3 Winning Trends From the @Dodgers on Instagram

There are many reasons to pay close attention to Instagram. As one of the fastest growing social espana-med.com, Instagram boasts 300 million monthly active users (via Instagram). An average of 70 million photos are shared each day on the app (Instagram), and the engagement is 15x that of Facebook’s (Fast Company). It’s hard to ignore the platform with numbers like that.

While most teams and leagues have a presence on Instagram, many take their content from Facebook and Twitter and slap it on Instagram too. It’s time to stop sharing the same content on all platforms, forcing links on Instagram and pushing gimmicky promos there. It’s time to start thinking about Instagram as a community; it’s time to take a strategic look at how to activate on the platform.

One of the teams that has caught my eye on Instagram lately is the @Dodgers. Their content is sharp and compelling. Here are three things that stand out to me:

 

No. 1- Images are stunning.

If you scroll through the Dodgers recent content, you’ll probably see some images that make you stop scrolling. The photos are a little more artsy than what we typically see in sports, but they work so well on the platform. They have an eye for the extraordinary in the ordinary. Take a look:


 


 


 
Instagram is one of the simplest platforms. It’s a visually inspired community that craves sharp, beautiful images. It’s not about pushing links and promos. Focus on why the consumer is there: To see stunning and engaging photos. If the @Dodgers are any indication, this approach works.

 

N0. 2- They leverage user-generated content.

The @Dodgers have realized something smart: There is a whole community of ambassadors out there creating compelling content about their brand. So, they’re leveraging this content in creative ways. From a “We Love LA” campaign to #TopDeckThursday, they have found a way to empower their fans to help to their story.


 


 


 


 

I’m a big fan of user-generated content
: It gives you more content (while being cost effective), shows a different perspective and and connects fans even more to the community. Start leveraging it now.

 

N0. 3- Copy is short and sweet.

The Dodgers tend to keep their copy short and sweet. And, this is a great best practice. Instagram users aren’t going to the platform to read a book; they are going there to consume content quickly and easily. Remember to keep your copy short and sweet.


 


 

 

Instead of treating Instagram like every other platform, take a step and think about how you can cultivate a community the right way. As the Dodgers prove, there’s value in using compelling images, leveraging user-generated content and keeping it simple.

 


 

What are some of your favorite sports-related Instagram accounts? Be sure to share them below!

Thanks for reading! 

Brewers’ Monday Mind Games

Creating compelling and consistent content is hard in the offseason sometimes. When games are not in swing, content requires a little more creativity to ensure you don’t get stuck in a rut. Content series that you can feature weekly are a great way to combat the rut though. Examples of a content series include synthroidnews.net information (lThrowback Thursday), training diaries (Training Tuesday), motivational series (Motivational Monday), etc.

The Brewers have a great series they feature every week called Monday Mind Games. Every Monday they post a fun baseball-themed puzzle for fans to solve; the answer to the puzzle is shared on Tuesday. I love this example from the Brewers because it’s different but also on brand with the baseball theme. Here’s a look at some of their latest puzzles:

The takeaway here is simple: Content series can be a great way to create compelling content year-round.  Don’t be afraid to think outside-the-box. If you come up with a great and creative idea, just find a way to tie it back to your brand like the Brewers did.

 


 

Have you seen any creative content series? Be sure to share them below. 

As always, thanks for reading! 

A Case For Using Calls-to-Engagement

As social media professionals, there are certain things we love to hate. I’m guilty of being cynical about a few things (like real-time marketing), and I’m sure you have your “thing” too. It’s easy to get tired of certain platforms and tactics when you live and breathe it everyday. When I’m feeling a little cynical though, I always try to remind myself of this: You are not the audience.

One of the things I often see people get down on are calls-to-engagement (I got this term from Kelly Mosier). Yes, I’m talking about the times when brands and teams ask their fans to retweet, like or engage with something. These things work though.  Posts that ask a question get 100 percent more comments (Kissmetrics) and asking for a retweet gets 12x more (Salesforce). There’s no denying the bump they give your content.

