It’s not often we get to talk on here about sports other than the big 3 (football, rugby and cricket) and most of that tends to be around football.  So its nice to get to hear about a social media campaign by another sport, and one that others can take something from.

The sport is that of Netball.  Netball is played by some 7 million people worldwide, of which over 1 million are in the UK, each week.  It’s also a sport thats enjoying greater coverage than it has for a long while with the SkySports deal to cover the recently formed Netball Superleague.

Over the last 3 years, netball has exploded on twitter, with teams taking to the social media platform to interact with fans and promote upcoming games.

But despite the high participation rates there is little in the way of mainstream media coverage outside of the Sky deal, of professional netball – so teams are taking to social media to get themselves heard instead.

Surrey Storm are the leading franchise on social media, with a good following on both Twitter and Facebook.  The reasons for the Storm’s development in the social space is clear to their Marketing & Communications Manager, Matt Burton;

“We have taken inspiration from MCFC and the way they are interacting with fans via social media.

As most fans can’t get to away games we started to tweet live updates from games and it took off from there. Where BBC would provide similar updates for football etc via bbc.co.uk, there was nobody doing this for netball, so we started tweeting and fans loved it.

We now tweet live from all games, offering fans from across the globe the platform to follow Storm when games aren’t on TV.  We are also looking to develop our youtube strategy and this season have started to add pre and post match video interviews: http://www.youtube.com/user/SurreyStormNetball“

To take this a step further the club have launched a Twitter campaign ahead of this Satursday’s sold out clash with Loughborough Lightening.  They are offering the chance for a fan to win 2 tickets to the Fiat Netball Superleague match, and get to work with the Storm media team to tweet live updates through the game.  The winner will also get to meet the players on the night.  An amazing prize for a big fan!

To enter the competition, you need to follow @surreystorm and tweet them with your reason on why you should be the official Storm tweeter for the match and include #stormtwittercomp to be considered.

Entries are now open and the deadline for twitter entries is 11.59pm on Tuesday 24 January, so not much time left to enter!

This is a really nice initiative by the club, showing their willingness to give more than just a prize but an experience.  Many competitions we see are for a pair of tickets or kit but what many dont see is how much a fan wants to be involved with the club, to be part of it (even just for a little bit).  They’ve shown as well that they are willing to give some control away, let the fans be in charge. Too many are precious about who can say what where and dont concede anything, thus keeping fans at arms length.

Another good move from the club is to also have their players on social media, helping to spread the word about the club, the sport, upcoming fixtures and give an insight into who they are.  This has worked well in sports across the US and, if managed correctly, can be enormously beneficial to all involved (awareness, sponsorship, press coverage and much more).

We’ve seen the advent of Twitter influencers being given press access to games in the US and prizes such as ‘Facebook Row’ here in the UK.  Now it appears to be spreading.

For sports who dont get the attention that football, rugby and cricket get from the mainstream press, the need to look at alternatives and be opportunitistic is there.  We will see more clubs/sports become ’media publishers’ as the realisation that they have so much content to give and the platforms to achieve this on are there now.

Well done to Surrey Storm and hopefully we’ll see more following in their footsteps this year.

Comcast’s Xfinity Service is launching a contest to hire an individual who will serve as the new voice of Xfinity in the sports social media space and go behind-the-scenes at some of the biggest nationwide sporting events in 2012, sharing exclusive insights and updates with fans.

The contest, entitled “Xfinity Presents: The Ultimate Sports Social Media Job,” runs from January 13 through March 25 in search of the next sports social media star.  It has been put together by our friends at GMR Marketing and especially Brian Gainor.

The winner will receive a one-year salary and will be responsible for tweeting from the @XFINITYSports Twitter handle on continual basis,  reporting live from premier sporting events throughout 2012, and educating and engaging avid sports fans in social media communities. In addition to live event access, the winner will also receive all the electronics for the ultimate sports pad, including televisions, home audio/video equipment, etc.

