Monetization of Social Media Feed

1.  How many posts on each platform (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) were sponsored?

Facebook: 88

Twitter: 213

Instagram: 8

2. What type of posts are sponsored? (e.g. Game preview, #TBT)

A lot of posts that were sponsored were highlights from the game by Rocket Fiber, game recaps by Flagstarbank, players of the game/post-game interviews were sponsored by Jeep. Pre-game “threads” or what the players walk in wearing to the arena were sponsored by Ebay. They would also have random sponsors for certain events throughout the year (charity events, birthdays)

3. How did engagement on these posts compare to other non-sponsored posts?

Unless it was in game highlights (sponsored by Rocket Fiber), sponsored posts did not nearly get as much engagement as other posts. It seemed as if there was a clear advertiser on the post, especially without a popular player’s face, it would not get as much engagement. Sponsorship posts that usually got a lot of engagement usually had small branding on the post itself.

4.If you were in charge of this team’s social media feed, what do you think is the most valuable content to sponsors?

Anything with the athletes on the team is the most valuable content. Behind the scenes footage, pre/post game interviews, off the court interviews, and anything that connects the athletes to the fans is the most valuable content. This helps create more fandom for the team because fans feel a personal connection with players when they are able to see what they do on a day to day basis, their background, or what makes them a special athlete.

5. What opportunities do you see for monetization of the social media feed?

Some pages are using memes to advertise now. Personally, I am not a huge fan of this kind advertising through memes, but there is potential for team brands to use. Even former presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg used meme advertising to reach a younger audience. (https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/13/style/michael-bloomberg-memes-jerry-media.html) Instead of the classic “meme” format, I do think that teams can use their athletes to make viral videos. Although athletes don’t have much time, following viral challenges or trends on social media can be a good way to get engagement and can be pretty easy to get players to get on board with quick, funny videos that don’t take much of their time. I also believe the subtler the branding the better. When looking at the Detroit Pistons social, it became easy to tell which ones were sponsored just based on the format of the post and how big the sponsorship on the post would be. As a fan, I know I would be skipping over these posts because of the large branding.