A Slam-Dunk Content Approach

While there are no sure things in appealing to your customers, working towards taking higher-percentage shots can help to make your efforts less about hoop dreams and more about taking a slam-dunk approach to developing your content and appealing to your customers.

In a few hours, nearly 20 Echidnas will join others in the London tech community at a TechAlliance-sponsored event at the Budweiser Gardens to watch the London Lightning. And that got me thinking about the similarities between effective communications, content strategy, design, and basketball.

After all, there's a reason why the ubiquitous "they" use the term slam dunk to describe a sure thing. It's the highest-percentage shot you can make.

And the only way to make a slam dunk is to take it to the hole -- either by driving the lane or parking under the rim. Sure, you can hit from outside. But the farther away you are, the less accurate you're going to be.

Switching sports metaphors, there's a quote attributed to Wayne Gretzky that states, "You miss 100 per cent of the shots you don't take." Some people love to toss that one out as a justification for trying anything.

But what's missed in that statement is that Wayne wasn't advocating shooting from behind your own net. What made him great wasn't that he benefitted from nearly 900 regular-season lucky bounces. Rather he worked to put himself in good positions, so when a quality opportunity arose, he was there to take it. After all, Wayne also said, "A good hockey player plays where the puck is. A great hockey player plays where the puck is going to be."

Back to basketball now.

The goal is always to hit those high-percentage shots. And that means working, knowing your opposition, moving the ball, and getting to those high-percentage areas. And that means being closer to your target. Looking at last year's NBA stats, 64.6 per cent of the shots made at the rim go in; 39.8 per cent of those three-to-nine feet away do; 41.7 per cent of those taken 10-15 per cent do; and 38.3 per cent of those taken 16-23 feet away go in. 

(Note: the three-point numbers are skewed because they use the effective field goal percentage metric, which accounts for the greater value that a three-point shot has. The formula is (FGM + (0.5x3PTM))/FGA = eFG%) -- in case it ever comes up)

So what basketball lessons can you apply to your content strategy and web design projects? How do you get closer to the target?

Know your opponent

Basketball teams scout the opposition. You should too. What are your competitors doing? What are they having success with? What are they wasting their time on?

It's more than just monitoring their web page. You should be following their social media feeds, checking out what they're doing in traditional media, and keeping an eye on their affiliations and sponsorships.

Almost every team in the NBA runs the pick-and-roll fairly frequently. The more successful teams do it better than their opponents.

Home court advantage

Get to know your customers. Find out what they like and give it to them.

The NBA rose to prominence on the backs of some flashy, dynamic players. It wasn't enough to win -- you had to do it with style. The Showtime Lakers and the Jordan-Era Chicago Bulls fired up the public's imagination to the point where their respective brands transcend the league.

The NBA "borrowed" (I'll be polite and not say stole) from the ABA to increase fan interest. Popular additions like the slam dunk competition and the three-point field goal made the game more exciting. The NBA picked up on that and incorporated those innovations into its more staid game upon the merger. Why? Because the fans loved it. The league figured out what the fans wanted and gave it to them.

Now if they'd only use the red-white-and-blue striped ball (though it's important to notice which three-point ball is the final, "money" ball in the all-star shootout.)

Ask your customers what they want and give it to them. Surveys, in-person discussions, monitoring social-media chatter are all great ways to find out what motivates your customers (both good and bad).

Pass the rock

You can't go one-on-five and hope to score. Even the best one-on-one players require the other four teammates to clear out and create space on the floor by drawing defenders to them. But successful teams (not individuals, teams) score through proper positioning, sound ball movement, and creating open looks.

For your customers, you can't focus all your energies on one area. For example, social media is not the be-all-and-end-all of your communications efforts. It's just one tool in a much larger tool belt.

Assuming your customers or your potential clients are all going to follow the same path can result in missed opportunities. Using more than just one call to action, understanding how different people navigate and consume content, and rehitting messages in multiple media can help you make a greater impression on your target demographics.

And, from a team perspective, it's important to use your staff members' skills effectively. Not everyone will be great at everything, but fostering a complementary environment can help promote success.

You need more than just a great product

There are two main reasons why the triangle offence worked in Chicago and L.A., but is not translating to New York -- MJ and Kobe (OK, maybe three -- Tex Winter played a huge role too).

The triangle offence is great. But sometimes you need a little something extra to take your product or your business to the next level. You need that superlative talent that grabs the team by the collar and drags it to victory.

For all the greatness of systems, having that one great idea, product, or person that can take your business to the next level. It's great to have a game plan in mind, but sometimes you need to step outside of that framework to succeed. You don't want to have someone always playing outside of the team concept, but understanding that there are no absolutes in life -- or business -- can help you adjust on the fly.