From January 13 – February 6, consumers can log on to Facebook.com/Xfinity and then go to the “Xfinity Presents: The Ultimate Sports Social Media Job” contest tab to submit video between 30 seconds and two-minutes in length explaining why they should be selected as the sports social media voice of Xfinity based on their sports knowledge, social media expertise, personality, and passion for Comcast.

The top video submissions will be featured on the Ultimate Sports Social Media Job contest tab located on Facebook.com/Xfinity for fans to vote on from February 9-19. The five entrants with the most votes will advance to the final round of the contest where they will cover one of five premier sports events the weekend of March 8-11.

Each candidate will receive access typically granted to event personnel, athletes and media and be asked to chronicle their live experiences behind-the-scenes with tweets, video uploads, and short posts that will be featured on the Xfinity Facebook contest tab as well as their own social media channels.

Following that weekend, a panel of celebrity judges will evaluate each performance and announce the winner of “Xfinity Presents: The Ultimate Sports Social Media Job” contest by March 25^th. The winner will travel throughout the year to the biggest rivalry games, championship games, and premier sporting events.

catch more articles back on the homepage here at UK Sports Network

I hope everyone has had a great Christmas and enjoying the holiday period.  As I was having a look at the latest news and innovations in social media and sport I came across this from Intel.

Initially it has been launched on Android (interesting that chose this first with iPhone to come later – usually its the other way round) and it comes with many features that stato football fans from around Europe will be interested in.

The app offers to provide 2nd screen insights I imagine aimed more at the TV viewer than those at the game.  You can follow your particular team, get live match info on all key events (corners, goals, offsides, fouls, shots, yellow cards, etc), player stats which are updated throughout the game and fan chats.

This last element is interesting as it offers something more interactive.  It allows you to see up-to-the-minute comments, etc from forums, Facebook, Twitter and fan sites as the game is progressing.

This is available for teams in the top leagues of Germany, England, Spain, France, Italy, Holland, Poland, Russia, Turkey and Sweden. This covers most of the top supported nations in Europe including some we would not usually expect.

Is this going to appeal to most mainstream fans?  possibly not but it depends on how easy to use, interesting and interactive it really proves to be.  Intel is a tech company and the main aim will be to show off the tech side rather than making it a great user experience.

You can download the beta Android version now here

For more info they have provided a YouTube video to explain it some more….

As one of the teams that is continuously pushing the boundaries when it comes to engaging their fan base and trying new things, especially on Facebook, Real Madrid are at it again.

This is actually an idea I have had at the back of my mind for a while now but not had the opportunity to try out (someone was going to do it sooner or later).  What the club have done is launch a quiz app on their page that allows fans to indulge in that favourite football fan pastime of proving their footballing knowledge.

This app has a few different quizes available and there is a leaderboard for each one, each with its own prize at the end of it.  One nice feature is the countdown clock to show you how long the leaderboard is open for and how long you have to get to the top and win the prize.

You can prove your knowledge on a few different topics including; World Cups, Real Madrid, Zidane, La Liga and Pot Luck.  There are also ones for Ronaldo and Sergio Ramos, though you have to have enough Facebook coins to play these ones.

This is one element I am less sure about. You can purchase coins to bypass having to win one of the quizzes and play the ones that require you to pay first.  This is a revenue driver for the club, but how much of one is to be seen.  I imagine this is a revenue share between Real Madrid and the company who made the game Supporter Arena.

Supporter Arena claims to be “a supporter interactive social media platform and the umbrella term for a suite of simple participation tools that encourage fan interaction on Facebook.  These tools help clubs, governing bodies and companies interact and engage with sports through social media, enabling them to grow, mobilise and ultimately monetise their communities.”

One downside with the game for me is that you can re-take the quiz as many times as you like and you get the same questions.  Thus anyone with half a memory can score 10/10, it then just comes down to who can be the quickest with their answers.

As an app it has the advantages that it pushes messages into your own ticker news feed saying;

Data collection will also be possible as you have authorised them to do so in using the app and you can invite friends easily through it as well.  Fan engagement is becoming more sophisticated on Facebook now and companies and clubs alike are trying new things.  A quiz is an easy and great way to find your top fans whilst giving them something entertaining and a reason top come back to the page again and again.

