Playbook Guide Sports March 2013
Created by the YouTube Next Lab, March 2013
What is a Creator Playbook Guide? In 2011, we released the Creator Playbook – the one stop shop for best practices to build a loyal and engaged audience on YouTube. Since then, we’ve been working hard to tailor these strategies to the unique needs of our different content creators. Whether you’re a nonprofit organization trying to drive social awareness, or a musician looking to engage further with your fans through live streaming, we recognize that you all have different needs.
Table of Contents Sports Category Overview Punctual Optimization Content Presentation Channel Programming Programming for the Off-season A Global Phenomenon Further Reading & Resources Thank You 4 5 10 16 19 24 29 34 39
Category Overview
Category Overview Introduction Welcome to the Sports Playbook Guide! As a sports content creator, you will undoubtedly be faced with different challenges and opportunities than creators in any other category on the platform. With this Guide, we want to make sure that you’re equipped to deal with those unique, sports-specific issues that include working with content with a short shelf life, keeping an audience through an off-season, and building for an international audience.
Category Overview Diversity of Sports on YouTube Sports on YouTube allows anyone, anywhere, to follow the leagues, teams, and sports that they love. YouTube is a global platform, and sports channels reflect that diversity. Some sports channels are focused on entire leagues and teams, while others are focused on single athletes.
Category Overview What’s Working While sports channels on YouTube continue to experiment with finding new ways to succeed on the platform, there are some proven, high-level techniques and strategies that have worked in the category. Building a Strong Brand On YouTube, building a strong brand is important for every category or content vertical, but in the sports world, it is absolutely crucial. Build a brand that viewers know as a home for the best clips or most insightful commentary.
Category Overview Important Features for Sports Content ID You own your content, so make sure you get credit every time it is viewed on YouTube! YouTube’s Content ID system is an important tool for many sports channels. It claims millions of views that would have otherwise gone uncounted. Make sure that you turn on Content ID for every video that you upload to YouTube. It’s just one click, but it could drastically improve your channel’s performance.
Punctual Optimization 5
Punctual Optimization See Playbook Sections: Metadata, Thumbnails, Captivate Your Audience How do I optimize my videos for the timely nature of sports? For sports content, timeliness is crucial - in terms of content creation, publishing, and optimization. Since sports video content is often event-focused, sports viewers search for the latest clips, immediate reactions, and breaking sports news around a particular event. Your channel needs to be ready to serve this content at the right time.
Punctual Optimization Titles Remember that your titles function as headlines for your video. Make sure that you’re selecting keywords that will compel viewers to click on your video, and that these keywords accurately reflect the content itself. Arrange your titles by exact action keywords first and branding afterwards.
Punctual Optimization Descriptions as a navigational tool If the video is a part of a larger series, such as a game in a season or an instructional video, this is your opportunity to let the viewer know about how this video relates to others on your channel. Additionally, you should inform them about other similar content. • Direct the viewer to the next segment or related material.
Punctual Optimization Tags Save time by creating a bucket list of standard tags that can be applied to your entire channel as well as to specific sports. Think about your audience. What is your audience likely to be searching for? Would they use superlatives like best and amazing? If so, include them! Also, remember, individuals may use different terms to refer to the same thing (e.g.. soccer and football).
Punctual Optimization Thumbnails Once you’ve optimized your metadata, you need to compel users to click on your video. A successful thumbnail does just that. • /XTremeVideo (Branded Thumbnail) • /figchannel Here are a few sports specific strategies to keep in mind when selecting your thumbnails. • For action-based content, choose high contrast close-ups of players, kicks, tackles, and fumbles. • Think about what your audience is looking for.
Content Presentation
Content Presentation See Playbook Sections: Playlists, Annotations How do I package my content to make it engaging and easily navigable? The sports content available to sports fans is abundant and diverse. So, even once they find your videos and click to view (intrigued by your stellar thumbnail!), they can easily switch to another channel to find the sports content they want.
Content Presentation Playlists and Annotations Playlist and Annotation Example You want to make sure that you’re making it easy for your viewers to find the content they’re looking for, and navigate through it. • • Playlists, like metadata descriptions, are one way to help viewers navigate through your content. • Playlists can also help extend the lifespan of your content by packaging it with more current videos.
Channel Programming
Channel Programming See Playbook Sections: Tent-pole Programming, Playlists How do I maintain viewership and engagement for my sports channel? Lucky for you, sports fans tend to be engaged, passionate, and enthusiastic. And yet, you still have to work hard at developing an effective programming strategy to keep your channel’s viewership up, and your audience engaged. • Make the most of your production investment by filming less obvious, supplemental content (i.e.
