University fan engagement software has been in the business for as long as collegiate sports have existed. Sure it existed in another form back in old days.
Traditional engagement practices – such as ticket discounts for groups, or surprise rewards and gifts – have worked, and they continue to work.
But…if every college and university is using nearly the same methods of fan engagement, how do you stand out?
There is a better way with a modern approach. NextBee’s fan engagement software helps universities across the globe create thoughtful, engaging, and creative methods to grab the attention of their fans. They make daily use of our sophisticated analytics and platform tools to create meaningful university fan engagement.
Here are some unique methods you can also use to increase university fan engagement and grow an active base of students, alumni, and supporters.
Tips to Boost Engagement with a University Fan Engagement Software
1. Provide Personalized Experiences
It can be surprisingly easy to locate your followers and discover more about what interests them.
Connect with your fans on social media, or create your own online forum where genuine fans can engage with each other and demonstrate their love for each sport, team, and athlete. Provide those supporters with exclusive benefits, rewards and a personalized experience just for being your loyal fan. It might be tough doing that manually which is why a university fan engagement software can prove particularly helpful.
Exclusivity creates excitement among fans and generates curiosity through other students and alumni so that they become interested to join.
Some excellent examples of personalized rewards include photography sessions with the team, locker room meetups before and after the game, gift certificates to stadium dining, autographs and personalized notes from favorite players, and special shoutouts on social platforms to fans. NextBee’s university fan engagement solution supports almost any kind of reward to ensure your employees can redeem points for rewards that interest them.
2. Give It Your 100%
No matter what purpose you’re creating your advertisement or content for, always treat the material like it’s going to be published on the biggest TV channel.
Only when you treat your content like it’s invaluable does your content actually become invaluable to your viewers.
Create new and interesting content to entice your fans. If your fans are young, cater to their interests. If you have older fans, make sure you are reaching out to them via relatable information through various channels.
Taking this idea forward, through university fan engagement solution you can also create videos or campaigns that tell your team’s stories and provide background about your university. This gives your university fans the opportunity to relate more to your brand, which in turn increases levels of engagement.
3. Be Accessible to Your University Fans
If you want your university fans to be engaged, it is important to remain approachable and accessible. Having a presence on social media sites – or wherever your fans are – gives them easy access to your pages.
Being easily reachable is a great way to get to know what your fans like or dislike. It is a great way to engage with your college or university fans during events, too. Creating hashtags and event-specific contests could gain more popularity when you engage your fans during live events as fans share updates on their profiles with friends and family.
4. Include Your Fans in Events
Including your fans in university events does not just mean including them in events as an audience but asking for their support and participation in promotions of those events.
Ask your fans to take part in competitions on your social media pages and websites. Good university fan engagement software can help you create and trend hashtags for upcoming games, tournaments, and championships, and to spread the word about each of your teams.
These university fan engagement tips work to effectively complement more traditional efforts from your fan engagement team, and also engage your fans to be more involved in events.
This is how historical moments are created!
5. Connect With Your University Fans
Forming valuable connections with your university students and fans goes beyond providing them with responses online, answering their questions, or through good customer service. Connections can be formed by showing the more human side of your players – sides that are more relatable to the public.
Create advertisements or videos on trending topics and events that matter to your followers. Support your fans to get their support.
So, where does NextBee come in?
NextBee has over 10 years of experience in the industry, having created remarkable moments and examples of fan engagement that leading companies are following today. With our university fan engagement software, you will be able to increase and maintain high levels of fan engagement from your students, alumni and all of your fans.
Give us the chance to revolutionize your fan engagement strategies with the best fan engagement solution. Chat with us online, send us an email, or give us a call today!