You can tell when Christmas is approaching when you write a blog.  The updates slow down as the pre-holiday rush to get work completed kicks in, as well as the christmas parties/drinks most evenings of the week.

Thus this week has been one where it has been head down and concentrate on the day job.  A quick thank you as well to everyone who came along to the drinks in London on Monday.  It wasn’t the best weather to be out and about but it was great to catch up with everyone.  Thanks as well to We Are Social for sponsoring the night.

This week in the world of social media and sport it also seems to have slowed down a little.  Less new campaigns and initiatives are being launched as people prepare for a week or two (or three!) off.  Here is a wrap up of those items that have caught the eye in the last few days.  As always just click on the title to link through to the full article…

Facebook Time goes live for everyone

Originally it was just New Zealand (any idea why just NZ?) that could get the new timeline set up for their Facebook profile, and the geeks amongst us who put the code in to get it early.  Now it is available to everyone to opt into having.  The testing phase where it is optional, giving everyone a short time to get used to the change before the old profile is dumped forever.  Here USA Today look at 9 things you need to know about the new Timeline.

Man City to extend Augmented Reality to include swappable content

The current Premier League leaders are again pushing the boundaries in the digital space.  I feel I could write something every week about something new they have launched or tested, they are going full tilt with plans and are not scared to fail along the way.  This week they have extended the AR capabilities of the membership cards to allow them to swap content using the built in RFID technology.

Premier League Social Media stats for December

Digital agency Freestyle Interactive, whom our very own Sean Walsh works for, have released an interesting infographic that summarises the social media stats of premier league football for the month. It looks mainly at the size of the Twitter and Facebook following and the rate of growth they are seeing.

Heres what People Look at on Facebook Brand Pages

This doesn’t have anything sports specific in it but for any club, NGB or brand with a brand page on Facebook it is interesting stuff.  It looks at where it is on the screen that people look when on a page which should help anyone running a page to make best use of the spaces most looked at and move away from those that dont.  I think its safe to summarise that people look at the picture gallery at the top and the top post the most.  Interestingly the tab links on the left are looked at only a few times.

OneUp turns live football (US) into a game of play-making bingo

Another Mashable article (shocking I know) and its from our friends in the US.  It is interesting as it another attempt to help gamify the sports viewing experience.  Many companies have taken variations of this and tried to help people do more whilst watching from the comfort of their own sofa.  There is a fine balance between adding a valuable extra experience and becoming too much of a distraction that it takes people away from the game itself.  Ahead of Euro 2012 and London 2012 there are going to be more of these types of 2nd screen experiences being developed for the sports fan.

5 social media tactics every football club ‘must have’

An interesting summary from Sean as he looks at what he has learned from looking at football clubs in the social media space over the last year or so.  Here he puts together those thoughts and picks out 5 of the most important areas a club must have to be successful.  Are these the key 5 in your opinion and are there others?

Lots of love for broken leg victim David Villa from fans and players on twitter

To finish on a positive note and show how Twitter can be a platform of support as well as aimless gossip and talk about food.  After the unlucky David Villa of Barcelona fractured his shin bone playing in the FIFA World Club Championships this week, fans and players alike took to Twitter to show their support for him at what would be a really difficult time for any player.  He faces 4 or 5 months out of the game and lot of work to get back to where he was before.  All the best from the UK David.

This weeks #DigiSport mash-up has brought together a whole host of great stories from the last few days.  With the seasons first El Classico coming up this weekend and Shaq O’Neill giving an insight into his social media plans its been all go.

To go to the actual articles and find out more on the story, click on the title of the article and it will take you straight there.  If you hear of any interesting #DigiSport stories during the week then tweet them to me at @danielmclaren or @uksportsnetwork and we’ll add them in next week.

