The NFC North is a very interesting division to analyze from a digital marketing perspective. It contains some of the oldest rivalries in the league, the last two league MVPs, and the only community-owned pro sports team in the United States. It also only produced one playoff team this season- the Packers at 8-7-1 – and had two coaches fired after the regular season ended.
Overall, the NFC North has die hard fan bases that root hard for their teams but demand winning. With some key injuries and underwhelming performances the digital marketers for the teams in this division had a lot of work to do this year. Let’s examine how they kept fans engaged and active on social media channels this 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.
CHICAGO BEARS
Twitter: D
Facebook: A-
Instagram: B
G+: F
Pinterest: B+
OVERALL: B-
Social Media Pro Bowler: Brandon Marshall
As any long-standing South Sider will attest, the Bears haven’t found a need to prioritize fan engagement – much less digital fan engagement – for decades. That said, those working the social scene for Chicago are focused and capable via Facebook and Facebook-owned Instagram. They acknowledge (but rarely interact with) fans, they push promotions and sponsored events, and they share the team-driven news feed from the official website. Everything else they do is nothing more than generic repost of the Facebook feed.
The Bears have several players working the social lines to improve their connections to the community and local fans, but few are as thorough and dedicated as receiver Brandon Marshall. An advocate for mental health and understanding for those struggling to deal with mental health issues, Marshall owns a great website used to power strong campaigns via Twitter and Facebook. He can be rather focused and serious at times, but in terms of daily interaction and activity, linebacker James Anderson might be the only Windy City comparison.
Twitter: D
Facebook: D
Instagram: B+
G+: C-
Pinterest: F
OVERALL: D
Social Media Pro Bowler: Joique Bell
There are times when one might wonder if the effort isn’t lacking so much as the support behind it, and the Lions might be one of those moments. The trip to official team pages – no matter the platform – offers a generic approach to team coverage and, occasionally, fan appreciation. Instagram is the lone exception, where the Lions get most things right (and do so with a bit of ingenuity). That’s the window that leads us to believe they could improve, but today’s report is largely negative.
In search of inside scoop, you won’t find much better than Joique Bell. One of several athletes known for being too honest at times, Bell is a 140-character fiend. He’s one of several Lions talking about the game, but one of few talking with fans and the community. The team accounts spend as much time sharing Bell’s posts as any other source of attention on their social radar, and since he’s already on the payroll… maybe they should give him the wheel for the main accounts.
GREEN BAY PACKERS
Twitter: F
Facebook: B+
Instagram: C-
G+: A
Pinterest: F
OVERALL: C
Social Media Pro Bowler: T.J. Lang
The social strategy at work in Green Bay is somewhat predictable. It’s a close-knit community in a humble Midwest town. That’s a Facebook crowd, and with an easy bend to utilize a similar approach via Google+, it’s fair to say the social team for the Packers isn’t slacking, but they are simply focused on their audience. That said, there is no excuse for the failures on Twitter, thus the overall grade takes a big hit.
There is no doubting the top star in the mecca of American football – quarterback Aaron Rodgers is social active and entertaining, owning a social persona worthy of praise. However, our Pro Bowl Vote goes to T.J. Lang, a Twitter sensation in 2013 for his brutal honesty in review of NFL officials. He may not be the most savvy social follow, but he is appreciative, humble and loyal to his team and all who support it.
MINNESOTA VIKINGS
Twitter: B
Facebook: A-
Instagram: A-
G+: A
Pinterest: F
OVERALL: A-
Social Media Pro Bowler: Adrian Peterson
In Minnesota, they don’t care about Pinterest (they shop at the Mall of America after the game). They care about everything else social, and they do it all well. The Vikes excel in fan engagement and go above and beyond to show appreciation by attaching their sponsor partnerships to their social benefits. They grasp the power of imagery, they show undying support for their stars on the rise, they are creative and evolving in content creation, and best of all, they interact with them all. The Vikes might be struggling to get it right on the field of play, but on the field of social, they do much more right than wrong.
The leader on both of those fields for Minny is also the game’s most explosive offensive threat. All Day earned the long-established term of affection from fans who appreciate his approach to the job. His approach to social media runs in similar fashion. He has good folks working to leverage sponsorship via social engagement, yet he still makes personal contributions and stays connected to his people.
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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.