I understand the argument against calls-to-engagement. They can feel gimmicky and forced.  I also think that fans and consumers will naturally engage with good content. If you create content that resonates, you will get engagement (for the most part). It’s a pretty simple philosophy. I also believe that calls-to-engagement can be a powerful rallying cry though; they can catapult a great piece of content even further, draw new fans in and simply help to build a stronger community. I think when used strategically and sparingly, calls-to-engagement can be a great tool in your toolbox.

I define a call-to-engagement pretty broadly. It’s not simply asking for a retweet or a like, but asking your fan and consumer to interact with your content in any form or fashion.  We tell fans when to cheer in-venue, so why are we so shy about encouraging them to interact online? Click To Tweet

If you feel like your community needs a little burst of energy, then consider planning a few call-to-engagement posts. I’ve compiled ways you can get fans to start interacting. Don’t be shy, give them a rallying cry and reason to engage with some of the tactics below:

 

Subtle copy plays.

If you want fans to like or share a Facebook post, think about how you can subtly include action words into your copy. When you have a compelling post, a little encouragement to take action can go a long way. Remember you can be subtle in your copy; you don’t just have to say “LIKE THIS”.

 

Retweet for this.

This tactic often gets a lot of frowns from social media professionals, but the truth is that it works. I don’t think asking fans to retweet for x should be used all the time, but in certain cases it makes sense. When emotions are high, it can be powerful.

 

Click to unveil.

Lately we’ve seen a lot of teams and leagues leverage Twitter’s PNG trickery that will allow you to click and unveil something. While this does not spur retweets, it’s still a great way to get people clicking and interacting with content. In fact, people might be so surprised at the trick that they are more likely to retweet and share with friends. If you want to learn how to do this, here is a good article.

 

Twitter quizzes.

Twitter’s multiple-photos feature can be leveraged as a quiz function (see examples below). Again, this is another opportunity to get fans clicking and engaging with your account and content. It’s simple, fun and effective:

 

Questions.

Questions are a great way to engage your community. They are far from gimmicky and make fans feel like they have a voice. Keep your questions short, simple and to the point.

 

Caption or name this.

Have a crazy play, moment or picture? Caption or name this is a great way to get fans to engage with your content. Find a way to reward fans who come up with the best name:

While I realize you don’t want to always resort to gimmicks, sometimes your fans need a little nudge.  Calls-to-engagement aren’t something to be ashamed of. They’re just another tool in the toolbox! I hope this post inspires you to give more calls-to-engagement a try (strategically and sparingly of course). You are not the audience: As long as your fans enjoy the content, you are on the right track.


So what do you think about calls-to-engagement? Love them, hate them or indifferent? I would love to hear your thoughts!

Thanks for reading! 

2015 National Signing Day Social & Digital Recap

National Signing Day has turned into a major production for athletic departments thanks to social media and the digital space. It’s now an opportunity to showcase a school’s brand, give fans an inside look and tell a broader story.

This year’s coverage of National Signing Day blew me away. Athletic departments stepped up their digital presence, social content and all-around coverage. There was so much creative energy poured into the day. I took notes of what stood out to me and have broken down a high level look at what some of the schools did for National Signing Day 2015. I hope the work inspires you in what you do:

AUBURN

Auburn did a good job with their coverage across social and digital, making their platforms the go-to source for their fans. Auburn’s initiatives included a six-hour live signing day show, a digital signing day hub, social content and more.

Microsite
Auburn created a microsite and a digital signing board that made it easy for fans to see quickly who was in. The design on auburntigers.com was clean and crisp:

Screen Shot 2015-02-04 at 10.18.45 AM

Social Content 
In addition to a really crisp microsite, Auburn prepared signee graphics to push out on the Auburn Football accounts (Twitter and Facebook), along with teaser graphics pointing people back to their signing day hub. Here’s a look at some of their social content:

They also hosted a behind-the-scenes photo gallery on Facebook that was updated throughout the day. It was a great way to get fans “in the room”:

Auburn wrapped up their coverage with a couple great videos. First, they created a YouTube playlist of all the signees’ highlights:

They also created two videos. One that gave a behind-the-scenes look at signing day and another one that explained what brought some of the new Tigers to The Plains:

 

ARKANSAS

Arkansas has created a simple and sharp look for their entire brand and carried it into National Signing Day. It’s crisp and clean. The Razorbacks also promoted the hashtag /theme #BeUncommon, turning NSD into a broader campaign.

