Sports properties have an emotional pull that few other brands do. There are some exceptional brands that reach that level (e.g., Harley Davidson or Gucci), but not with the consistency and intensity of sports teams. Perhaps the most dramatic demonstration of that is how common it is to see a person’s favorite team listed in their obituary. You’re far less likely to come across a mention of their favorite movie or snack food. Nathan Cobb of the Boston Globe coined the term “Red Sox Nation” in 1986, and “nation” has become an apt synonym for a fanbase ever since. It speaks to the way we use teams as both a self-identifier and a means to connect to a larger community.
That unique emotional element makes the marketing of sports unique as well. While many standard branding practices apply, several don’t. This is especially true in the best practices surrounding social media. Social media provides sports brands with a powerful means to foster the emotional, human connection that is so vital to the brand health of a team. But many use it ineffectively by following a standard based on traditional product management rather than embracing the different expectations of sports brand engagement.
I reviewed social media postings for nearly 40 professional sports teams in the US across different leagues and social media platforms and gauged the level of engagement they secured relative to market size (large vs small DMA) and league popularity (e.g., fans and viewership). Individual sports like boxing, golf, and MMA were not included due to the foundational reliance on personality rather than community and collective identity. With those criteria, the common best practices among the higher engagement practitioners reflected these Don’ts and Do’s.
| DON’TS | DO’S |
| Rely mostly on game highlights Fans love highlights, but there are plenty of places to see them. Social media sites shouldn’t try to compete with broadcasters or sports sites that major in highlights. If used, try to find a way to give it an exclusive feel. Show the view of the highlight from the stands, or focus on the reaction of teammates to give it a sense of special access. | Major in experiences and behind-the-scenes content Social media is a place to share a view of the team the fan can’t get anywhere else. Fans want to feel like they’ve been granted special insider access to the team. Views from the bullpen, locker room banter, or pranks pulled off in practice are all examples of building an insider view. Showing the players are fans of each other, the team, and the surrounding community goes a long way with a fanbase. |
| Assume you have a single fan base People are drawn to a team for various reasons. Family tradition, community pride, sports nerd, etc. Assuming a homogenous fanbase leads to repetitive or irrelevant content. Constantly appealing to the generic average fan will leave the pockets of fandom seeing the team’s social media as bland background noise on their feeds. | Understand you have multiple fan bases Make use of any data you have to understand the different groups that make up your fanbase: their size, their economic impact, and most importantly their content preferences. Your content calendar should reflect the timing and frequency with which you want to target those different audiences. For example, pre-game may be devoted to fans driven by community pride (“Let’s go Seattle”), post-game to the sports nerd (“Last night was the first time that four players scored in double digits”), and breaks to the nostalgia-seeker (“this happened 20 years ago this week”) |
| “Broadcast” over social media platforms Just reformatting the aspect ratio on the same content to run across multiple channels fails to take advantage of what each channel offers and makes the content look repetitive. | Use platforms for what they’re best at Social media platoforms differ by more than just format. Not only do people bring different expectations to TikTok than they do to Facebook, but they do to the post forms within a platform (e.g Reels vs Phot Posts). Demographic of users differs too. This can be incorporated into the content calendar referenced above. Taken together, the calendar can help organize “when what, and where” for your social postings. |
| Promote Discounts Pricing is an art beyond the scope of this analysis. But leading with a discount message (“Get 20% off single game tickets in July”) undercuts what’s supposed to be a special occasion. It implies a lack of interest or demand, especially if they occur with regularity. | Promote Events Framing discounts as part of a special event drives sales while feeding the aura of attending a game. Using some creativity, almost any deal can be packaged as something more than just a reduced price. “Little Laker Day” for young kids or “Teacher Tribute Night” for role models in the community gives license to discounts without demeaning the product. Just do better than “Fan Appreciation Night”. |
| Communicate from Team to Fan There’s a natural desire to put your best foot forward in any communication, including social media. But the more your social media comes off as the “official” voice of the team, the less interesting it tends to become. Personality inspired by a team’s atmosphere or surrounding community is still important within a team’s social brand (e.g., “Grit and Grind Grizzlies”). A memo about last night’s score doesn’t spark engagement. | Communicate from Fan to Fan At its best, social media interaction should feel like one fan talking to another. Embrace the fan perspective in tone and content. Don’t be afraid to say “ouch” after a tough loss, to repost user content, to have photos or videos that aren’t top quality. There’s often an assumed image of a low-ranking intern behind a team’s account, so don’t be scared to strike a more casual, humorous tone as part of the team voice. |
Building on the last point, the critical underlying dynamic is that fandom is a positive feedback loop. Fans are created by other fans. There is no doubt that the strength and weakness of those bonds are linked to wins and losses. But there are numerous examples of winning teams with weak fan support and losing teams with strong fan support. Sports brands with strong emotional connections earn a loyalty that buffers the year-to-year swings in the standings that inevitably occur. A well-constructed social media program can maintain and even build those connections if managed with its strengths and failings in mind.
The Gameplan Review 