The Social Media MBA in Practice: An Essential Collection of Inspirational Case Studies to Influence your Social Media Strategy

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NHL Minnesota Wild – The True Value of a Fan

Turning Social Media Content into Valuable, Actionable Information

Originally, Minnesota Sports & Entertainment (MSE), owners of the NHL's Minnesota Wild Hockey Club and the Saint Paul Arena, had looked at the world of social media from the outside in. On monitoring social media channels, the organization were concerned they lacked the online presence that businesses strive for today. This case study examines the evolutionary process that MSE went through to transform their social media strategy from something that initially centred around push promotions, to a mechanism for encompassing, and driving, sales, marketing and customer service.

Executive summary

Overview

For MSE, maintaining their fan base and keeping valuable customers while attracting new ones, even during losing seasons, is critical to the overall success of their business. Yet the effects of the recession caused MSE's season ticket holder base drop to around 10,000 fans. The challenge was to look at how MSE could use social media to develop new relationships with potential customers while keeping existing fans happy and winning old ones back.

Key findings

• MSE recognized that while fans were still using traditional methods of communication such as email, phone and mobile text for sales purposes, they were increasingly turning to social media to express more emotional ...