Microsite
Their microsite was easy to navigate and follow. It promoted their live show, signees, highlights and NSD events. The players’ pages featured a nice highlight front and center with a bio at the bottom. The design is a great example of how sometimes simple and sleek is best:

Social
Arkansas carried the same look and feel from their microsite to their social content. It was nice to have the same look and feel throughout:

 

CAL ATHLETICS

Cal focused on a theme of welcoming signees to their family. The sentiment is a strong angle to take because it resonates with both the signees and the fans. Heres’s a look at what they did across digital and social.

Website
Cal’s website offered a quick look at who was on board, linking to more info on each student-athlete if fans wanted it:

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Cal also hosted a map called Bear Territory 2015 that tracked where each of their signees came from. This is a really simple and smart way to leverage Google Maps:

Screen Shot 2015-02-06 at 9.37.11 AM

Social
From a social standpoint, they leveraged their athletic department account, football accounts and Coach Dyke’s account. On Twitter, they used Coach Dyke’s account to share their signee graphics and then @CalFootball followed up with the signee’s highlights. Here’s a look at the content:

They also hosted a Facebook Q&A with some of the signees and coaching staff, which is a great way to allow fans to interact:

 

CLEMSON

Clemson’s coverage had a heavy social and video focus that gave fans an inside look at the day. Their team got creative with their social and video content.

Social
From a social standpoint, Clemson did a great job teasing National Signing Day coverage. Anytime you put effort into a big day like this, you have to think about it as a campaign. It’s not a one-day push but a larger campaign with a beginning (the tease), middle (actually day) and end (capitalizing on all the excitement). Here is a look at their teasers:

It’s worth noting that both Vines have more than 160K loops. Fans clearly enjoyed the content!

Video
From a video standpoint, Clemson focused on two main pieces. The first piece was a feature of their 15 mid-year enrollees. It was a great way for fans to get to know the student-athletes:

The second feature was a behind-the-scenes piece of NSD at Clemson and their party. From the looks of it, their staff sure knows how to have fun:

 

COLORADO STATE

The Rams put together a great instant reaction video and social graphics. Here’s a look their work.

Instant Reaction Video
For their first official LOI of the day, CSU created an instant reaction video. The video gives a great inside look at coach’s reaction and the phone call he has with their newest member of the Ram family. While it would be hard to do a video like this for all signees, I love the idea of doing a reaction video for the very first one that comes in. It gives fans a great inside peek at the process:

Additionally, the end of the video prompts you to a great playlist of the signing classes’ highlights. This is a great use of YouTube annotations:

Screen Shot 2015-02-06 at 10.18.55 AM

Social
On the social side, the team at CSU created some really strong summary graphics showing where the coaches traveled during the recruiting process and where their new signees came from. This year they also sent graphics to their signees to post on Twitter and Facebook that shows they committed to Colorado State. It was all based off the university branding.

 

HOUSTON

Houston took the signee day graphics up a notch and turned them into animations. Here’s a look at a few of them here:

 

MINNESOTA

Minnesota had a very fan-friendly signing day hub and stellar social graphics. Their work is a great example of how good execution doesn’t mean it has to be complicated.

Microsite
What I love about Minnesota’s National Signing Day hub is that fans didn’t have to leave the page for any information. The layout allowed fans to see a quick hit of who signed, but also expand for more details and highlights. They also hosted a live blog on the site where fans could interact and ask questions:

Social
From a social perspective, Minnesota’s signee graphics really stood out with the color treatment:

 

NEBRASKA

Across social and digital, Nebraska had a look that was clean, sharp and fresh. The subtle autograph integration across their content was a nice touch. After all, it is National Signing Day.

 

OKLAHOMA

From a strong digital presence to great social content, Oklahoma nailed their coverage this year. Their look across the board was sharp and consistent. It’s evident they “get” their brand. They created a theme around signing day, focusing on “OU DNA”. It was ventolin-albuterol.com into their social content, digital presence, etc. I love when teams think about big moments, seasons, etc. as campaigns; it’s a great way to tell a stronger and more emotional story.

