UT NEWS & Updates

Final Four Online Review

Posted by Team UT on April 2nd, 2013   Interactive, Sports Marketing

With the Final Four now set with Louisville, Wichita State, Syracuse, and Michigan – we took a look at each of their digital strategies.

The methodology was to check each of the main athletic department sites to see what information and links they provided to other channels. If the AD section didn’t lead us anywhere, we searched on Google for the program & coach in an effort to find official sites and social media channel accounts.

Our group started working in the college athletics online category in 2007, and we’ve monitored it closely ever since, so the findings were really not that surprising. Below are a few of the highlights, and we’ve reviewed each of the individual programs in a report that can be accessed via a downloadable PDF.

Top-level Findings:

  • No program had a dedicated website.
  • Michigan was the only program to have an official Twitter account.
  • Michigan’s John Beilein was the only Head Coach to have an official Twitter account.
  • Michigan was the only school to promote a facility on Foursquare.
  • Wichita State was the only school to actively promote associated Hashtags (#BeatLouisville – #WATCHUS).
  • Rick Pitino & Jim Boeheim had personal websites, but they were more brand sites instead of focusing on their given programs.
  • Syracuse was the only program to not have a social media presence of any kind.
  • The four programs have a very limited social media channel exposure:

 

Future Considerations:

  • AD Sections: If programs continue to rely solely on these sections within the AD sites to market themselves then they’re going to have to make up for it on social media, because there is zero differentiation when it comes to AD section templates. Put yourself in the shoes of a potential recruit and see if you get pumped about any aspect of the program based on what you see on the AD Site. Whether it’s a true dedicated program website, or a social media focused site, programs that look beyond the AD Site section template will standout more and more.
  • Social Media: The winning marketing formula going forward, despite what the programs have done here, is going to be active program accounts on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube at a minimum. It’s a strategy that not only enhances your relationship with recruits, but also fans and program partners.

Download the Team Reviews PDF

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