Channel Programming Sports events can be characterized as either planned or unplanned events. Planned events include things like games or drafts that are on the calendar for months in advance, while unplanned events revolve around quickly breaking news. Let’s dive into the strategies for each one as it relates to sports programming.
Channel Programming For Unplanned or Breaking News Events In addition to planned events, some sporting events fall into the category of unplanned or breaking news events. For example, a specific player might unexpectedly break a world record, suddenly rise in popularity amongst fans, or transfer teams.
Channel Programming Using Hangouts on Air to Drive Engagement Hangouts on Air through Google+ are a great way to interact and engage with your audience. Inviting fans to speak with your hosts, athletes, or other talent is a great way to build audience and create a connection with your viewers. For more information about Hangouts on Air please see: goo.
Programming for Off-season
Programming for Off-season See Playbook Sections: Tent-pole Programming, Playlists What should I do during the off-season? Sports are often seasonal, but that doesn’t mean your YouTube sports channel should be! It’s important to keep your channel active - even during the off-season - in order to maintain viewership and audience interest all year round.
Programming for Off-season 26 Archived content - playlists of season and player highlights Relevant library content posted during the offseason • • /nba /fcbarcelona - ‘Pinto detuvo a Pirlo un penalti a lo Penenka’
Programming for Off-season Comedic content captured during off-season tour • /chelseafc - ‘US Tour 2012: The Goalkeepers’ New player announcements during the off-season • /NBA - ‘Top 10 Plays of Brandon Roy’s Career’ 27
Programming for Off-season Curation & Maintaining the Channel Feed ‘Curation’ means featuring content in your feed that has already been uploaded – using either your channel’s archive or great videos from other channels. Curation can be used all year long, but you are likely to rely on it more heavily during the off-season since those tend to be the quieter months for uploading original content.
A Global Phenomenon
A Global Phenomenon See Playbook Sections: Reaching All Audiences, Playlists, Metadata, Annotations How can I reach my global, multi-lingual audience? Sports are an international phenomenon, and YouTube is an international platform. While the core fan bases of many sports exist in specific countries, your videos’ reach can extend much further. Begin by investigating your YouTube Analytics in order to determine where the bulk of your traffic originates.
A Global Phenomenon Playlists for different languages • /acmilan Global Phenomenon • /MERCEDESAMGPETRONAS 31
A Global Phenomenon Annotations For videos with an international audience, include annotations in multiple languages in order to help direct your audience to a specific action. Annotations should also be used to inform the audience if there is an alternate language version of the video or subtitles are available.
A Global Phenomenon Captions Captions are another way to make content that is, or has the potential to be, trending internationally both more compelling and accessible to different audiences. As the text within closed caption files gets indexed, this can also help drive organic traffic to your videos.
Further Reading & Resources
Further Reading & Resources Playbook Sections • • • • Metadata Thumbnails Captivate Your Audience Tent-pole Programming • • • Playlists YouTube Analytics Reaching All Audiences Channels to Explore Red Bull: Extreme sports channel that utilizes a strong brand, while also effectively using titles and curating content through playlists. goo.gl/utQeD Chelsea FC: Official channel for London-based soccer club. Includes a wide range of videos include comedy videos, player interviews, and news. goo.
Further Reading & Resources YouTube Tools / Features for Sports Content ID: This online protection and rights management solution enables content owners to identify, monitor, and control the use of their works on YouTube. goo.gl/B4EkF and goo.gl/jTdlG Live: Stream live events and programs directly from a sports YouTube channel. goo.
Further Reading & Resources Example Links Category Overview 7 NHL goo.gl/XC0yO 7 Real Madrid goo.gl/PuOLH 7 Network A goo.gl/GC8tq 7 Bleacher Report goo.gl/KI2oU 7 BeFit goo.gl/S7Dnm 8 WWEFanNation goo.gl/OBZhC 8 JRSportBrief goo.gl/UrKIU 8 HockeyFightsDotCom goo.gl/QQvvp 8 AC Milan goo.gl/WvlFm Punctual Optimization 12 12 13 15 15 15 BeFit: Jane Fonda: Lower Body Stretch-Primetime Health goo.
Further Reading & Resources Example Links Channel Programming 21 RIDEChannel: X Games 2012 Street Practice goo.gl/abLa0 21 DudePerfect: Hunger Games Trick Shots goo.gl/zILZJ 22 MCFC Official goo.gl/iTvc7 22 SBNation: Tiger Woods wins the 2012 AT&T National goo.gl/sw4JO 22 Fcbarcelona: L’Hospitalet vibra amb Jordi Alba goo.gl/nKrHV 23 Hangout with Tiger Woods goo.gl/ewgYF Programming for the Off-season 26 26 27 27 28 NBA goo.
Thank you!
