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| Adam Folker, CSCS, Professional Basketball Player & Certified Professional Strength & Conditioning Coach |
Professional Basketball Player Adam Folker and Audience
Engagement
Paving the way for a new generation of basketball players, Adam
Folker has built a training system targeting the aspiring basketball player available
for sale on the ThincPro.com website. As a professional basketball player and
certified coach, Folker also has a strong business sense as evidenced by his marketing
program and social media presence.
Transferring his on-the-court skills to off-the-court training allows young
athletes to access his wealth of professional knowledge.
Folker solves a specific problem for athletes who strive to
compete at a higher level but cannot afford personal training. With the privatization of youth sports, young
athletes are required to play at a much higher level than in previous generations. “Single-sport
specialization, the privatization of youth leagues, and the ranking and cutting
of young children have become widespread” (Atkinson, 2014). For the most part, all sports now
require a year round commitment if an athlete wants to stay competitive. Folker’s video series provides an at-home
solution for year-round basketball training.
Folker consistently engages with his audience by regularly sending
out emails to his existing and potential customers, thus creating a strong
following. Though Folker’s ultimate goal
is to sell his product, he also shares meaningful content: words of encouragement, basketball advice,
and tips on life – all with a no-strings-attached approach. “What matters is leading your site’s visitors
and your constituent audiences to where they help you reach your real goals,
such as building revenue, soliciting donations, and gaining new members”
(Scott, 2013, p. 163). He regularly features players’ photos and testimonials to reinforce the effectiveness of his program. Folker uses video
content in his emails to further engage his audience. Folker “produces content
that people actually want to receive” (Kerpen, 2011, p. 50). A recent video sent via email:
Social Media and Target Audience
Folker has three main target markets. First, he specifically targets young
basketball players looking to improve their game both offensively and
defensively. Folker has a narrowly
defined audience with the bulk of basketball players falling into the 12-18 age
range. The second target market is their
competitive-minded parents. Parents, in many
cases, make the final purchase decision.
The last target market includes collegiate, semi pro, and
professional basketball players seeking to improve their game.
To reach his target audience, Folker’s presence in social media is a business imperative. “Social media will help you find your target
audience and provide you with further insight about this group” (Kerpen, 2011,
p. 34). Folker’s ThincPro is present
where the target audience is most likely to find solutions to their basketball problems. “If you actively participate in the online
communities that your customers frequent, you will earn their sympathy and
patience when things go wrong” (Scott, 2013, p. 67). Folker has a presence on Facebook,
Twitter,
Instagram,
as well as a personal
website adamfolker.com, and a thincpro.com website. Folker is also well-represented
on YouTube.com.
A YouTube.com customer testimonial:
“Building buyer personas is the first step and probably the
single most important thing that you will do in creating your marketing and PR
plan” (Scott, 2013, p. 164). Folker has three
main buyer personas:
Aspiring Talent:
·
Ages 12-18
·
Striving to increase his/her playing
time
·
Striving to improve his/her skillset
·
Highly motivated
·
Self-starters
·
Driven
· Wants to make “The” Team
Parental Units (PU’s):
·
Parents of young basketball players
·
Eager to get the best for their kids
·
Hard driving
·
Strong work ethic
·
Understands the importance of high
level training
·
Desires competitive edge for their
child
·
PU’s want their child to make the most
competitive teams
·
PU’s want their child to reach
his/her potential
Ace Player:
·
College player
·
Semi-pro player
·
Professional player
·
Already playing basketball at a high
level
·
Wants to increase playing time
· Wants to fine tune existing skill set
Folker’s personal training
videos support athletes and are perfectly timed as youth sports are
increasingly privatized. “Companies don't grow just to grow. They don't last just
to last. They thrive when the world needs them, when they are committed to
solving a problem that matters. Then there is reason for them to continue your
work, to grow, to thrive” (Krippendorff, 2013). Having a strong social media presence
represents an understanding of his customer and their personas. By consistently engaging his audience, Folker
has cornered this niche market.