Microsite
Oklahoma’s microsite was phenomenal. The DNA theme was carried over into the design, and it was easy to use and fun to explore. Their player bios allowed fans to “tap and explore” the highlights that showcased agility, power and strength.

Social
On Twitter, Oklahoma leveraged Bob Stoops account to tweet out each signee graphic and then @SoonerFootball retweeted them. The graphics were inline with their microsite and they promoted the hashtag #OUDNA.

 

OKLAHOMA STATE

Oklahoma State created a sharp and consistent look across their digital and social efforts. Below are snapshots from their microsite:

And here’s how their content looked across social. The icons used to promote each player’s strengths is a great idea:

 

OREGON

Sometimes simple is best. Oregon’s signing day graphics were a great example of this:

 

OREGON STATE

Oregon State rallied around the social conversation. They promoted the hashtag #FutureBeavs, tracked the conversation online for fans (and had 21K+ tweets) and then showcased the conversation at their team’s dinner.

Screen Shot 2015-02-06 at 12.01.07 PM

 

Penn State

When PSU made an accidental phone call, they found a way to turn it into a piece of content. This is a great example of looking for content when you least expect it:

 

SMU

SMU designed some stellar graphics in house. Here’s a look at what they shared across Facebook, Twitter and Instagram:

I also love how SMU had some fun with the good ‘ole fax machine:

 

TENNESSEE

Tennessee created a “war room” where fans could get live coverage all day. The theme for them was building “brick by brick”. They integrated the theme throughout social with a #BrickByBrick hashtag and into the war room by physically laying down a new brick each time a LOI came in. Tennessee nailed the concept around brick by brick, integrating it across the board.

Digital Hub
This is a snapshot from their signing day hub. You can see the brick wall they built on the “war room” cam. Access like this is stellar; it makes fans feel like they are a part of the journey.

Screen Shot 2015-02-04 at 10.52.01 AM

Social Content
Brick by brick was also integrated into their social content.

 

USC

The signee graphics from USC were pretty sharp. The soundbite from their coach about each student-athlete is a great touch:

 

WASHINGTON

Washington nailed it from a digital perspective, thinking strategically about their fans. Brian Wagner, Manager of Digital Media, had a smart and sharp idea when the Seahawks made it to the Super Bowl: He needed to design for mobile first in case the Seahawks won. If the Seahawks had won the Super Bowl, there would have been a parade during the heart of National Signing Day. So, Brian and team designed a light and responsive site that would have worked well for parade attendees if there had been one. The site also included fun pieces like a signing day puzzle, map of the signees and more:

BONUS

And finally, pro teams got in on the action:


I know there was a lot of other great work done on National Signing Day, so please be sure to share some of the things you loved from the coverage below! 

Thanks for reading! 

Q&A On the X Games’ Social Media

The 2015 Winter X Games wrapped up in Aspen at the end of January. It was an action-packed four days with more than 200 of the athletes throwing down for the most coveted medals in action sports. The coverage was impressive to watch online. The event is a fun one to follow, and the social media team “gets” it. The social team speaks the language of their fans, focuses on storytelling and isn’t afraid to try something new. Their content was fun, sharp, memorable and on brand. And, they mix up their content a lot. Here’s a look at some of their coverage:

Action Vines

Fun Color Commentary

Behind-the-Scenes Content 

Spotify Playlist

Screen Shot 2015-02-03 at 2.53.00 PM

Instagram Takeover

 

Pretty impressive mix of content, right? Even more impressive is that two people, Adam Moussa (Programming Coordinator) and Jason Krutzsch (Content Strategy), are responsible for it. Yes, two people run all the social and content strategy for the X Games. And, I was fortunate enough to have Adam answer some questions on their approach to social, goals, TV integration and more. Pay attention, because there are a lot of valuable nuggets in this Q&A:

Can you talk about the overall social media strategy surrounding the X Games? What were the goals going into the 2015 X Games?

