If you’re planning a marketing road trip, you might want to take some lessons from the “NBA on ESPN RV Tour,” now in its third year traveling the highways to generate viewers for ABC and ESPN coverage of National Basketball Association games, says Patricia Odell, writing for PROMO Xtra. Revolution, the agency handling the promotion, uses social media to connect with fans and drive people to tour stops and TV screens, she notes. Its efforts so far have helped generate more than 1,600 Twitter followers and about 17,000 Facebook fans. The tour’s YouTube Channel, which provides video from the tour sites as well as replays of TV spots that feature the RV, has had more than 750,000 views, according to Darren Lachtman, director of business development for Revolution. Odell notes these best practices the agency follows when using social media to promote its events:

Build Awareness: Post the details about when and where the events are taking place a couple of days in advance.

Motivate: Provide an incentive on Twitter, Facebook, or other social media to prompt people to come to an event. “For example,” says Odell, “Washington, DC, basketball fans got an e-mail that promised two free tickets to a Wizards game if they brought a copy of the e-mail to the mobile tour site.”

Offer Takeaways: Hand outs, such as business cards with the branded Facebook and Twitter addresses, make nice reminders. “Include a call to action — for example, checking out photos from the events — to drive social interaction,” says Odell.

Document: “Take photos and videos and post them across social media outlets to hype upcoming and past events and to encourage people to come to the next event or to talk about what already happened. Update the content multiple times per week,” says Odell.

Start the Conversation: “Keep the chatter going; ask questions and encourage conversation,” says Odell. “Don’t just push out information; send out a tweet asking for the location of the best deli near the event site. Then go get a sandwich, post a photo and tweet about it.”

Be an Expert: Have a dedicated staff member — preferably on the road — to handle all social media to ensure consistency, focus and regular interaction with fans.

Be Consistent: Give all executions — from social media, to TV spots, to print ads, to the event vehicle — a consistent look and feel.

Source: PROMO

Posted March 9th, 2010 under Intellectual Property Marketing

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