I’m an avid NBA fan, and it’s pretty easy for me to draw a basketball analogy for almost anything – so why not brands in social media? Like your social media strategy, a basketball team can’t be a one-trick pony, it must have a good general, it can’t be soft on defense, it’s got to have a little sizzle, and it’s much better when it’s got an arena full rabid fans and a group of dedicated cheerleaders with at least one t-shirt gun (okay, maybe the t-shirt gun is just basketball). And just like basketball where everyone plays on a 94′x50′ court and a 10′ hoop with a 24″ rim, every brand in social media gets to engage on a level playing field; everyone has access to all the sites, techniques, tools, and so on. Let’s get to the jump ball.

1. Lack of Depth: Your brand can’t be a one-trick pony. Great, you post discounts, that’s key; it’s like having a great post-up center like Dwight Howard. A coupon code is more likely than anything else to end up as a conversion, just like a lay up or dunk by your big-time center. However, a team that only has a great center will never beat a well balanced team. Take the Orlando and Houston teams of the mid ’90s. Orlando featured a young and talented Shaq, while Houston also had a dominant big man in Hakeem Olajuwon, plus a slew of great specialists, like Clyde Drexler, Kenny Smith, Sam Cassell, and Robert Horry. Houston, no surprise, steamrolled Orlando in the 1995 NBA Finals. A social strategy is much better when it features a slew of engaging components.

2. Floor General: Your social strategy has to be, well, strategic, and it must have a leader. Who is your team’s leader? What do they bring to the court? Are they a facilitator for the rest of your social team, like a Jason Kidd or a Steve Nash? Do they lead-by-example, like Tim Duncan, execute everything efficiently, and do anything their team asks of them? Or is your social strategy leader someone who is more concerned with personal branding and is a distraction in the locker room, like a Stephon Marbury?

3. D-FENSE: No social strategy can live purely on offense (just look at how far the Phoenix Suns get every year). If you’re going to be conversing and engaging with your customers, be prepared not only for feedback, but for backlash. You have to be able to play defense without sounding defensive. Solve people’s problems without making them feel like they’re a problem. Respond to as many shots as you can, and be helpful and friendly.

4. The Hot Sizzle: What’s your spark? What separates your brand from everything else your customers see on Facebook and Twitter and YouTube? Is it a zany contest you have once a year? Is it the famous flashmobs that you host in cities around the world? Here’s where you get creative – let’s see that inside-out crossover into the reverse windmill dunk!

5. Passionate Fans: Social media isn’t your pay-per-click, it isn’t your email program, and it’s not your direct marketing campaign. Your social strategy is your All-Star Game; it takes the best of all your other efforts and gives your fans a forum to discuss those efforts. How loud are your fans? Then add in your cheerleaders – your high-level community influencers – give them a t-shirt gun, and see how amp’d up your Facebook fans and Twitter followers get!

Tags: basketball, best practices, social media

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