I joined the X Games team in July 2014, so this was my first X Games event. But, despite my lack of experience, I felt extremely confident with our social strategy heading into Aspen.

Our goals were extremely diverse, and they included: Create awareness about the event, serve our core fan base, foster interest outside of our core fan base, inform our audience, entertain and engage with our audience, encourage active participation by our audience, incorporate a multitude of voices into our coverage, provide a second screen experience, and tell the story of “being there.”

It is important to understand that, for X Games, social media is such a critical aspect of our overall content strategy. Our key demographic is quite young, and social is one of the most efficient and effective ways to reach them. It’s also important to understand that we treat X Games as a brand, and, while there are elements of journalism incorporated into our strategy, our primary function is to tell the story of X Games, the brand. At the end of the day, we are an action sports, lifestyle and youth brand, and our goal is simply to be “cool” and do “cool” things.

 

Obviously broadcast is a huge piece of the puzzle for you all. How do you work to integrate broadcast into social and vice versus. Can you talk about some of the different initiatives?

Given that the X Games is owned by ESPN, we are extensively aligned with our TV production team. They do an incredible job of incorporating social media content into our broadcasts. Prior to, and throughout the event, we were in constant communication with our directors and producers to incorporate the conversation occurring on social media into our broadcasts.

From a social standpoint, we make it a priority to incorporate television graphics and other TV elements into our social strategy, in an effort to provide a second screen experience that aligns seamlessly with our broadcasts. Our broadcast windows, whether on ABC, ESPN or ESPN3, are critical to our social strategy. We want to capitalize on the attention of our TV audience, and spark conversation about action sports and our brand.

It is also important for us to understand that our audience is global. Television coverage of X Games Aspen 2015 reached 215 countries and territories throughout the world. Therefore, the social content being consumed by a snowboarding fan in Los Angeles is the same content being consumed by a skiing fan in Norway. Creating content that appeals to our diverse audience is a tremendous priority for us.

We want our audience to feel as though we have a pulse. We want our followers to understand that the voices of this brand are human beings. We want them to know that if they send us a tweet, message, comment or snap, someone will see it. Our approach is: X Games social isn’t a one-way flow of information. Instead, we encourage our fans, athletes and staff to be active participants in the conversation, and we attempt to seize every opportunity to interact with them. At the end of the day, social provides an incredible opportunity for us to better understand, and, ultimately, serve our audience.

Here’s a look at how the X Games integrate with TV:

Tune In 

Instant Highlights

Results

Answering Fan Questions

 

Snapchat is all the rage right now, and I know you all promoted it pretty heavily during this year’s event. Can you talk about the strategy / content behind the account? And, how was it received?

We feel as though X Games is in a position to innovate within ESPN, whether through Skype, Facebook native video, our official app, Spotify or on Snapchat. We want to be on the forefront of technology, and we are afforded the freedom to do so.

Snapchat, specifically, is a platform on which we saw tremendous amount of potential to tell our story. X Games is unique because we are one of the few brands at ESPN that, literally, creates our event from the ground up. We build the jumps. We setup the stages. We physically make our event happen. That element of “building” our event, provides us a tremendous opportunity to tell a behind the scenes story on a platform such as Snapchat.

In addition to creating original content prior to, and during the event, we also partnered with Snapchat to create a unique, curated story that anyone snapping from a geo-targeted area could contribute to. That was yet another way we felt that we could involve our fans in the X Games conversation.

We feel as though our experience with Snapchat was a tremendous success. Personally, I received more positive feedback on our Snapchat story than any other social content that we created.

 

One of the things I love about the X Games social media accounts is the voice. You continually nail your copy over and over again. What do you think are the keys to defining a brand voice that really speaks to your audience? Any tips for other social media managers?

Thank you. I never approach social media like: ‘I’m going to send a tweet, or I’m going to post something on Instagram.’ Instead, I look at it like: ‘I’m going to tell a story.’ Sometimes, that story is primarily told through an image, a graphic, or a video. But, the value of creative copy can’t be understated. Action sports produce some of the most awe-inspiring imagery. But, if those images are partnered with lazy copy, in my mind, they are wasted.

