episode 44 of the dsmsports podcast w/ tj ansley of the portland trailblazers

Snippets from Episode 44 of the Digital Snippets from Episode 44 of the Digital and Social Media Sports Podcastand Social Media Sports Podcast

Episode 44 featured Director of Digital Media for the Portland Trailblazers, TJ Ansley.

Ansley discussed building the Blazers content strategy and brand, how the Blazers prepare and work together, quantifying engagement, and more.

What follows is a collection of snippets from the podcast. For the full episode, visit DSMSports.net

@njh287 DSMSports.net


TJ's career path

Grew up in Ohio → Attended Eastern Michigan University, where he studied played baseball and got an internship doing game day promotions with the Detroit Tigers → He studied Communications Technology (web, design, marketing, more) → Started doing TV production and then transitioned more into web



TJ's career path

→ After his Tigers internship, he started doing marketing and promotions, as well as website content and administration for a radio station → He turned the website into more of a news/blog area → He later became a Webmaster for a news station in Detroit → Then got a job as the Digital Content Editor with the Columbus Crew (MLS)

MLS used to have shared platform like MLBAM, but each team then gained autonomy and become their own content creator: “We had to create content on our own instead of relying someone else to do it.”



On early days of content marketing:

With radio: “I was trying to find ways to take things they had on the air and put them on the web...Taking interviews they had...and making sure people on the website could hear it. It was a process, at first.”

With MLS: “(We wanted to) Be that news leader, instead of relying on the newspaper or TV...It was interesting to do that...We had beat writers and other content providers...our own newsroom, basically.”

A soccer team (in Columbus) doesn't get as much attention as it should...Creating your own news. Why not have that it in-house and create your own message?”



On transitioning from MLS to Blazers

Had met Dewayne Hanks (Blazers VP of Digital) at a conference years back and he contacted TJ for the job opening in Portland.



TJ's tip for sports business up-and-comers:

“Do as much as you can. Especially in the digital media world, you kind of touch every department. Get to know (every department and what they're looking to do...Make sure you're listening to what everyone else is doing and how you can create content out of it...Make sure they know that you want to help them...and that they know your strategy, as well.”

[TJ gives a GREAT explanation of what that 'strategy' means]



On first days with the Blazers

“(We wanted to) Redo the platform. Before I got here, it was disjointed a little bit...We were one of the team that was not on the NBA platform and we wanted to make sure it was a cohesive approach to our website and making sure fans could easily get what they wanted.”

On NBA platform vs. autonomous: “I can see some benefits of going it alone...You're a 'trailblazer' and can come up with your own strategy.”



“The NBA has really led the charge. They've led the way in social. They're also ahead of the curve when it comes to responsive design...All of our sites are viewed on mobile, tablet, and desktop in the same way.”

“Some of the first steps (for the Blazers) was moving a [content producer] to become our beat writer...he is solely focused on providing content (and is embedded with the team)...He's off of our platform and he has his own blog and he basically produces about 20% of our traffic. He's driving that content, he knows where our best stories are.”

On Casey (beat writer) role: “He knows his boundaries...He has written some objective pieces and our players actually understand that it's his job...They trust him.”



On the Trailblazers brand

“I wasn't too familiar with what Portland was when I moved out here...It's definitely a very passionate fan base...Having that passion helps drive content. We can really put anything we want out there and fans will consume it...That passion has always been there.”

“When I got here, they were considered the *Portland* Trailblazers...They shifted their focus in marketing and created more of an Oregonian and Northwest team (notes fans from Seattle, from Vancouver, from Washington state)...We made window clings that had 'Rip City' in it shaped like Oregon and we also made ones shaped like Washington.”



On the Rip City brand

“The term Rip City came from the 1970s (with a broadcaster quipping it)...It's more than just a city, it's a persona. It's 'I'm a fan of this and I want to be part of the Portland Trailblazers.'”

“Everybody has got their own voice with social media and we're just trying to talk with our fans and not at them...The constant interaction during games. There's hundreds of people tweeting play-by-play at the games, so...our job is to have some fun with it and be a little loose...Sometimes games start to run together...so having some fun with it, our fans enjoy it, and reward our fans for following us (i.e. Tweets of the Game).”



This episode's Helpful Tool: smartURL



On being prepared with content for games

“Sometimes it is in the spur of the moment, but we definitely have a Dropbox with a bunch of animated GIFs and some created images we do...We make sure we have (ideas) in the back of our head and can create (things) on off-days.”



On having fun with players' brands without making players uncomfortable (using the “Meyers Legend” image example)

“We know where to draw the line. We're not going to put our players in a bad light...We like to not just post a regular picture...so it's a little more classy than just a game photo. We're thinking ahead a little bit and like to have them in our arsenal to use whenever we can.”

“We're our always watching our fans, watching our mentions and hash tags....[Tweets of the Game] are another piece of content...Fans appreciate every night that we (do Tweets of the Game).”



On judging the efficacy of content

“We're always trying to think of what our engagement rate is. We're never going to have the amount of followers the Lakers have, for example...But we pride ourselves are being more engaged with our fans. Finding best tweets of the night or even just replying...it goes a long way with them...”



On having an engaged fan base

“It's our job to make sure (all fans tweeting about the Blazers) give us a follow or keep tweeting about us...Trying to find that medium of how to get to those fans (that are engaged but not following)...



