With pre-season games now underway we take another audit of the NHL to see how the league and teams are promoting and integrating social media on their websites.
Just like our previous report posted last year on April 26, 2012, the focus of this audit is strictly on the league and team websites: how they promote and integrate social media on the website. All findings are based on research of team sites on September 18-19, 2013.
NHL.com
Team Key Findings
Total # of SM Channels Integrated:
When we last looked at the NHL Team sites (April 23-2, 2012) they had 107, and now they’ve moved up to 166.
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Team Activation by Channel:
Notes:
Team Channel Breakdown:
*Reminder this is website integration
**Red 1 = added channels, Red * = removed channels
Team with Biggest Integration Jump:
The Devils went from 2 to 9 – adding Instagram, Google+, Pinterest, YouTube, Foursquare, Tumblr, and Vine.
Teams Promoting the Most Activations:
9 – New Jersey, NY Islanders
8 – Washingon
7 – Anaheim, Buffalo, Carolina, Chicago, St. Louis, Tampa Bay, Toronto
Best Practices
Universal Icons
Only 21 of the 30 teams included universal icons. No idea why teams feel it’s better to not promote activated channels.
Hashtags:
Only a few teams integrated a Hashtag on their website:
Infographics:
Latest craze in college sports has been the use of game infographics, yet only four teams in the NHL have caught on:
Social Media Hub:
Last time we reviewed the sites two teams were at the forefront – the Bruins with DEN, and the Maple Leafs with “Leafs Nation Everywhere” so we were looking forward to see if they had been enhanced over the past year. Unfortunately there were no real updates to either hub. Lots of teams added pages that included directories and feeds, and below are few samples from around the league of what teams are doing:
Buffalo Sabres & St. Louis Blues – RebelMouse
http://sabres.nhl.com/club/page.htm?id=88260
http://blues.nhl.com/club/page.htm?id=60113
The Sabres and Blues were the only teams to integrate a RebelMouse social board into their websites. Still not a fan of the puzzle format on social feeds, but like that both teams are willing to experiment with new initiatives.
Anaheim Ducks – Facebook Cover Photos
http://ducks.nhl.com/club/page.htm?id=79289
Like that the Ducks include this feature on their website, but they need to add more than just three options, and their “Social Media Central” page makes no mention of them. Should definitely be included on that page as complimentary social content.
Anaheim Ducks – Social Media Hub
http://ducks.nhl.com/club/page.htm?id=79983
Unfortunately going to point this out as a ‘what not to do’ example. The Ducks Hub or “Social Media Central” page needs a lot of work on the display. It’s just completely disorganized and doesn’t leave a good impression at all for the user. Most of the content is there it just needs to be displayed better (or setup to work in the case of the Facebook module).
Carolina Hurricanes – Social Rewards Program
http://canesrewards.com/
We like the benefits of these types of programs, but we don’t like how they are so templated (ie most are virtually identical with changed out logos and color schemes). Our advice to the teams is to push the vendors to provide a more customized/unique look.
Chicago Blackhawks – Twitter Discover Page
https://discover.twitter.com/sports/nhl/chicago-blackhawks
The Blackhawks are the first team we’ve seen use the ‘Twitter Discover’ page team listing to showcase their players on Twitter. Probably better to just list them within the team website.
Columbus Blue Jackets – Social Station:
http://bluejackets.nhl.com/club/page.htm?id=85976
The Blue Jackets profile their on-site Social Station with this page, and include a form for fans to sign-up for a chance to attend the game in the Station. They included a bunch of testimonials, but no images of the Station – would really like to see what it includes or even the view fans have from it.
Florida Panthers – Social Media powered by Ford
http://panthers.nhl.com/club/page.htm?id=37445
http://panthers.nhl.com/club/page.htm?id=37445
Congrats to the Panthers on being the first team in the NHL or NFL that we’ve seen properly include a sponsor with their social media integration. For more details check out this related post.
New Jersey – Vine Promotion
http://devils.nhl.com/club/page.htm?id=42005
Congrats to the Devils for being the only NHL team to promote the Vine channel within their social media directory.
NY Islanders – Tumblr Promotion
http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/new-york-islanders
Interesting that the Islanders include a Tumblr icon in their universal list, but it doesn’t go to an account setup by the team, but rather links to Islander tagged posts.
Phoenix Coyotes – SportsStream Feed
http://coyotes.nhl.com/club/page.htm?id=86056
The Coyotes were the only team to integrate a SportsStream Feed/Template.
Tampa Bay Lightning – Icon Ordering
Interesting to note the ordering of the Bolts’ SM icons: Tumblr, Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, G+. Most teams go with the more popular Twitter or Facebook first, but nice job by the Bolts changing it up and putting channels that may be less familiar to fans upfront in the order.
Vancouver – “Social” Main Nav Section
http://canucks.nhl.com/club/page.htm?id=84790
The Canucks put an emphasis on social by including it in their main navigation – surprised more teams don’t do this.
Winnipeg Jets – Instagram feed
http://jets.nhl.com/club/page.htm?id=83456
A couple teams included Instagram feeds on their sites, but they were small horizontal feeds with 4-5 thumbnail images. The Jets provide a bigger showcase of their account having 15 posts at once.
*For inquiries on how UnCommon Thinking can help improve your team’s social media integration strategy please contact us at info@uncommonthinking.com
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