner advertising may not be as great of an asset as people once thought. Therefore, we need to get more creative with using our online ad space to drive promotions/sweepstakes, offers for customized products, and other initiatives that engage consumers.

How is the industry reacting to these findings?

• Google is rolling out a new tool that allows advertisers to pay only when they acquire new customers (i.e. a person who purchases or signs up for a mailing list)
• Microsoft has developed a system that allows advertisers to pay based on the amount of consumers that watch a video, provide their email address, or act in another manner the corporate advertiser desires.

Here are some examples of great banner ads that I have recently seen:

Videos Drive Buzz Around the NBA All-Star Game...

Several NBA players thought (and acted) creatively to drive buzz and awareness around their participation in the NBA's All-Star Game Festivities... For more details, click here.

FIFA 3 STREET Scores with Viral Marketing

To boost buzz around the launch of the video game FIFA Street 3, a very captive video was released on YouTube... This is a great example of using viral marketing to generate demand for a product launch:

Driving Web Traffic Through In-Game Promotions

BusinessWeek recently featured an article called "Japan: Google's Real-Life Lab", that profiles Google's extensive product testing among Japanese consumers. The article immediately caught my attention, as it carries strong parallels for sports professionals looking to drive traffic to their organization's webpage.

Read More: http://partnershipactivation.squarespace.com/driving-web-traffic/