The success of any combat sporting event, like Pacquiao vs. Cotto or UFC 105, ultimately boils down to one core factor…promotion.  “Promoter” and “promotion company” are terms not readily found in basketball, football, baseball or any other mainstream sport’s vernacular.  Marketing for these sports is an ongoing process while boxing is largely event-based.

For decades, promoters have been hyping fights and reaching consumers through traditional media channels such as television, radio, and print.  However, boxing executives can no longer afford to rely solely on these outlets.  Facebook, Twitter, blogs and other online platforms offer ideal mediums to engage fans, build brand equity, generate additional PPV sales, and usher in a new era of the international sport of pugilism. When it comes to promotion, social media is the undisputed, P4P Champ!

Boxing arguably is one of the last sports to adopt social media even though it stands to gain the most from platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube that reach fans everywhere.  You’d think that “promotional firms” would be foaming at the mouth to directly access billions of potential viewers, elevate the sport’s visibility, connect with fans across the globe, and well…promote.

That said, there’s one major player in the boxing industry, aside from the networks, that “gets it” and is showing traction with its social media initiatives…Top Rank.  One of the preeminent promotion companies, (the other being Oscar De La Hoya’s “Golden Boy”) Top Rank Boxing is headed by the 77 year-old Bob Arum, who has promoted more legendary fighters than most fans could name.

Top Rank boasts an elite stable of fighters, which includes the renowned Manny Pacquiao of the Phillipines and Miguel Cotto of Puerto Rico, both set to face off in a megafight this Saturday at The MGM Grand.  Bob and Top Rank are unyielding advocates of the sport and vehemently, yet sometimes controversially, deny any claims that boxing is “dead” or “dying”. They understand boxing has a diverse fan base spanning various ethnicities and that new media channels must be explored and embraced.

In this post, we’ll assess Top Rank’s social media presences, pointing out what they’re doing well and offering suggestions to strengthen what we at Activ8Social call their “Social Media Network”.

Top Rank “Social Media Network”

Top Rank’s social media presence spans across Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Tumblr.  For those not familiar with Tumblr, it’s a powerful and highly-customizable blogging platform that allows posting of text, images, video, links, quotes and audio to a “tumblelog”.  Top Rank Boxing also has an official website, which currently serves to solely hype the upcoming bout between Cotto and Pacquiao although in the past it’s included numerous additional features such as detailed stats on all of its fighters.  Hopefully this change is only a temporary move to focus on the big fight.

What They Do Well

The digital team at Top Rank has proven its ability to harness the power of social media to strengthen brand, both of the company and its fighters.  Their efforts have led to increased fan engagement, stronger feedback loops, content distribution, and heightened awareness of what’s going on in the worlds of Top Rank fighters.

Daily photo and video updates that include training and media day footage, fighter interviews, articles and other exclusive behind-the-scenes content keep fans interested and gives them a reason to come back.  Top Rank is also constantly linking to related content on partner web properties such as HBO, including the behind-the-scenes 24/7 series and live streaming of the pre-fight press conference.

Most recently, a series of Tweetups (in-person meetups with Twitter followers) and pre-fight parties with giveaways to loyal fans have allowed Top Rank to successfully reach the next level of social media engagement by taking the conversation offline.  These types of real-world events and experiences serve to activate the influencers and jumpstart organic word-of-mouth promotion, empowering the fans to do Top Rank’s job for them.

Anywhere you look on Top Rank’s social media properties, you’re bombarded with content related to the Pacquiao/Cotto fight.  They do a wonderful job of concentrating on what’s hot and whetting the fan appetite.  Expect continued heavy coverage for a week or two after the fight and then the focus should rightfully shift to the next big event.

One of the key, yet often overlooked, elements of a successful Social Media Network is to constantly reaffirm official properties.  Top Rank’s Tumblr profile provides a great example of this: Facebook and Twitter widgets are embedded on the right column below links to it’s YouTube channel and official site. Click on the image below to see it in action.

Facebook acts as the ideal “hub” to aggregate content from other platforms while simultaneously linking out to them.   Top Rank uses the “Favorite Pages’ feature to promote its individual fighter pages, which are where the most passionate and powerful fan engagement and conversation takes place.  Other best practices such as utilizing “@” replies and hashtags on Twitter show that Top Rank knows the value of creating and participating in fan conversations.

Areas To Improve

Even though Top Rank has mastered the basics of online promotion via social media channels, there are still many areas left to improve on.

For one, I don’t see an official Top Rank Flickr channel, which is a missed opportunity to flood the boxing blogosphere with branded photos. Flickr is the largest photo-based social media platform and a well-known blogger feeding ground.  Facebook and Tumblr are places to showcase the best pics, but Flickr should serve as the digital library that houses every single accumulated image from training, press conferences, fights and other events.

Although the “Top Rank Boxing” Facebook page offers quality content, it lacks “FIREPOWER” (pun intended).  Customization is crucial for an official Facebook page and every brand should have at least one custom FBML “Welcome” tab that rotates regularly based on promotions.  Below is an example we mocked up of what Top Rank could have created to promote the upcoming fight and encourage fans to invite friends to join the page:

The above example could contain clickable links to Top Rank’s official site and HBO’s 24/7 series, which takes fans inside the lives of Pacquiao and Cotto. Custom tabs can be made into default landing pages and offer a valuable integration point for sponsors such as Tecate or The History Channel’s new series “Pawn Stars”.

Their page uses “Social RSS”, which is one of my least favorite apps for blog or Twitter feed integration, both visually and functionally.  A separate custom tab titled “YouTube” should be added to allow fans to view Top Rank’s channel directly from Facebook.  A custom box in the left column of main page titled “Connect with Top Rank” could include logo quicklinks to their Twitter, YouTube, Tumblr and official site.

One thing I haven’t seen is any Facebook ads promoting the fight or encouraging users to “Become a Fan” of Pacquiao or Cotto’s pages.  This may be out of Top Rank’s hands, but now is the most opportune time to attract fans in support of their favorite fighter or countryman.  Not to mention that both the Phillipines and Puerto Rico are more than affordable demographics to target on Facebook’s ad platform with modest campaigns.

Top Rank should also link to official web properties of its fighters, such as Miguel Cotto’s Twitter, or better yet aggregate Twitter feeds in a custom tab like Red Bull does with its athletes. (Full disclosure: Red Bull is an Activ8Social client).

The next level of promotion would be integration of live video streaming via uStream or Livestream (formerly Mogulus).  HBO and other major outlets have already begun offering live streams of fighter entrances, press conferences, and weigh-ins for blockbuster events. However, I’ve yet to see an incorporation of Twitter or Facebook chat alongside the live video so fans can converse on the same page in a structured environment via a major platform.

In Conclusion

There’s always room to improve in the social media realm and creative new ways to leverage existing platforms, but Top Rank should be commended for putting forth the effort to take advantage of these services and draw fans closer to their fighters.  These actions will lead to increased exposure for Top Rank fighters, higher Pay-Per-View sales, more opportunities for sponsor tie-ins, and ultimately more revenue for all parties involved. Stay tuned for more innovative uses of social media by Top Rank and hopefully more promotional companies in the near future.

What do you think about Top Rank’s social media efforts and who else is successfully leveraging social media channels to promote the sport of boxing in your opinion?