As I said to Crows communications manager David Burtenshaw after SSMI was discussed by the boys at 5AA it was unfortunate they did not ask why the Crows pulled in 121 points in the pre-season assessment. The SSMI showed 4 clubs Essendon, Melbourne , North Melbourne & Hawthorn as a leading pack and 5 clubs bring up the rear with the Brisbane Lions still investigating what to do.
Quick Assessment of Adelaide Crows
The Crows were rated highly in the Facebook component of SSMI with their execution of a custom Welcome page (below) and great interaction with fans. Like North Melbourne they have thought outside the box with a fan page for Mascot Claude the Crow (Although secretly I wanted it to be Claude from Shirl's Neighbourhood). Outside Facebook I was impressed with the Blog Squad initiative to include fan reports on the Club's site. David admitted that Facebook has been a strong focus and it definitely shows with a great Facebook Fan Page. The Crows fell back to the pack with their implementation of Twitter at @Adelaide_FC taking a broadcast approach to the platform which go against the conversational and inclusive nature of the Twitter, look at how NBA champion @Lakers interact with over 1.4M followers. I look forward to seeing how the Crows develop their presence on other social media platforms. The SSMI will be back mid season to assess how AFL teams have fared during the season.
Why SSMI was developed
After returning from Sports Geek Trip I collated my notes from the franchises I met with in the NBA, NFL, MLB & NHL. After seeing the tools & techniques being applied behind the scenes I wanted a way to compare each franchise on the key success factors they had identified proved successful for them.
SSMI looks at 4 major things
- Implementation – How each social platform is set up
- Fan Engagement – Are the fans part of the conversation?
- Content – What content is provided on each platform? Is there variety? Is it delivered when fans want it?
- Innovation – Pushing the boundaries creatively & via different technologies.
Want to learn more about latest trends?
I'm looking forward to getting some more insights on how international teams are using social media at the Sport Research Group conferences in Sydney & Auckland in July.