So you have an all-star team with some of the biggest names in the league on your roster, but is your social game living up to the hype?
To win a game, whether it’s football, soccer, baseball, or any sport for that matter, it requires both a best in class skill set and a thoughtful strategy. The same rings true for any professional sports team’s approach to social. You can have the best fans in the league, but you still need engaging imagery and video to convert your fans into followers—or even better, ticket buyers.
From highlight reels and meme-worthy fan moments to intense action shots and curated pre-game videos, the teams that know how to win over their fans on and off the court serve their audiences the images and videos that they want most on social. But the key to winning on Instagram? Doubling down on high-performing content to drive traffic to the web, ticket sales, and to further engage your community with long form content such as articles, interviews, and videos. Just take a look at a few of the best sports Instagram accounts to see what we mean.
Many social marketers in the sports industry have yet to test the waters with link in bio solutions. When done right, a link in bio tool integrates Instagram with your other marketing channels and supports your most important KPIs. Dash Hudson’s link in bio solution, LikeShop enables any post on Instagram to become a conduit for site traffic. Your audience is one click away from a second feed, where they can dig even further into their favorite team—all while you’re capturing conversions to your website. A game changer for reaching your website traffic and ticket revenue goals.
We took a deep dive into how social marketers for sports teams are using their link in bio to amplify their social strategy and generate ROI from the visual channel. Spoiler alert: most are missing out on the chance to link to specific content, drive ticket sales, and further engage their communities. Check out how some of the top teams could be generating ROI from Instagram.👇
A Touchdown on Social
Even with the G.O.A.T on their roaster, the Patriots have the opportunity to enhance their approach to social. There’s no denying that New England has some of the most loyal fans in the NFL, and the Patriots’ social team knows how to tap into their cult following on Instagram with viral highlight reels, candid celebrations shots, and player interviews. Instagram is the perfect tool to bring their fans closer to the action, and to Tom Brady. 😉 The missing piece? Leveraging the visual channel to contribute to the team’s overarching marketing goals.
Currently the Patriots’ official Instagram page links to the team’s website. Dash Hudson’s link in bio solution, LikeShop would allow the Patriots to link each and every image and video on their feed to longer form videos, pre-game teasers, and player interviews to further engage their online community. Dash Hudson equips social teams with all of the analytics and data-backed Instagram insights to understand which type of content is capturing their followers’ attention and driving the highest conversions. It also means that social managers can retire the days of switching out their link in bio on the reg. Say hello to your new quarterback on social.
Create a Winning Lineup on Instagram
The Pittsburgh Penguins have built a following that doubles most of its rivals in the NHL. With over 1.4 million followers, the Penguins’ social team has strategically grown their audience on Instagram. The Penguins’ feed stays true to what they know best: hockey. It’s a mix of game promos and recaps, videos featuring the plays of the night, and no shortage of their star players sporting yellow and black jerseys.
To take advantage of their following, the Penguins can turn their hardcore fans into ticket buyers with Dash Hudson’s tools. The team’s current link in bio takes followers to a third-party ticket website. With LikeShop, the Penguins’ social team can link their current posts that promote upcoming games directly to tickets for that specific game, and then link their post-game recap to a highlight reel—all without switching out their link in bio.
Not only can the Penguins’ marketing team measure how their images and videos are performing based on click throughs in LikeShop, but they can also leverage Dash Hudson’s visual intelligence technology, Vision. Vision predicts which images and videos will perform best with its audience on its feed. So, instead of debating over whether to post the candid of Sidney Crosby or the action shot from last night’s game, Vision will determine which image will engage your audience the most based on your historical content performance. We call that a winning play on social.
A Social Slam Dunk
We can’t talk about sports teams, and not mention Canada’s pride and joy: the Raptors. With Drake sitting courtside at every game, combined with the swagger of players like Kyle Lowry and Serge Ibaka, the Raptors have created a brand in their own right. Instagram is the perfect medium to bring the Raptors brand to life. With carousel posts featuring the players’ stylish ensembles on game day, highlights from every game, and engaging educational posts on the charities and brand partners the team works with, the social team maintains a diverse mix of content on their feed to keep their fans invested.
To be the champions of Instagram, the Raptors’ social team can link each image and video on their feed to drive website traffic, ticket and merchandise sales, and create stronger connections with their followers. With LikeShop, the Raptors’ social squad can analyze click throughs to understand which type of content performs well with its audience, all while enhancing the user experience for fans. Followers would no longer need to go searching for the championship gear the team is sporting in the Raptors’ latest post, instead they could head to the link in bio where they are just clicks away from a purchase.
Outperform Your Top Competitors
It’s time to bench your old link in bio and add LikeShop to your line up. Similar to every new season, the competition in the social sphere is only getting fiercer, especially when it comes to professional sports teams. Teams are turning to visual channels to add an extra layer to their marketing strategy, and test new and innovative tactics on social with brand partnerships, influencer marketing and curated content.
As we’ve seen, most teams are currently just linking to their website in their link in bio on Instagram. It’s a missed opportunity to drive traffic to specific content, engaging their fans on a deeper level and positioning themselves as a brand—beyond just a sports franchise.
