In baseball, it’s one, two, three strikes you’re out. But when it comes to the customer experience, patrons don’t always give brands that many chances.
Customers have “enterprise-grade” expectations, said Paul Greenberg, managing principal of consulting firm The 56 Group, while moderating a panel at DMN‘s 2016 Marketing&Tech Innovation Summit in New York. And those expectations go far beyond the playing field. From their time at the ballpark to player engagement online, fans expect their experience to be a home run.
But many sports marketers don’t have the money or team needed to clench a victory. It’s up to them to step up to the plate and devise innovative ways to drive engagement, loyalty, and tickets sales on a budget.
“We’re a well known name,” Andrew Sofer, manager of business intelligence and analytics for the MLB’s New York Mets, said during the panel. “but we’re a small company. So, we’re limited in our ability to attack these challenges in a way that a larger company might be able to.”
One thing many sports marketers often have plenty of, however, is fan data. That data is often the MVP in terms of helping these marketers achieve their goals. To explain how, two other sports marketers—Ben Nickerson, manager of marketing operations for the NBA’s Boston Celtics and Fiona Green, director and cofounder of UK sports consultancy Winners—joined Greenberg and Sofer on stage at the Summit to share their data-driven best practices. Here are five things that can help any marketer create a winning experience.
1. Consider the context.
Every brand experiences highs and lows, but it’s how marketers react to these ups and downs that can make a difference in the customer experience. For example, Sofer said that the Mets’ messaging changes based on whether the team is winning or losing. If the team is having a good season, he explains, the Mets will promote messages about being part of the team and not missing a minute of the action on the field. If the team is having a poor season, however, the baseball franchise will send messages about the love of baseball and the experience of being at the ballpark.
“It’s about having that conversation, being receptive, and understanding the value of the product,” Sofer said.
2. Determine customers’ preferences and act on them.
No two customers are the same. So, why should marketers serve them the same experience? Nickerson said that the Celtics uses customers’ favorite player preferences to deliver targeted content about those specific athletes via email and other communications.
Sofer added that the Mets also use fans’ player preferences to deliver unique sales experiences. In one case, when former Mets player Daniel Murphy was visiting the front office, the team’s marketers looked up which fans had selected Murphy as their favorite and had the second baseman make a few sales calls to them.
But marketers in sports and other industries need to look beyond the preferences customers cite about their brand and consider their likes and dislikes in other areas, too. Nickerson cited as an example that marketers should consider what other brands customers enjoy besides their own.
3. Know who your competition is and who it is not.
Fighting for consumers’ attention is tougher than ever, so it’s helpful to know which brands are on your side, and what to consider as competition that may not be obvious. Consider: Nickerson said he doesn’t view other Boston sports teams (e.g. the Bruins, the Red Sox) as competition; instead, he says that the Celtics try to capitalize on the success of other local sports teams. He adds that those teams can provide insight into how other sports organizations are engaging their fans.
Winners’ Green had a surprising reminder for marketers. She said that, in the case of sports, teams are not only competing against other sports teams for consumers’ attention, but they’re also competing against everything else going on in their fans’ lives that may draw their attention away from sports. If sports marketers don’t get the right message in front of the right consumer, someone else will, she warned, whether it’s another sports team, a theater, or a restaurant.
4. Identify your most valuable customers and offer them value in return.
Every brand has its VIPs. In the sports world they’re season ticket buyers. It’s important for marketers to recognize these customers and offer them unique value.
To get these loyal fans to renew their tickets year after year, the Mets have a retention department within the sales team. The team also has an Amazin’ Mets Perks program that offers season ticket holders incentives such as batting practice on the field or a question-and-answer session with the general manager to encourage them to renew early, Sofer said. These benefits also encourage customers to buy their tickets through the Mets instead of another vendor.
“You can’t get [those perks] on StubHub,” Sofer said.
Although the Mets want all season ticket holders to renew, Sofer said the franchise tends to send special offers to people who are less likely to renew their tickets, based on the Mets’ lead scoring. But, he added, the team’s marketers are careful not to train customers to hold out for more benefits. “You have limited time,” Sofer notes, “and you want to put your resources toward where you can do the most good.”
5. Focus on the right data
The amount of data marketers have access to today can be overwhelming. Instead of trying to tackle it all, Green advised marketers to only home in on the data that will help them achieve their goals.
“Pushing through that clutter is a challenge,” she said. “So, go back to business objectives.”
