$ 0 0 Every week we select and summarize five content marketing articles for easy skimming. This week, in honour of Super Bowl 50, we're focusing on sports marketing.6 Winning Social Media Tips for Sports Marketing Success [SocialTimes]“Sports are prime opportunities for real-time marketing because they are essentially a string of unpredictable events happening at a moment’s notice.”Go where the fans are: find them on social media and leverage their content to personalize the experience and create a sense of community.Create momentum: create hashtags or contests that motivate fans to create relevant content, get engaged, and pull more fans into the mix.Set specific goals: social media marketing will only be effective if you set specific goals. Find your focus - are you generating awareness or engaging fans?Build a real-time plan: Invest in the right analysis and visualization tools so that you can take advantage of real-time events. The Connection Bowl: Why the Big Game Needs a New Name [Think With Google]It’s about the long run, not the .30 second spot. “The $5 million big game spot isn’t about selling units, and it isn’t about eyeballs, reach, or market saturation. Its real value is opening the door to deeper engagement with our consumers in 2016, where 80% of viewers are watching with a mobile device…”The Super Bowl used to be about the game, but now there’s a huge culture that goes far beyond the sport itself. It’s an opportunity for brands to create connections with the audience.There’s a huge culture online where people discuss “out of sync sharks” and hilarious bad lip reading videos of sideline comments. The big game is now in every vertical.Brands should create meaningful moments and kick off relationships that turn the “Connection Bowl” into positive brand momentum.6 Things the NFL’s Focus on ‘Fan Engagement’ Can Teach Small Businesses [Entrepreneur]The product is accessible. The NFL made their products more accessible by giving their fans extra content through the NFL Films series. Fans become part of the team. NFL teams promote their fans by asking for and sharing user-generated content.The NFL embraces social media. Every team in the league has a Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram account to provide fans with up-to-date news, highlight specific fans, hold giveaways, and give fans a glimpse behind-the-scenes. The fan experience is constantly improved. Stadiums introduce apps to tell you how long restroom lines are or provide WiFi access so fans can update social media or check on fantasy teams.Partnerships are key. NFL created partnerships with Google, Twitter, and Verizon to make it easier for ans to follow the latest news and watch their favorite teams while on the go.It’s All About the Community, Sports Fans [ScribbleLive]Boost brand awareness by building an interactive community.Online communities can be powerful tools to help sports marketers break into new markets. The UFC broke into Europe and Asia by creating live events around important fights in the regionLeverage your existing community to drive greater engagement. Take advantage of software that can aggregate user-generated conversations and amplify them to new audiences.Take advantage of the anticipation leading up to an important event. Sports fans turn to social media to discuss upcoming events (like transfers). Capitalize on the pre-game or pre-event chatter.Become the destination where sports fans not only go to read the latest news, but also to engage and share their own opinion.The Importance of Social Media in Sport [Telegraph]Mobile technologies and social media are changing the way sports businesses operate.Digital fan communities offer new “opportunities for revenue generation whether through ticketing platforms where we can offer upsales on tickets, or build products based on having more customer data,” explains Denise Taylor, chief information officer for AEG. Football stadiums like Liverpool’s Anfield and the Etihad Stadium, offer fans Wi-Fi, enabling not only more interactions at live events but more commercial activity, too.The challenge is to find ways of measuring the value of social media beyond page views and unique user data. Brands need to think holistically in terms of how social media adds value to the brand and increases audience reach.Brands need to be careful: “Rights holders are playing catch-up when it comes to integrating sponsors into their digital real estate and enabling sponsors to communicate meaningfully with fans. Rights packages need to be rebooted for the social media area, particularly in the area of exclusive content.” The post 5 Can’t-Miss Sports Marketing Articles appeared first on ScribbleLive - Your Content Marketing Software.