References
Atkinson,
J. (2014, May 4). How parents are ruining youth sports. Retrieved February 11,
2015, from
http://www.bostonglobe.com/magazine/2014/05/03/how-parents-are-ruining-youth-sports/vbRln8qYXkrrNFJcsuvNyM/story.html
Kerpen, D.
(2011). Be Authentic. In Likeable social media (1st ed., pps. 34 &
50). New York: McGraw-Hill.
Krippendorff,
K. (2013, December 18). Great Companies Solve Problems That Matter. Retrieved
February 11, 2015, from http://www.fastcompany.com/3023216/leadership-now/great-companies-solve-problems-that-matter
Scott,
D. (2013). Social Networking Sites and Marketing. In The New
Rules of Marketing and PR (4th ed., pps. 67, 163, & 164). New York:
McGraw-Hill.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteFantastic post, Kim. Prior to your post, I had never heard of Adam Folker, but he really is providing solutions for a niche audience.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading your response, Thought Leadership was the first thing that came to mind. He engages his audience and provides compelling content to consider when playing basketball. As you mentioned, he features successful players who have found his approach and program to be effective.
According to Barry Faulkner of the Daily Pilot, Folker is a social media and marketing authority “promoting something known as the Folker System” (Faulkner, 2013, para 3). Faulkner argues that “The "system" refers to Folker's approach to life, business and basketball that begins with hard work and ends with, well, infinite possibility” (Faulkner, 2013, para 4).
Personally, I am not a key demorgraphic or buyer persona for Folker’s “system,” yet I find it very interesting that Folker has leveraged his expertise and skills to market an idea – much like any successful company (Apple, Starbucks, BMW). Sure, there is a product and/or service that Folker is marketing, however he is successfully doing much more than that. Folker encourages players to dream big, as well as to follow Folker's guidance and program. By doing so, those players can be the next successful basketball player. Folker is almost selling himself as a role model for young players.
The Buyer Personas you have listed are very interesting. I would almost argue that the buyer persona for the PU’s could include scholarships – a solution to the enormous cost of higher-education. Or, even the desire for their child to attend college. Additionally, the buyer personas could include the common objections that individuals may have to Folker’s service, as well as how Folker communicates with each buyer persona you have outlined.
Now, how do you feel that Folker could improve upon his buyer persona, marketing approach, or any suggestion that you may have for his communication approach with his audience?
Reference
Faulkner, B. (2013, March 8). Men’s basketball: UCI’s folker dreaming big. Daily Pilot. Retrieved from: http://articles.dailypilot.com/2013-03-08/sports/tn-dpt-0309-uci-adam-folker-basketball-20130308_1_adam-folker-hard-work-markham-district-high
Like you, I had never heard of him however I was familiar with the subject after a series of articles appeared daily new briefs over last quarter of 2014. I did not know how much money was being spent on early specialization, private coaching and other youth sports related programs—the US figures are astounding. With that said, I think that Folker is being very responsible in not pushing scholarships as part of the PU persona. If we go back to last week and remember how important trust is in the social media landscape he could be accused of selling false hope since only 3.7% of male and 3.3% of female high school basketball players sign college scholarship deals (Holland & Schoen, 2014).
DeleteHolland, K., & Schoen, J. (2014). Fantasy football: College scholarship myths busted. CNBC. Retrieved 14 February 2015, from http://www.cnbc.com/id/101980451#.
