A few readers of this blog have asked me for an update on mycolts.net, so you it is…
Here’s a recap of our mycolts.net community so far this month of September 2007
Here’s a comparison to our Colts.com Website
Of course we want to see this community grow much larger, but so far we’re pleased with the level of engagement. Here’s a quick recap of what we’re seeing so far:
Adding new members – we’re up to 12,000 registered since we launched in June. We’ve marketed via in-house E mail lists and links from colts.com. I guessed that our site would attract 15,000 users in the first year. We’re on track to hit that, but we expect this thing to grow once we get our technology fixed.
Managing moderation – We’re doing it in house. Copyright is an issue for us because we have decided not to allow photos we don’t own on our site. Fairly easy to moderate now that we’re through the initial wave. Good moderation tools/ technology is are must.
Build community – I’ve got half a dozen tear-jerker stories already from fans who’ve made friends with each other or who have connected with Coach Dungy. We’re seeing fans help each other. Our entire strategy is: connect fans to each other, and they’ll feel closer to the team.
Making thing go viral – E mail has worked well. Our survey tool is very popular. Also, whenever you update your content, all your friends get an E mail message inside the system and to your External E mail account. You can turn on / off this feature, but it drives a lot of traffic back into the community.
Communicating success internally – our sales team remains somewhat skeptical about the Web overall, but we’ve had good early success with sponsorships…plus Dungy blogging lends a lot of credibility. Management remains supportive.
Selling sponsorships – We’ve had solid results in 2007…tough part is that the site has relatively small audience. We’re selling ENGAGEMENT and LEARNING for the sponsor. This is a great way to get engaged in a community and learn how to do it…what sponsors learn with us they can apply in other areas of their marketing in the future.
Other problems – One of the hardest things is deciding what features to put in, and which things to add later. Nice to have a little traffic under our belt so we can begin refine our offering.
