Temple University Athletics is initiating a Social Media rewards program and now it seems that all the schools in the Horizon League want to get in on the action. The league has announced a new social media program of its own that, like Temple’s program, is also in partnership with Lodestone Sports.
According to the Horizon League release “Lodestone is involved with brands such as Dell, PBS-Paralympics and The Big Ten Network. The company uses social media to convert crowds into commerce and their social media solutions generate improved fan engagement, fan growth, social customer relationship management, revenue streams, social media impressions and vast amounts of fan behaviors, demographics, interests and activities that help their clients understand their audience in order to optimize marketing programs.”
This will allow the fans from all nine member programs to show their support through social media campaigns on a variety of social networks and feel connected to all the schools and teams regardless of whether they live across the street or halfway across the world.
The Horizon League is the first conference to enter into a social media arrangement, but we expect that it will not be the last.
“This program will be one of a kind in college sports and how a league or conference should approach integrating with their schools. The program is the future of how brands, schools, conferences and social media providers partner to deploy a social media fans experience in college athletics,” said Mark Drosos, President of Lodestone Social Media. “We are proud to be the social media partner with such an innovative partner like the Horizon League.”
Lodestone Sports has quickly become the go-to industry expert in executing social media campaigns for college athletics. Fans earn points for participating in social media activities such as ‘liking’ Facebook posts, commenting, sharing, tweeting hashtags, re-tweeting, watching a YouTube video, checking in on Foursquare or Facebook, scanning student cards, posting photos and participating in in-game polls with Social Stadium Twitter promotions.
The leader board will be extensive with overall point leaders and athletics leaders as well as leaders from individual sports such as soccer and golf. This will allow the Horizon League to deliver a personalized experience for each fan base and target appropriate initiatives that will be effective for each athletic program.
Temple and the Horizon League are proving that programs like theirs are becoming mainstream. College athletic departments and professional front offices are beginning to recognize the monetary benefits that can accrue by reaching out to fans on social media. The rewards programs are a great means to increase fan engagement for all their sports. It will be instructive to track the impact that these programs have on the all-important ticket sales and to determine how successful they are in engaging their fans throughout the long sport seasons.
Related Stories:
- Temple Athletics Launches Social Media Rewards Program
- When Engaging Customers Goes Too Far: A CrossFit Story
- University of Michigan Transforming the Wolverine Brand Through Technology
(Photo courtesy of the Horizon League)