Kimberly,
ReplyDeleteInteresting choice this week. I enjoyed getting to read about someone I really knew nothing of. I think it is great that Adam Folker is thinking beyond his basketball career on the court, and doing something to develop other players and enthusiasts of the sport. Not only is he adding a motivation tool to the field, but he is leading the way with regards to an innovative health program. This mix of sportsman and business man are a great blend that allow Folker an insight into the world he wants to now target. Having that experience and insight gives him an advantage over any competitors, and allows him to provide his consumer with a product that is effective and satisfying. As Scott mentions the use of social media forums can allow Folker to directly learn about, target, and interact with a specific group. The element of interaction between Folker and his consumers build an emotional communication and encourage consumers to stay loyal to his brand. Scott (2013) explains how it is important that a website have an attractive design and work properly, but people should understand that “content drives action.” (p214) Folker’s website is well laid out with the various training program options clearly highlighted, but more importantly it contains a blog and news articles throughout. These elements are where Folker provides useful information, encouragement, health tips etc showing that Folker does care about the needs of his consumer, which is what Scott says consumers think the first time they visit a site. (p214)
I like the website image of him in a suit holding the basketball, this contrast is great, appealing to both the sportsman to wants to define their basketball techniques but also the professional who considers health and fitness with looking at this product. Great marketing!
Reference
Scott, D. (2013). Social Networking Sites and Marketing. In The New Rules of Marketing and PR (4th ed., pps. 67, 163, & 164). New York: McGraw-Hill.
I agree, Kelly, it was great to learn more about Adam Folker.
DeleteWithout making too many assumptions, I find it interesting that both you and I were learning about Adam, and that Kim potentially knew more about him, because of her young children. This makes me think that Adam has effectively defined his target audience, but also understands that his buyer persona may fall outside of the actual users of his service. Parents or parental units (I like that term, Kim) are a very important audience for Folker. This is the audience that not only controls the purse, but also the transportation.
It would make no sense for Folker to market his services towards me, as I have no children (and it's safe to say, I missed the mark as a professional basketball player).
Kelly - how do you think Folker could improve upon his communication approach?
Catherine,
DeleteI did, in fact, learn about Adam Folker through my son. He had hit a speed bump with his basketball training and looked on YouTube.com for some video assistance. I never really knew how he found out about Folker, so I finally asked him what his exact search looked like. It went something like this:
Initially, he searched P90X’s Tony Horton. He thought that since he was a fitness expert he might have some specific videos geared towards basketball. He did not. Tony Horton led him to fitness expert Michael Chang. Chang’s channel recommended Adam Folker. So, interestingly, he found Adam Folker because he was familiar with Tony Horton’s P90X infomercial.
The thing that I found most interesting is that I find Folker’s emails as interesting as my son does. And, I bet you would too. His emails are more about life lessons and resonate across several buyer personas. I happen to read the first one simply because it was in my son’s inbox and I wanted to check it out to make sure it was appropriate. It certainly was, and then some. Now, we both look forward to them and when one message in particular resonates, it sparks a conversation we would not otherwise have. As a parent, that is a true gift that goes much further beyond the game of basketball.
Kim
p.s. I will forward one to you so you can see what I am talking about.
I posted my response on here twice and nothing is appearing.
ReplyDeleteThis is very annoying I wrote a whole post last night, and double checked it was there and now its not. Kimberly do you have anything pending approval or get any notifications?
ReplyDeleteKelly
Catherine,
ReplyDeleteI think Adam Folker could improve his integrated marketing communication strategy several ways:
1. Resist the urge to sell in every email. I understand the motivation behind it, but doing so will water down the content with each customer touchpoint. “To succeed on the web under the new rules of marketing and PR, you need to consider your organizational goals and then focus on your buyers first…the product or service you sell is secondary when you market your organization on the web” (Scott, 2013, p. 162). Ultimately, if every email contains a sales pitch, it won’t be long before customers just click delete before even opening the email. Content first, sell second. Give the customers a reason to look forward to those emails, to want to click open, and have a strategic method behind when to sell.
2. Focus more on the buyer persona of Parental Units. After all, in most cases, it is the parents who will open up their wallets to fund Folker’s products.
3. He is on several different social media platforms. I would suggest that he be consistent in his messaging across all platforms. For example, if he promoting his Vert Shock videos, those videos should be communicated across all channels.
