“Woe is me.”
I know. I’m in the same boat. The Macon Bacon staff is working from home. Our revenue streams have trickled to drops. Other businesses all across the country are all facing the same nightmare right now.
But, sports should be different. We’re supposed to bring joy and fun and excitement to the community. Not only in up times but especially in times like this.
However, I talk to too many teams who are telling me they are calling sponsors and ticket holders and saying, “I hope you’re okay.” Or, “please stay safe”, Or “We’re all in this together.”
Those teams are sending out social media messages from players saying how much they miss the fans. Etc, etc, etc.
STOP!!!
You may think this politically incorrect but I’m telling you right now….STOP! Nobody wants to hear it any more. We know we’re all in this together. Enough.
Your fans want to laugh. They want some positives. They want to forget about this nightmare. Here are two steps for you to do that and at the same time build your brand, your following and position yourself to sell boatloads of tickets in the future.
BUILD YOUR FOLLOWING AND INTEREST
As a sports team, you have the opportunity to bring joy, fun and smiles to your fans. Now is a tremendous time for your team to be impactful in the community, get more engagement and build your team’s brand identity in your town. Yes, you have to be cognizant of your market’s situation. Everyone’s situation is a little different. However, what I’m suggesting to you is you can deliver that fun, joy and smile with unique and fun content. Here’s the important part:
It does not have to always relate to your sport.
Remember, all of your followers are not hard-core fans. In fact, I would bet less than 15% are really focused on your actual sport and your players, especially if you’re in the minor leagues. They like your team and what it represents, having fun and enjoying a night out. But, they don’t eat, sleep and breathe your team.
So, with your content, don’t just focus on past game highlights and player interviews. Make sure it’s interesting to all your fans, not just the hard-core season ticket holders. This could be through irreverent videos you create, funny memes and other laughs.
Let me give you a few examples:
- Just in the last two weeks, the Macon Bacon have played the Savannah Bananas in MLB the Show, battled on Twitter, Electronic Connect Four (Bacon wins!) and also sent out a Where’s Kevin graphic. All garnering laughs, likes, retweets and shares.
COLLECTING EMAIL ADDRESSES
Now is also a fabulous time to be creating ideas and engagement to collect email addresses. You can use voting polls, opinion polls and enter to win contests. These can be nominally connected to your team with the goal of asking fans to vote and win a prize.
And, keep in mind that joy and those smiles mean they will think positively about your team or your sports property when the time comes to once again buy tickets and merchandise and help your revenue streams.
Remember, joy, fun and smiles to your fans in such times of trouble. And, remember, the more people who follow your team, the more engagement you have. Now is the time to get fans on board with following your content and collecting their email addresses.
