Today we continue the handing out of our NFL Social Report Cards with the AFC South. The Texans were a surprise to end up with the worst record in the NFL and their social media execution was unfortunately similar to their on-field play. On the other hand, the Colts not only won the division, they by far had the best social media performance this season and it should be no surprise that Andrew Luck lead them in both.
Overall, the extreme highs and lows in play and digital engagement makes this division an interesting one to analyze for our purposes; not to mention, the unique Twitter follow that is Maurice Jones Drew.
Note: All team names are linked to the organization’s official website, while the individual social channels are linked for each team accordingly. If you’d like to review our criteria for evaluation, you’ll find it at the bottom of the post. You can see every one of our NFL Social Report Cards here.
HOUSTON TEXANS
Twitter: C
Facebook: C-
Instagram: B
G+: C+
Pinterest: B
OVERALL: C
Social Media Pro Bowler: Andre Johnson
In review of the social strategies utilized by the Houston Texans, it is fair to suggest the team is as predictable, stale and uninspired as they were on the field. Typical tunnel vision puts sole focus on the team’s public activities and news, insuring followers find little-to-no unique benefit from the social experience versus any number of news websites pushing the same. To be fair, the Texans appear to employ several talented photographers and seem to grasp the value of e-imagery. In these areas, they excel. That said, the effort to leverage those talents falls well short of the opportunity available via social media.
Arian Foster, famed Texans running back, was – not so long ago – the team’s most intriguing follow on social media. He has since detached from the digital community, leaving fellow ubertalent Andre Johnson as the team’s best social follow. While he is not especially entertaining or insightful, Johnson is very active and works to support a positive image for himself and the team via his social shares. He’s involved in the community and enjoys sharing those efforts via social.
INDIANAPOLIS COLTS
Twitter: A
Facebook: A+
Instagram: A
G+: A-
Pinterest: A+
OVERALL: A
Social Media Pro Bowler: Andrew Luck
There are a handful of teams operating on an elite social level, and the Colts are listed among them. This crew is creative – one of the first to introduce the original, team-created infographic (one in review of each regular-season game) as a viable and entertaining expense to be featured and shared via social media – and active on all fronts, employing unique forms of distribution on all of the major social networks. Followers are provided with numerous opportunities for reward each and every week while sponsors are tied directly to those engagement initiatives. The community ranks as a top priority and the team serves as an extension of that effort. News and insight are abound throughout. They do everything right, and the Colts should be praised and appreciated via social media accordingly.
Understand this: while he is the clear and present danger for the opposition, and he is the clear and present leader of the team, Andrew Luck is not recognized as a tech-savvy savior. Rumor has it his pocket carries a flip phone and he prefers board games to video games. Still, Luck puts forth an amazing social presence via Facebook, and that effort alone earns him honors as the best social follow for the Colts. It is an effort limited to one network, but much like the social work done by the team that employs him (and much like his play on the field), Luck wins. If you seek sports via Facebook, Luck should be on your list of follows.
JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS
Twitter: C+
Facebook: B
Instagram: A-
G+: A-
Pinterest: D
OVERALL: C+
Social Media Pro Bowler: Maurice Jones Drew
Recently seasons have proven a painful experience for the NFL fans in Jacksonville, but for those who maintain hope and support the cause despite the woes, the connections available via social are improving. Few are as dedicated to the Android-friendly environment of Google+ and their talents truly shine via Instagram. With a larger audience found via Facebook, the focus appears to be there while the engagement available via Twitter is substandard. Still, this crew is doing more than a few things right and their overall effort – especially on platforms of obvious focus – is strong.
It takes a bit of patience and understanding to do so, but following rusher Maurice Jones Drew can prove entertaining. MJD has a number of endeavors he promotes, some related to football and others that do not. As a result, he offers his sponsors plenty of support via social (and he is clear in marking advertising clearly when he posts), thus he tends to be somewhat… spammy. However, he also brings honest insight and focused interaction more than most, and for fans of fantasy football, MJD is a social god. He understands the fan and works to share that via his social channels.
TENNESSEE TITANS
Twitter: C
Facebook: C-
Instagram: C-
G+: C
Pinterest: F
OVERALL: C-
Social Media Pro Bowler: Rob Bironas
There are a variety of challenges faced by teams, regardless of discipline, during times of instability. The Titans have been an organization of instability during recent seasons, and it’s fair to wonder if their marketing team is struggling as a result. Their social efforts are bland and, at times, almost void of intrigue or tangible allure. There is little-to-no outreach to fans, sponsors lack consistent presence, and it is rare to find anything shared via the social channels that won’t be found via local news channels. This team may be sufficiently engaged with the effort to utilize social media, but they are far from capable in identifying and leveraging benefit (for themselves or others) from those channels.
To be fair, the Titans are shallow in terms of star power available on the roster, and while rusher Chris Johnson is famous in some circles for his social exploits (we might suggest the word “infamous” as a more appropriate description), kicker Rob Bironas earns our vote as the team’s social leader. Positive, engaged, and supportive: Bironas is all of those and more, in support of the team, their fans, local sponsors and charities.
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Criteria for Evaluation
Our goal: provide an objective evaluation of social media practices and behaviors based on marketing strategies, implementation of technology, creativity and value of content, and audience engagement.
While common analytical social metrics might provide minor influence in determining grading (including frequency of activity), evaluations were not influenced by the number of followers, following, shares, retweets, likes, comments, impressions and/or favorites.
We also recognize each network provides a unique environment and should be utilized accordingly, and a variety of strategies can produce favorable results on each.
That said, we are seeking, identifying and analyzing performance (on a variety of levels) in the following categories to formulate these grades:
– Energetic, creative and innovative participation.
– Fan engagement, recognizing a definable and reasonable distinction between “inclusion”, “interaction” and “engagement”.
– Support for team sponsorship resulting in tangible benefits for both the advertiser and the team’s community.
– Unique content leveraged by unique distribution providing unique community benefit for each channel.
– Dedicated support for team staff, players, organizational projects, charities and the NFL.
– Efforts to utilize various features particular to each network resulting in improved benefits for the team’s community.
– Appreciation for peripheral community contributors including media outlets, local business and/or events not directly employed by or representing the team.
We believe these guidelines provide a reasonable environment to achieve that goal.