On social media ROI for the Blazers

“It's more on the sponsorship side. Sponsors want to be in the digital space, but they don;t know what that means...It's our job to come up with something creative, fun, and also drives page views and clicks and the stuff a sponsor really looks at. Getting to that is tough. You have to build something up or have something creative that sponsor want to be part of...”

“There's not a ton we do [posting] ticket sales, so we've shifted our focus to more sponsored posts and digital marketing (to reach fans not following us).”



“One of our goals is to get people (to attend games) that have never been here before and kind of move them up the sales funnel, get them to become season ticket holders. Starting with promoted (social media posts) to selling single game tickets...”



On identifying and creating sponsorable digital content

“I don't think we're quite into sponsored content, yet...We will create certain pieces of content and say 'these are doing very well, you should throw a logo on that...' We still have a long way to go to make sure (it meets) the eye test...making sure it;s good for our fans. Fans do like our stuff, but it's making sure that we can return that investment to our sponsors.”



On analytics

“It's between a few of us here (to track analytics)...(Our digital manager) Kris has taken it upon himself to create a sort of engagement rate index...It's a good measurement for ourselves (to help guide future actions) and same goes to sponsors, to make sure we get to that (healthy engagement) percentage.”

“Part of that engagement index is trying to take certain pieces out (like knowing posts that announce Blazers win, for example) because we know that's going to do very well...and making sure the number we come to is a good number.”



On deciding which platforms the Blazers want to have active presence

“Devoting time and effort to each one of those platforms is any social or digital person's worst nightmare. You want to make sure you get all the attention you can out of a piece of content...Facebook and Twitter are the main traffic drivers. Our website, for sure (represents) a first impression of the brand...Also, the mobile app. Mobile apps are popular now and they need to be because you live with the phone in your hand...You got to be in (each) space to be relevant...”

“You have that gut feeling every once in a while (about what networks to devote time to)...but it definitely keeps you up at night wondering...We're also looking at the analytics. We're tracking weekly to make sure we are giving the right attention to everything.”



On being prepared for their season to end and a playoff win to keep it extended

“We had a few (thank you/end of season) videos ready...We have that stuff in our arsenal ready to go whenever...But we also want to make sure we're ready and nimble should we move on and win.”

We're a tight-knit group here, so we're always bouncing ideas off each other (and making sure content is prepared)...We also use a program called Slack (to collaborate).”



TJ's favorite social media post[s] by the Trailblazers this season and why:

“We had a little fun with the Toronto Raptors...We were polite with everything and it was a fun little graphic we put together.”



Shareable Stat: 64% of U.S. Adults now own a smartphone (Source: Pew Research Center)



The metric[s] TJ finds most valuable to track on digital/social

“Going back to our engagement index, it's a mixture of (everything)...On the website, I'm looking at page views and unique visitors...To get (fans) to come and to stick around.”



Defining the Trailblazers brand/voice

“Talk with our fans and not at them. Making sure that we're having fun and being loose and not so PR-drive.”



What is one way that Portland is 'weird?'

“People love their beards around here. It's weird. It's an interesting thing...A fee of our players are doing (playoff beards). Chris Kaman has not shaved his beard since he signed here last year.”



The Blazers player[s] that get the most social media buzz among fans

Damien Lillard – “He has a great PR team behind him. He's constantly talking about his shoe line, which is great.”

Meyers Leonard and CJ McCollum – “It can happen during games, too.”



The best social media tip/lesson TJ can offer

“When you're tweeting the word 'shirt,' just make sure you add the 'r' because it'll get you...Just double-check what you;'re tweeting out there. You're basically the first line of defense in a brand. You don't want to you them in a bad light.

Be nimble. You have all these free tools at your disposal....So utilize it and get your message out there the best you can.”



The best non-NBA team on social/digital and the best non-Blazers NBA team on social/digital

NBA: Suns, Warriors, Sixers, Hawks

Non-NBA pro sports team: San Francisco Giants, San Francisco 49ers



The NBA player not on the Blazers that best utilizes social media

Ricky Rubio – “It's cool to see players that aren't in the playoffs tweet about their profession and people they admire.”

Harrison Barnes – “He had an internship with Facebook, which was very interesting. He gets that perspective.”

Kendall Marshall – “He's always tweeting about some funny stuff.”



The best food TJ has had in Portland

Brunch Box – A cheeseburger with two grilled cheese sandwiches as buns



Who is/was the Blazers' “X-Factor” in the playoffs

CJ McCollum – “He kind of made a name for himself (this year)...He's getting to the rim pretty quickly and scoring a lot of points.”



TJ's Social Media All-Star to Follow:

@SeanCallanan, for all things sports digital and social media

@Hashtag_Sports, for great insights and links to sports business pieces



Where to find TJ and the Blazers on social/digital media

@TJAnsley on Twitter

@Trailblazers on pretty much any platform and @RipCity where they also put a lot of media



Thanks so much to TJ Ansley for sharing his time and knowledge on the Digital and Social Media Sports Podcast!

Listen to the podcast and get more info and content at DSMSports.net (And subscribe in iTunes). You can also follow me on Twitter @njh287


episode 44 of the dsmsports podcast w/ tj ansley of the portland trailblazers

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