4. If he is inactive on a platform, I would suggest removing it until he chooses to reactivate. Otherwise, it appears stale.
5. Lastly, I would suggest he directly engage with his customers. How great would it be to a young boy working on his vertical jump to have Adam Folker show up at his door for a quick work out?
Reference
Scott, D. (2013). Social Networking Sites and Marketing. In The New Rules of Marketing and PR (4th ed., p. 162). New York: McGraw-Hill.
I find your first point very interesting. While only selling on social media would be against the suggestions put forth by Scott (2013) the HTML email is a different communications vehicle. Scott calls the vast majority of email newsletters nothing more than another advertising venue with a coupon (Scott, 2013 p.196) however the HTML email can be a newsletter or it can be a ad they do not have to merged into one.
DeleteSince Folker already generates so much content his newsletter could be a recap of some of the articles and videos that did not get as much attention and could carry a personal letter. The purpose of this newsletter would be to drive traffic not to he social media pages but to the website where there is a chance of conversion to sales. Then there is the HTML email as a coupon, a new product introduction, or sale advertisement. If they were separated into two types of communications customers may be more apt to open and read.
Scott, D. (2013). Social Networking Sites and Marketing. In The New Rules of Marketing and PR (Kindle Ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.
Great ideas, Kim! I agree with both you and Yana about email. While a company (or public figure) should not overly sell via email (how often do you receive annoying emails from retail stores?), there should be a clear, concise, and consistent messaging being transmitted via email to both clients and prospective clients. This could be done in the form of a newsletter. Or, how about promoting youtube videos or success stories of other young athletes who are participating in Folker's programs?
DeleteAlso, I would agree that the buyer persona of parents should be more developed. They do carry the purse in the family. However, when I took consumer behavior as an undergrad, I was instructed that children are a huge target audience for many companies. Because, children influence their parents purchasing decision, especially in the grocery store. Therefore, the paternal unit persona should be developed more as a means to encourage, but also compliment the children's efforts to purchase this service.
Finally, I love point five - this type of engagement is getting a lot more attention these days. However, the logistics and effectiveness of this type of outreach or engagement may be difficult to monetize.
Catherine,
DeleteMy fifth point may be difficult to monetize or even logistically coordinate, I think it would have major impact with his young followers. Folker travels a lot for his work. My thought was that while in a destination for his other commitments, he simply add this to his itinerary. As a result, the added cost would be minor, but the social media impact would be immense.
There are so many great examples of this type engagement. Perhaps, it would even be impossible to measure the return on investment. However, given his authenticity, I think it would be a excellent fit with his personal brand.
Kim
Again, this was another insightful and enjoyable conversation, group two! Adam Folker was a great, outside the box choice, Kim. I enjoyed learning more about him, his program, and his engaging outreach. I would be interested in seeing a copy of his email to see if it's consistent, personal, and/or engaging to the audience - and not a mass, broad advertising approach. I also find it wonderful how your son learned about Folker and how he was the "decision maker" in this purchasing process. Also, I think everyone hit the nail on the head with the buyer persona's descriptions.
ReplyDeleteYana - the newsletter was a terrific idea, and I agree that HTML is a great means to staying connected with users. This thought leadership approach is a great way to really provide solutions to the buyer - outside of simply providing basketball techniques. Kelly - your point regarding loyalty and an emotional connection with Folker's users was terrific. That's exactly how he is reaching his buyers, building his brand, and helping children develop both basketball and life skills that will be forever valuable to them.
Another wonderful dialogue, group two!
Kimberly and Catherine,
ReplyDeleteThank you! I'm glad I found this, thank you for emailing me the link to check it out.
You did a great job! When you focus on helping people good things happen!
@Kimberly - if you or your son ever needs anything you have my direct email - contact me anytime.
Have a great week!
- Adam Folker
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ReplyDelete