During Facebook's emergence as a key sports marketing channel in recent years, social media agency Movement Strategy has been among the companies making the biggest mark.
It's built more than 200 custom Facebook apps for teams and leagues since its launch in 2008. In the past week alone, the New York Knicks, Detroit Lions, St. Louis Rams and University of Michigan have all launched products designed by Movement.
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Mashable recently caught up with co-founder Jason Mitchell to learn more about how the Facebook app marketplace has developed in four years and what the keys are for sports teams looking to put out an engaging product. The biggest shift Mitchell has seen in sports executives' thinking since Movement launched is a widespread acceptance of social media as an essential tool.
"The question teams had when we started, was 'Should we be on social media or not?'" he says. "But that question doesn't even exist anymore. Now it's, 'How do we do cool things?'"
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That change in attitude has meant more work for Movement. The company has grown from two to 16 people and now has offices in New York City and Boulder, Colo. So what are its keys to building Facebook sports apps that inspire engagement instead of neglect?
Mitchell says three main things have emerged over the past few years. First, while simply soliciting Likes for chances at a sweepstakes win was once enough to grab users' attention, that no longer flies.
"Now they want an experience that's rich unto itself," he says. "They don't want to interact with this app because of a .001% of chance of winning something, but because it's fun and something they want to share."
But that doesn't mean adding unnecessary layers of complication; the second thing the Movement team has found is that simple apps perform the best with fans. Especially on Facebook, where a friend's photo album or potential paramour's profile are just a click away, too much clutter without a simple call to action can kill engagement.
The third key: plan for mobile, even if it means just a page letting smartphone users know the app isn't mobile compatible. That's still better than a 404 page, and Mitchell says between 20 and 50 percent of Movement's apps are typically accessed through mobile devices.
And the next big trend sports fans and marketers will likely see on Facebook? Bridging the gap between fans in different locations.
"Hopefully as more stadiums get better Wi-Fi, we'll start to be able to have more of an integration between fans at the game and fans watching at home," Mitchell says.
What do you think makes a sports-themed Facebook app successful? Share your ideas in the comments.
This story originally published on Mashable here.