The purpose of this assignment is to create a marketing

The purpose of this assignment is to create a marketing plan and  corresponding crisis communication plan for dissemination through social  media.

Whereas social media originally began as a means for  friends to stay in touch, it has quickly grown into an expansive  platform for connecting people all across the world, and it plays an  integral role in any marketing initiative. In the industry of sports  marketing, social media allows fans to engage with teams and brands and  enables news to disseminate in real time. Audience members can respond  to sports events with tagged photos and hashtags, while athletes can  communicate directly with their fans, promote sponsors, and keep the  public informed of their schedules. Viewers can live-stream games on  multiple platforms. Teams can track fan engagement, spending, and  attendance while posting game schedules, selling tickets, and promoting  fan-specific content through their own mobile apps. Essentially, social  media is a fundamental tool by which sports marketers can create  competitive advantage for themselves within the sports business  landscape.

This assignment will be completed in two parts. For  the first part, assume that you are tasked with developing a social  media marketing plan for the sports team of your choice. This team is  relocating to a new home stadium on the opposite side of the city and  needs promotional material for rolling out this announcement. While the  move is not a rebranding of the team name, logo, or mascot, consider how  you could market this move with a positive spin that will honor fan  loyalty.

Remember the importance of creating a strategy that  promotes a consistent message across all platforms and uses a voice that  is consistent with the brand being represented. The overall message  should support the larger goals of the team, organization, or brand.

the assignment you turn in for grading will  be submitted as a 500-750-word paper. The plan should include at least  three or four sentences on each of the following elements.

1. Marketing Goals –  Explain the message you are trying to communicate to your target  audience and relate the anticipated outcome of this communication.
2. Target Audience –  Determine the fan DNA of the team and provide a profile of the consumer  you are targeting. List this fan’s top five consumer traits.
3. Message –  Relate the core content of your social media marketing plan: the  announcement of the team’s relocation. What specifically do you want  fans to know about the relocation? How will you be communicating this:  an infographic, a photo, a photo series, a video clip? Provide rationale  for why you are choosing this method of announcing the relocation and  remember that this message should support the larger goals of the team  and its brand.
4. Social Media Platforms – Decide  which three social media platforms you will use to disseminate this  information about the team’s rebranding in order to reach the greatest  segments of the team’s target audience. How do the social media  platforms you have chosen reflect the team’s fan DNA?
5. Audience Influencers –  Determine influential people within your organization or current fan  base who can act as influencers of and supporters for your campaign.  Consider players and coaches, team sponsors, recognizable leaders and  fans, and celebrity endorsers. Explain why the individuals you have  selected will be optimal spokespeople for this campaign.
6. Timeline –  What are your goals when it comes to the timeline of this campaign?  Outline the agenda for your campaign’s release based upon the timeliness  of the season, its relation to the team’s relocation, and any other  special events.
7. Competitive Advantage – Explain how the marketing strategies of this social media campaign will help the team gain an advantage over their competition.
8. Evaluation Metrics –  How will you measure the success of your social media campaign?  Describe at least three methods of evaluating the campaign’s success on  social media. (For example: increase in total number of followers on a  particular social media site, number of interactions or hits on the  social media content, sales results and revenue generated directly by  the campaign, or the number of likes/shares/comments related to the  campaign, etc.)

Mock up an image of the social media  content you would post to announce the team’s relocation. You are  welcome to use Photoshop, if you have access, or to utilize a free  platform, such as Canva, to enhance the quality and design of your  content. Select your wording, images, and content carefully, remembering  to follow the format used by each specific social media platform (e.g.  character limits, use of hashtags, etc.). Remember the importance of  creating a strategy that promotes a consistent message across all  platforms and uses a voice that is consistent with the brand being  represented. The overall message should support the larger goals of the  team.

For the second part of the assignment, in approximately 250  words, develop a crisis communication plan and describe how you would  tactfully use social media to preemptively navigate a negative situation  before it spins out of control and becomes detrimental to the team. In  the case of this sports team relocation, fans may be upset about how the  move to a new stadium will affect their priority as season ticket  holders or how it will affect their commute to and from games, or the  general public in the vicinity of the new stadium may be displeased with  the influx of traffic/increase in noise on game days. How would you use  social media to counter a potentially negative backlash while  supporting the team and encouraging fan involvement in a strategic way?

While  you may not be able to respond to every negative social media response,  provide some general ideas of the types of replies you might include to  combat the potentially negative responses on each of the three  platforms in your social media campaign.