The AFC West was the only division in the NFL to have three teams make the playoffs. Perhaps this on-field success had something to do with this division getting some decent grades across the board on their social report cards.
Between Peyton setting records, the Chiefs surprising the whole league with a 9-0 start, and the Chargers slipping into the playoffs in week 17, there was certainly plenty of content for the social media marketers of each team to work with. So let’s dive right in and examine which teams excelled with what platforms and who could allocate digital resources a little better next season.
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.
DENVER BRONCOS
Twitter: A-
Facebook: A+
Instagram: B+
G+: F
Pinterest: A
OVERALL: A-
Social Media Pro Bowler: Wesley Woodyard
Denver ranks as one of the best social teams in the NFL, putting impressive efforts forth on nearly every network available. They do an excellent job in providing for fans via connections with sponsorship, they push content with creative ingenuity through all channels (a job made easier by some fantastic content people), and they are clearly dedicated to the goal of providing benefit for those who do more than follow. The social team for the Broncos does an excellent job of connecting not only with fans but the community as a whole, and its clear their community reciprocates that appreciation.
Several players follow the examples put forth by the Broncos’ social unit, but few are as active and engaged as linebacker Wesley Woodyard. He does an amazing job connecting with fans via social almost every day, but he is especially potent via social leadership on behalf of the community. Wesley’s shares extend well beyond his profession, constantly posting images, messages of thanks and positive reflections he finds throughout his daily life. He is an affirmative source of social support not only for the team but for the city of Denver, the NFL and a broad social audience that appreciates his desire to connect.
KANSAS CITY CHIEFS
Twitter: C
Facebook: B+
Instagram: A-
G+: F
Pinterest: B
OVERALL: B
Social Media Pro Bowler: Derrick Johnson
The Chiefs are renowned for their fan base, recognized as one of the most loyal and supportive groups in sports, and the team’s social staff works diligently to serve them on multiple platforms. The overall effort is worthy of praise, yet room for improvement is not hard to find regardless of the platform. While they support fans, they persistently pass on opportunities to engage. However, the Chiefs deserve positive marks in support of sponsors, players and a select few working for trusted media sources.
In review of individual efforts, few are leveraging social as proficiently as linebacker Derrick Johnson. While he can feel a bit corporate at times, DJ’s support of the local community, business partners, charities of choice and teammates is undeniable, and he is much more open to fan interaction than most.
OAKLAND RAIDERS
Twitter: A
Facebook: B+
Instagram: B+
G+: F
Pinterest: F
OVERALL: B+
Social Media Pro Bowler: Marcel Reece
Despite a growing history of struggle and instability, the Raiders own a vast and loyal community of fans with a humble sense of responsibility to serve them. Their social team does a great job in support of that agenda, hittin in many of the practices we value in a social agenda. The diversity in distribution lacks at times, but this crew puts out a ton of information, engages with fans and provides the intimate insight into daily life that fans adore. Leveraging sponsorship to increase benefits for followers could improve the effort, but it’s clear the social managers in Oakland have a firm grasp on these opportunities (at least via the major platforms).
An objective review of the Oakland roster struggles to identify a traditional superstar, but Marcel Reese serves as a versatile threat, whether it’s on the field of play or the digital playground of social media. Reece was recently the target of some well publicized (and offensive) Twitter taunts and, in response, put on a virtual clinic for all pro athletes in dealing with 140-character venom. He’s not a traditional scholar, but Reece is more than capable of holding his own via social (and he’s an entertaining follow).
SAN DIEGO CHARGERS
Twitter: A
Facebook: B
Instagram: C
G+: B+
Pinterest: D+
OVERALL: B
Social Media Pro Bowler: Luis Castillo
A thorough review of the social effort for the Bolts reveals the one major miscalculation we find plaguing many across the marketing landscape of professional sports. The team is clearly dedicated to one platform – in this case, Twitter – with a structure emphasizing all others will feed from that focus. As a result, there is a noticeable lack of diversity from one social channel to the next and fans are left with no motivation to follow any channel but the one. This crew does a fine job in leveraging many of the benefits we appreciate in a social campaign, but their true abilities are hampered and diminished by this current approach to the opportunities available.
As for the Chargers players, they are behind players on other teams when it comes to social media engagement. The most active player associated with the Chargers is Luis Castillo, who played for the Bolts from 2005-11. Current players could certainly take a note out of his playbook when it comes to being active with fans on Twitter. One scroll down Castillo’s timeline will make evident his tendency to tweet what is on his mind, comment on current events in the sports world, engage fans, and share stories from his playing days.
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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.