6 social media lessons from NCAA basketball’s top teams

While they don’t succeed on every front, there’s plenty to learn from the social media efforts of the teams atop the NCAA basketball rankings.

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I love March Madness. My husband and I watch voraciously, and since neither of us went to a Division I hoops school, we can choose our favorites and enjoy all the games without too much emotional investment.

When I watch any sport, I always want to translate a team’s competitiveness on the court or field to the digital landscape. I want to know what social media lessons managers can borrow (or completely ignore) from winning teams. So I put together a landscape of the top 10 NCAA men’s basketball teams.

Since these teams are highly competitive, I thought I would also score the teams on each lesson, giving a simple “win” or “lose” ranking. 1. Have a strong presence. Score: WIN All the teams are active on several social platforms. It’s not surprising, since the schools and teams are targeting young consumers, alumni and basketball fans, that the social presences are focused on more consumer-oriented networks: Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Twitter. From a social engagement standpoint, the focus is primarily Facebook and Instagram, a trend we see with most business-to-consumer organizations. 2. Use consistent naming and branding. Score: LOSE

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