How to 'Engage' Fans

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I spoke to a group of executives at a sports and entertainment forum. I wanted to understand what they were doing to keep fans engaged, sponsorships coming, & continue to drive revenue for their franchises.

Here are some of the comments -

Teams are trying to leverage their branding and loyalty to attract consumers to their sponsors and partners. They are offering special previews & coupons to their fans. Their sponsors expect this off them, and what is more important is that they are actually trying to both track the visit & measure the impact of the visit. They are not just putting up an ad - that is simply not good enough.

Once a year (or a few times a year) destination venues have plans in place to create communities of interest. These communities will sustain this venue throughout the course of the year - both offline & online. Their goal is to become 'retailers' who own the relationship with their fans.

These businesses are trying to create lifetime relationships with their fans. So if a kid went to a childrens event, the kid will be offered different types of options as the kid grows older, culminating in the ultimate - i.e. the 'kid' growing up and bringing their kid back to the childrens event.

Some franchises are even offering online banking to keep their fans engaged.

While traditional media is still big, new media is vital for survival. This is because new media can be tracked and the advertiser is able to measure results.

The foundation of most of this research is being driven by consumer feedback and lots of real time testing. The biggest piece of learning is that these franchises are creating destination venues for their fans - something traditional retailers, banks, and other businesses need to keep in mind.

Social media, mobile, & email are expected to be the three key drivers to help them with their traditional marketing programs.