For anyone still interested, the drinks on Monday in London has a couple of places (is just about full) so DM or email me for more details.  The great news is that We Are Social (my place of work) will be sponsoring the evening which is fantastic news!  Thanks guys

Have a great weekend all and enjoy the articles below…

Twitter launches brand pages – interesting for sports teams!

Tonight, Twitter has come out and made a major announcement in regards to a redesign of its platform and more interestingly what it is doing for brands.  The article concentrates on what is in it for brand marketeers but this is also interesting for sports teams and leagues.  Be interesting to see what more comes out in the coming days from all parties.

The Match Day Experience: a Social Media trial goes live

After last weeks post about Man City’s social media experiment they have again come out and explained more about whaty has been happening.  It is great to read about what they are doing, why they are doing and sharing their successes and failures.  I cant think of many other companies who would do the same. Well work keeping an eye on their MCFCgeeks website and twitter

Big Shaq talks up Social Media plans

The Big Aristotle announced via Twitter in June that he was done with basketball. But since then, he has busied himself by promoting his book, “Shaq Uncut,” and by preparing to team up with Charles Barkley as a TNT basketball analyst this year.  O’Neal has also been working on his website, Shaq.com, which is what he wanted to talk about during a phone interview last week. During a call that included his brand manager, Mary Gleason, he also discussed his business plans, dispensed social-media advice and talked a little Barkley and basketball.

Barcelona’s new website gives links to players social media profiles

Barca’s newly designed website has come with some really cool new features.  The one I was drawn to, unsurprisingly, was the players info area where not only can you find out about the usual player biog stuff but also see embedded news streams from either Twitter or Facebook pages.  Awesome integration!

Fastest growing Facebook pages in sport this year dominated by Messi and Barca

This interesting snippet of information as we near years end has come from Facebook and their ‘Memology 2011′ tab.  Here you can see the fastest growing sports (as well as music, news and entertainment) pages in terms of growth of fans.  Messi’s FB page launch this year means he went from 0 to 27m pretty quickly.  6 footballers are in the top 10 and Barca, Real and Man Utd make up top 3 in teams (shock).  Some interesting info none the less.

Real Madrid v Barcelona – social media battle

You may need Google Translate for this one but this Spanish article ahead of the first El Classico of the league season this coming weekend.  It compares the giants of both the football and social media world with some interesting stats and take on what they are doing well.  A good read from Sportwist.

Social Saviness – NBAers, NCAAers and Media members talk social media

An interesting look by Jeremy Bauman and Peter Robert Casey on Slam Online at the impact social media has had for fans, players and media alike in how they consume and follow the game.  They’ve snippets from players on their experiences and media alike.  A good read if a fan of basketball and social media in the US.

5 tips for marketing to sports fans on Facebook

Mashable spoke to reps from the pro world of Sports Marketing including Christy Berkery (New England Patriots), Jim Spinello (rEvolution), Dan Lobring (rEvoltion), Laura Clemente (New York Jets), Kristen Baier (NETS Basketball).

Marseille receive 60k submissions for ‘fan designed kit’ competition

Back in March we posted an article praising French team Olympique Marseille for their asking fans to submit their own designs for a new official kit. Marseille used the landmark of hitting 1 million Facebook fans to reward their international fanbase and are the first football club world wide to essentially crowd-source their jersey. This week the club announced that they received a staggering 60,000 submissions for the competition and that after months of development and judging – they let their Facebook fans have the final decision.

JD Sports get top marks for social media

A quick look by Football Trade Directory on the social media presence of the Bury based sports retailer.

Using social media to make your sponsorship budget go further

Apparently, the 2012 Olympic Games aren’t just any old Games. They’re the world’s first social Olympic Games. Sponsors are lining up their social campaigns, most notably BT’s Storytellers and Lloyds TSB’s ‘Local heroes’ campaigns. But what of the (hundreds) of brands sponsoring major but non-Olympic events? The Grand National, FA Cup, Six Nations, Wimbledon, and the soon-to-be-not-the-Carling Cup?

