What Can MLB Teams Teach Us About Inbound Marketing?

As a baseball fan, it is hard to escape the lure of heading to the ballpark to watch my favorite team! The food at baseball parks are basically like going to a sit-down restaurant, the sing-a-long songs allow any shy person to be a fool in public,  and a family just cannot resist a themed night! For Detroiters, how can a Tigers fan resist Star Wars Night at Comerica Park? Simple: You can't!
Not to mention, compared to any other major league sport, baseball is typically the most affordable, so families and friends can attend multiple games a season.

 As a business owner you can take away and apply the principles that MLB teams are using to your advantage. So what is it that makes the MLB teams use of Inbound Marketing so effective?

Behind The Scenes

With the emergence of social media, fans want to be engaged and get a behind-the-scenes look into the lives of their favorite players. MLB teams in 2015 encourage their players to post updates to Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Players and Teams use these social media channels to give fans an inside look into what players are doing on their days off, how they are helping in the community, what goes on in the clubhouse before a game, or how they celebrate after a big win. Using social media to engage make fans feel as if they have a more personal connection with their favorite team and promotes interaction between fans and players that they pay their hard earned money to watch and see. Inbound is the same: engage, engage, engage! 

E-Mail Offers

If you are a fan of baseball, I’m sure that you have already subscribed to your favorite teams email list. MLB teams do not use these email lists to spam their subscribers! Instead, teams use these lists to educate readers on the current state of the team, offer specials on new merchandise, and promote ticket offers that make taking your family to the ballpark more affordable. Teams also use images to portray their message in every email. Nobody likes to read a wordy email with no value other that a link to buy. Consumers what to be educated and entertained when they open an email. MLB teams use email effectively and efficiently.

Content Hub

MLB teams use their website as a content hub that draw fans in for much more that just buying tickets. The main reason fans visit their favorite teams website is to learn about the team. Teams provide highlight videos, player interviews, injury updates, promotional schedules, and blogs. Providing this content insures that the first place that fans look for information is on their website. In turn, these visitors will reward the team by purchasing tickets and merchandise directly from the source, rater that visiting a ticket broker or another sporting goods store.

So how can you apply these tactics to your business?

1.            Use social media, not only to promote your current promotions or specials, but to give your customers a behind-the-scenes look at how your business runs and why you’re the best.
2.         Don’t spam your email subscribers with wordy email that provide no value. Use email as a medium to educate your customers and provide valuable information that make them want to buy from you. Also, just a "Hello" or "Happy Birthday" email is much more memorable than a spam email in the trash bin. 
3.             Make sure that your website is a hub of information that has everything that the customer needs to make a buying decision. You do not want you customers visiting other sources to get information about your products.

Thank you for reading!

Please visit our website for more information on how Inbound can help grow your business!

www.socialstride.org

Randy Delling

Social Stride