When you take a close look at any number of organizations that utilize social media, you tend to notice something. Many of these groups are highly organized and thus try to approach social media in an almost surgical manner. They literally have their pulse on what makes their virtual followers tick. That being said, there is a group that has taken to the scene in a hot and heavy way. The NBA is giving social media a true workout.
The number of social media followers with ties to the NBA whether they are following a player, a team owner, or a team runs into over 250 million! This is 250 million chances of building a personal connection that can help to create a super fan. No wonder the NBA is emerging as a major source of Tweeting and Facebook posting power. The exposure that an athlete can receive is simply amazing given the unlimited contact potential offered by Twitter alone.
One question that comes up often is how social media can offer a measurable ROI for athletes. The key here is in branding. A player is a brand in and of himself. Leveraging social media as a powerful tool for extending that brand is a no-brainer. In this the NBA excels. Unlike professional baseball or football, both of which can be very hands off on such outlets, the NBA has reached an epiphany where they understand that it is all about the fans and how connected they can feel to their favorite players and/or teams.
From Twitter and Facebook accounts to hundreds of dedicated blogs and websites, there are so many outlets for NBA fans to get their fix that it is simply mind blowing. This raises an important question however. Will the NFL embrace social media in the same manner or will tweets and posts remain a thing to be approached with apprehension by football and baseball players? If they take a cue from their sports counterparts, then they may begin to see the benefit of embracing it as a positive method of outreach.
There are individual players within other sports that have made the effort to get out on the social media scene and increase their exposure. Those players have also seen a jump in the number of fans flocking to their profiles in hopes of getting bits of info, pictures, etc. If this isn’t proof of the power of sports targeted social media, then nothing will prove it. A paradigm shift has taken place in the American culture where fans feel a need for instant gratification. Social media allows you to fill their need without needing to go to extremes.