Social media in Sports and Entertainment: Three mega trends in 2012

Beverly Macy from Gravity Summit LLC takes an early look at the top 3 trends to watch out for in 2012, in this edition of the Huffington Post.

BMW launches iPad app for Olympics

Not so much an article but a link to new BMW iPad app brought out as part of their sponsorship of the London 2012 games.

Shaq’s Social Media Guru Shares Her Secrets

Amy Jo Martin, CEO of Digital Royalty, tells Mashable how Shaq took over Twitter, what makes for a successful online presence and where she sees social media going in the future.

In a similar move to that Mindshare used when coming up with a new way to help people interact with the Lynx ‘Angels’, adidas UK used the same technology to help fans get closer to their Scotland heroes.

It took place in Buchanan Galleries, Glasgow on 11th November and was shown on a big screen in the shopping centre.  Peopler were encouraged to stand on the marked out spot and could then see themselves standing next to one of the Scotland stars.

This format is really fascinating and brings fans closer to the action.  Not only is it great for the people who are there it is also still novel enough to gain good PR, helping to reach an even greater audience.

Here is the video, what do you think of it?

(editors note: adidas is a current client though I wasn’t involved in this activation…sadly)

Welcome to the first of a new weekly feature.  There is only so much you can write about on one site and there are many out there doing a great job in breaking the latest happenings in the world of #DigSport.  Just click on the title links on each one to find out more.  Here is a mashup of the ones that have caught the eye in this last week;

Hashtag in EndZone

In what’s believed to be a first for college football programs (and anywhere else to be honest),Mississippi State has painted #HAILSTATE — the school’s traditional rallying cry and fight song — in its north endzone.  An interesting way to get your hashtag out there and encourage people to use who are both at the game and watching on TV.

FC Barca broadcast NextGen game v Celtic live on YouTube

From the clubs FCBMasiaES YouTube page, the club last night showed live coverage of the Next Generation game between themselves and Celtic.  Showing great use of content that is tied to any networks and thus is theirs to distribute as they please.  You can still watch the game in its entirety on the page.

Real Madrid latest team on Google+

A little bit behind their bitter rivals in getting onto the latest platform for brands.  Lost out on the PR around being a launch partner but may make up for it in their proven use of content and connecting with their fans (their Facebook page gets much more interaction than Barcelona’s each week despite being of around the same size).

Toulouse FC press conferences to go live on internet

Again a club utilising content that they have some control over to connect with fans and show those who cannot make it to such events to watch from wherever they are. (note: article is in French)

 Real Madrid partners with Cisco to offer highest tech stardom

This piece of news was shared by several sites in the last week as one of the biggest clubs in the world partners up with one of the biggest tech providers to help bring the digital experience to the stadium.  Such places are notorious for having bad connections for mobile with so many people trying to call, text or get online in a small space.

NBA stars chat to fans on Google+ hangout

Basketball stars LeBron James and Dwayne Wade get to grips with the Google+ hangout feature on LeBron’s own page.

What niche websites can do for your brand

Man United and Fulham are mentioned in this article about the use of niche websites and how they can benefit/hinder those who try to form their own communities away from Facebook, Twitter, Google and their own website.

PSG shirt complete with QR code

This article does what it says on the tin (note: french article) and shows the new PSG shirt complete with QR code that fans can get their hands, and phones, on.  Not sure if this one will catch on.

QPR owner asks for fans suggestions on transfer targets

In a rather novel move this morning, Tony Fernandes – the QPR owner and Chairman – used Twitter to ask for ideas about the types of players Queens Park Rangers fans wanted to see in the future. Fernandes has been a huge advocate for Social Media in the last few months he has been in charge at the Premiership side, having seen the fruits of success in previous businesses Air Asia and the Lotus F1 team. Fernandes was quick to mention that QPR manager, Neil Warnock, called the shots in terms of transfers – but he was interested to hear about the fans hopes/expectations.

After two days of travelling, with visits to Switzerland and Scotland speaking about social media, one area has made me think more than most.  It is an area that causes great consternation to those who have yet to embrace it and is celebrated by those that do.   What I talking about is Blogger (Influencer) Outreach.

