It’s been nearly two seasons since Peter Robert Casey and I broke down the Digital NBA Landscape. The landscape has changed and teams have evolved. It’s time for us to take another crack at things.
Our mission: To share Best Practices of how NBA Teams are leveraging digital and social, and give you thoughts on how to apply that in your world.
Here’s a look back: Warriors | Celtics | Clippers | Nets | Lakers | Knicks | Suns | 76ers | Kings | Raptors | |Mavs| Bulls |
Next Up: the Houston Rockets.
Today I’m diving back into a topic that we should all be asking: What is the best way to ensure your fans have a chance of getting to your games? The answer is simple: infiltrate their calendars.
Many of us look down at our phones constantly throughout the day — with the aim of simply staying plugged into our own schedules. I always look at the schedule in front of me the next day before shutting it down for the night. So, if a team could smartly crack into this space, we will become more aware and more connected with them. We will join a shared journey, and maybe even buy more tickets or have more viewing parties… the potential is monstrous.
Let’s take a look at an approach from the Houston Rockets. One visit to the Rockets home page and you’ll notice the “Schedule” shown prominently. Hover over it and you’ll see the goods. Not only can you get what you are after but you also can get the schedule downloaded to your email account — as long as you are an Outlook, Google, or Apple Calendar user.
The Rockets Home Page Personalizes Scheduling
Clicking into the Outlook option takes us here. This isn’t the most beautiful screen, but it is super helpful. As you’ll notice, the Rockets are giving fans a step-by-step process to add all games to their calendar.
Download the Rockets Schedule to Outlook Calendars
Similarly, you can select Mac or Google and find a similar process to update your calendar (here).
Download the Rockets Calendar to Your Google or Apple Calendar
In both cases, the Rockets make it easy — simply choose your calendar, download a file, and follow a few instructions. The result: you’ll find the games auto populate your calendar — and if you’re lucky it’ll block off that time as busy so you can be left in peace to watch some NBA action!
Most importantly, by simply adding games to your calendar, you’ll connect more with the team – as they become a part of your day in day out routine. (And if you’re like me with meetings, that auto-reminder saying a game is upcoming will focus you)
Great direction from Houston to get games onto the calendars of the world!
Head over to Peter Robert Casey‘s site tomorrow for another Eastern Conference squad. Then I’ll be back, here, on Friday. As always, follow along on Twitter – I’m @andypawlowski or on Facebook, here.
Thanks.
Andy