written by Luis Vida and Raffy Cui
As avid fans of arguably the most prominent sports association in the world, what’s there to hate? The National Basketball Association has dominated the international stage, and fans worldwide clamour in spectacle over every game’s fantastic plays.
But how does Digital Marketing come into play? First, let’s define what Digital Marketing means. Digital marketing is the act of advertising through digital channels; it’s pretty straightforward, isn’t it? However, these digital channels are those we see online. Examples are different search engines, websites, social media platforms, mobile applications, and so much more! Think of it like scoring a basket in the NBA. There are so many ways it can go – free throws, alley-oops, three-pointers or dunks. Similar to digital marketing, you’re looking for the various ways to score conversions online.
Zooming in today
For some of our long-time fans, the NBA we have today is a whole new game. For our older siblings and parents, what they had in the 2000s era and prior is long gone. Back then, the internet wasn’t as universal as it is today. Marketing mainly took its place in print ads, television, and radio. But with the advent of the internet, the digital landscape has certainly changed everything. The way we’re able to consume various news and entertainment in the world evolved. In today’s day and age, we don’t see Shaq and Chuck battle it out on the court anymore. We see them on Inside the NBA debating about anything under the sun. They break down NBA games, but a lot of times they simply entertain. And this is just one way the NBA is being digitally marketed to you.
The game carries itself with the help of the players and teams that compete to win a championship. For digital marketers, their job is to cover what’s happening. They give exclusive inside stories, breakdown the game and tell a story of what’s going on.
Search Engine Optimization
If you search “Best NBA players of all time” on google, you’ll probably see something like this:
In seconds, search results show on screen. Now you’re scrolling up and down for the best link to take you to answer your question. But it’s taking longer than you expected. Which site is the best? Are the top sites the most reliable? Just like the debate on the greatest of all time, it depends! So what do the results in Google depend on? What appears in front of you is a product of a process called, Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Now, if you’re like Joel Embiid, you’ll want to trust this process.
SEO is all about increasing the quantity and quality of traffic to your website through authentic search engine results. Going through this process or method of being optimised, we like to compare it to getting a rebound. They have to stand out in the paint in order to be able to secure possessions for their teams. They have to position themselves well on the court, and it’s not just about being big and tall. It’s about being smart and creative. This is also the case for brands trying to secure traffic into their website. Proper positioning is the way they try to stand out among thousands of results. What helps them stand out are the keywords they use.
Find out more on SEO here: http://thedigitalnativeproject.com/seo-bringing-you-closer-to-your-audience/
Social Media Marketing
For this part, we’ll focus on the two most used platforms – Twitter and Instagram.
In the twitter-verse, you can find almost anything. You can stay up to date with the latest news and happenings in the league with these NBA-related accounts. They can give you real-time commentary on how every game is going.
You also have NBA personalities also chiming in on their own opinions. Each team even has their own Twitter account for their fan bases. But for fans like us, what gets our attention are the tweets from the players themselves! They are probably the biggest endorsers of the game and we’ll touch on this later too! Here’s what players around the league had to say about Damian Lillard’s epic 55-point game a few days ago.
From tweets on Dame Time to game time, NBA Twitter also comes alive during the offseason. This is when teams make moves with their rosters, coaching staff or front office. The much-awaited Woj-bombs of ESPN’s senior NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski announce different signings and trades across the league. Another reliable source of NBA info is Shams Charania.
What you get from Instagram is more or less the same from what you get on Twitter. But here, instead of reading the tweets, you’re watching videos and liking photos of different NBA-related content. Just like twitter, the NBA has their instagram accounts covered. But for Instagram, the content is more of highlights, videos and photos as compared to news. House of Highlights or Bleacher Report videos fill our timelines on the latest NBA highlights. You definitely won’t miss any bit of action.
Influencer Marketing
NBA players can definitely affect the NBA’s brand image. Being in the Association, they also have responsibilities. Therefore press conferences, interviews, Christmas ads, are all forms of marketing their product – may it be intentional or unintentional. Influencer Marketing is a type of marketing that makes use of endorsements and product mentions. These are from people that have big followings. For the NBA, if it isn’t obvious by now, their biggest influencers are their players. The NBA is also sometimes kind of reality show that gets people so hooked into it.
We fans love seeing different personalities like Russell Westbrook talking trash about Damian Lilliard. This in itself is a form of unintentional influencer marketing that gets us so hooked to see their matchups!
Email Marketing
The last way that the NBA tries to get people to consume their product is through Email Marketing. If you’re a fan, I’m sure you’ve heard of NBA League Pass. It’s practically everywhere! I mean, who wants to watch that much basketball to be honest… Us of course!
But if you think about it, you don’t want to waste your time and money watching the Timberwolves. You want to witness the rise of Jayson Tatum! Jokes aside, the NBA sends out different e-mails that give great deals for this platform. As the last game of the first round approaches, it’s high time to get your membership folks!
Before the buzzer sounds
Digital Marketing can look very easy but in reality, can be very complicated at times. Seeing how these websites are actually even able to fit all of these types of marketing under one umbrella is amazing. At the end of the day, it aids in how WE, the fans, are able to support the NBA. Mind you, there are still many things to learn about! We gotta do everything we can to adapt to these changes, digitally!
If you’re interested in learning more about the specifics of the concepts discussed today, don’t hesitate to visit http://thedigitalnativeproject.com/blog/. It’s important that we are more aware of the ways that the NBA markets itself to us. For our enjoyment and practical usage.
We’ve kept you on for too long now. That’s it for this dynamic duo. Enjoy the rest of the playoffs everyone. It’s now time to relish (or suffer) a Lebron-less Finals this year!
Peace!