Arsenal have been highlighted in this last week as a club that is prepared to embrace bloggers though it couldn’t be described as a major programme to bring these super fans closer to the club.  What they did was, after criticism of the clubs medical/training practices due to regular player injuries.  They invited a group of fans, some of whom are bloggers into meet the Head Physio and Club Doctor whilst touring the latest facilities the club has to offer.

Arsenal is probably the most open and transparent club in the country.  Their annual meeting with board members and the manager is something to be admired.  They don’t shirk issues and Arsene Wenger has always done his best to answer even the trickiest question.

Did the approach they took work?  Well in terms of numbers it did ok with 957 social mentions, five dedicated fan blog articles, 7,600 glowing words written on the subject, 300+ Facebook Likes, 496 tweets, and an estimated 120,000 reads and almost 100% positive fan sentiment around the globe.

Though not a huge response it did the job intended in gaining positive PR from fans blogs, and then by other digital blogs like this one.  But it is a one-off PR exercise rather than an ongoing blogger outreach programme.  I sense that the fear would still be there in terms of ongoing engagement.

For many companies the issue with letting go of some control and working with people that may not write good things about you is a scary one especially in sport.  But is that not the case with mainstream media who they have to deal with daily?

One thing that everyone needs to be aware of now is the IAB rules on blogger outreach and the paying for posts to be added to a page.  This is seen as advertising and has to be fully disclosed.  For more info, there is a quick video below with Robin Grant who helped put the guidelines together (and yes, he is also my boss!).

To help those who are thinking about setting up their own outreach programme, here is a quick guide which I hope will help you get the basics and begin to get the most vocal and passionate fans involved.

1.  Set out what you want to gain from the programme

Before undergoing any PR or marketing campaign or ongoing programme you have a clear idea of what it is you want to get out of it.  Ask yourself the question “What does success look like to you?”.  This will help shape who you approach, what you do with them and how you measure its effectiveness.

2.  What’s in it for the blogger?

This is an important question you have to ask yourself.  Put yourself in their shoes and ask what you would want if a club/brand approached you and wanted to invite you to an event or asked you to post an article onto your site.  If you struggle to answer this then they will be having the same problems.  If there is no obvious benefit then chances are you wont get what you want out of it, as they wont be interested.

You want to be creating a mutually beneficial ongoing relationship at the end of the day.  Reaching out once and then going back to them again, the proverbial picking someone up and dropping them back down again, is not the best approach.  It can cause resentment and make bloggers feel they are being used only when it’s of benefit to the club. Thus there is no mutually beneficial relationship.

A first step on this may be to acknowledge that the fans blog is there.  Manchester City have taken the lead on this by linking out to all club blogs on their website.  Its a great touch that doesn’t immediately benefit the club but provides a lot of good feeling towards them from the writers of those blogs.

3.  Research the blogs

It is important to do your research.  Take a look and find the top blogs that cover either your club or your subject.  For a club you will have a fair idea of who writes about the club and how big they are.  There are tools out there to help with this search, we have our own bespoke one at We Are Social that saves lots of time, but having a look using Google Search, Alexa, Technorati, Twitter, Social Mention is a start.  Find out who is writing about you and where.

Actually have a look at the blogs and see what they write about, the style the use, the type of content they cover (is it breaking news, is it opinion, is it about equipment or concentrated on players), who is their main audience.  This will help you understand what will work for them and why.

4.  Personalise your approach

This is probably the most important area when it comes to gaining favour with influencers.  As a blogger there is nothing worse than getting a bog standard press release from a PR/Marketing Exec saying that you should be adding this to your site. They may get your name right but that is about as personalised as it gets.  To top it off 95% of the time the content is totally inappropriate for my audience and shows they have even looked at what I write about.

If you can show that you have taken some time to read their articles, have some knowledge about their audience and are offering something that is relevant/useful then you have increased your chances of starting a relationship with them by a huge amount.

5.  Be honest….always!

People will find out and see through your efforts to pull the wool over their eyes.  Be honest in your approach and dealings with them, it is very much about developing a relationship – as you would with mainstream media – to bring about a situation where they write favourable things about you and you provide them with access/content.  If you are dishonest and found out then they already have a sizeable audience to tell and they will do very quickly.  Then you have an all new PR issue to deal with.

6.  Consider bloggers time

If you are going to invite them to events on a regular basis or send them lots of content then do consider that many bloggers have full-time jobs and sometimes families to look after too.  Blogging is a way of showing their passion for a subject and is done out of love usually and not profit.  If you can take this into account when planning, understand the issues they face and take to them about them and even pay expenses for them to come to events if they have to travel far.  This will carry great favour and go a long way in creating a lasting relationship.

7.  Give great content and experiences

In sport we are lucky in that there is so much passion around the topics and plenty of content that can be used.  Every sport and club in the country will have someone who is so passionate about it that they will write and are readily known as an influencer/expert in that field.  If you can help them to continue grow through access to content that is really interesting then you will gain regular coverage.

As well as sending videos and content, having a great experience with a club/brand is still the best thing.  We speak regularly to our bloggers and know who the best football writers are.  Part of this is keeping in touch and inviting them to events when appropriate so we can meet them – you cant beat face to face time to really cement a relationship – and find out more about them.  This could be at a boot launch, visit to the headquarters, opportunities to interview employees, taken to the corporate box for a match, meeting players.  There is so much that you can do.

We invited a few club bloggers to join the big football bloggers for a Champions League match the other month.  This was the first time they had been engaged in such a way and they absolutely loved it.  This showed in their tweets during the night and their blog posts over the following days.  If a brand can do this then why not a club?

8.  Say thank you

This may sound quite an obvious one but just being nice and saying thank you for putting an article up or for coming to an event is a nice touch.  One word I keep mentioning throughout this piece is ‘relationship’.  It is about bringing them closer to you, having on-going chats with them, answering their questions and dealing with them in a really good account management way.

9.  Listen and learn

Once you have done an event or been speaking to bloggers for a little while it is always useful to put together a quick report to find out how successful it has been.  As we saw earlier with the stats from the Arsenal outreach they have the numbers to go back to those above with and show them what effect it can have.  It is good for PR and good for internal buy-in to keep records.  It is also great to speak to the bloggers; find out what they liked about the event, what you could be doing better, what kind of content they would find interesting.  If they are writing about your club, sport or brand then they are already showing they are passionate about it.  They want to write good things and be proud of those they follow.

Many are scared that all this can backfire, isn’t worth the time/effort and that it doesn’t work.  Having spoken to clubs and governing bodies recently on this subject it is one that is going to take some time, effort and persuading to become the norm.  The fear is that you open yourself up and are asked questions or written about on subjects you don’t want to talk about or have control over the message.

What having these relationships in place and having goodwill from the influencers is that they are going to be on your side.  If something breaks they may come to you first to find out if it is true or what the response is from the club.  They want to protect, not attack but if they are just fed information from rumours, other fans and media speculation plus if they are feeling distant from the club (a regular source of frustration from fans) then chances are they will be negative.

If something happens then give some exclusive access to the biggest/best influencer(s) to help get the message of what is actually going on.  These relationships can help calm the fire before it ever gets too big.  If there is no relationship they will only help fan the flames.

Remember, when it comes to influencers we are not just talking bloggers (though I have concentrated on them on here) but those who are important on Twitter, YouTube and even your Facebook Page.  You can use the same approach with them when it comes to events.  Having a ‘Tweet-Up’ or Facebook Super Fan Day can be great ways in which to engage fans.  You may even have some celebrity fans who are on Twitter or Facebook, find out who they are and engage with them.

There are so many opportunities but it is baby steps that are needed to start.  Arsenal have made that start through the open fan/blogger event at the training ground, hopefully more will follow.

I hope you have found this useful.  Fire any questions at me and I’ll do my best to answer them.