Our approach is: X Games social media belongs to our fans and our athletes, so we constantly try to speak their language. We want our social to be a reflection of our fans and our athletes. So, if our fans are using slang, we’ll use that same slang. If our fans are using emjois, we’ll use those same emojis. I think that our followers relate to, and appreciate, that element of our social strategy.

Screen Shot 2015-02-03 at 3.51.09 PM

 

Screen Shot 2015-02-03 at 3.52.04 PM

Personally, I believe that the most essential elements of managing social media, whether it be on behalf of ESPN or Elmer’s Glue, are: Understand your audience, be authentic, and speak their language. The aspect of working in social media that I most enjoy is: The handbook hasn’t been written. You can do anything that you want! Social media can serve so many different functions. It can be PR. It can be marketing. It can be journalism. That versatility and nimbleness is so incredibly unique, and it provides so much opportunity to incorporate creativity.

A few guidelines I follow when creating social content include:

1) Avoid social clichés as much as possible. It’s so easy to fall back on what others have done in the past – RT to wish a happy birthday to, Like to congratulate him on, etc. To me, that’s lazy. Another one of my social media pet peeves is when brands ask questions that they don’t really want answered. If we ask a question on X Games social, it’s because we truly feedback, and we’ll repay those efforts with favorites, retweets and responses.

2) Have one, clear message per post. I think one of the biggest mistakes social media managers make, sometimes, is trying to pack too much information into a single post. Simplicity is key, to me.

3) Tell the complete story on the platform. Personally, I avoid using social media as a “link dump,” as much as humanly possible. While telling a complete story within the constrains of 140 characters can be challenging, I encourage social media managers to use every tool at their disposal to tell the full story on the platform. It takes a tremendous amount of interest for me to click on a link. I want social to tell me the complete story with no tease or hook. If I’m interested after reading the post, I’ll find more information on my own.

 

What would you say was your biggest success at this year’s X Games and why? Is there a certain post, moment or initiative that stands out to you?

Personally, I think our biggest success this year was the fact that we accomplished so many new goals amid a changing environment. The position in which I currently serve is brand new, which means that we encountered a number of new challenges and opportunities. Our team committed to our efforts on social, and they really rallied to pull off some pretty cool projects.

In terms of a specific moment, I would have to say that our Men’s and Women’s Snowboard SuperPipe competitions were an honor to be a part of this year. Three elements of those events trended worldwide during our broadcast, and our fans, athletes and staff were active participants in the social conversation. I truly feel as though we completely capitalized on the global attention that we garnered, maximized those moments, and provided the best social content possible.

I feel a great sense of responsibility in my position, because our social media reflects a team that works tirelessly all year round to put on these events. That’s not a something that I take lightly. It is extremely gratifying to walk away from moments such as our Aspen SuperPipe competitions knowing that we told a great story, not only about the competition, but also about the hundreds of people on our team who made it possible.

 

Can you tell us about the “day in the life” of running the social media for the X Games? How many are on the team, what’s the workflow, day like, etc.?

The most appealing aspect of working for the X Games is that (cliché incoming) no one day is exactly like the next. X Games is so unique, because it encompasses so many different sports (skateboarding to skiing to surfing), disciplines (Snowboard SuperPipe to Snowboard Slopestyle to Snowboard Big Air) and athletes (male and female, from around the world). One day, our social media could be focused on surfing content, and the next day, our primary focus could be telling a rally car story. That element of diversity is one aspect that I truly enjoy about this job. It keeps things fresh.

In terms of our social team, there are two of us. My boss Jason Krutzsch is in charge of all X Games content strategy, and I produce social content on behalf of the X Games.

The most appealing aspect of working on such a small team is: We are afforded an unbelievable amount of freedom. There have been very few times that I have been told “no” since I joined this team. Sure, there have been times that we’ve decided not to pursue certain opportunities. But, by in large, if we think something is a good idea, we just do it and learn from it.

Another element of X Games social media that I think is important to point out is: We operate all of our platforms – Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, YouTube and Vine are all managed by us, and we strive to provide an experience that is unique to each platform. We never want to provide the exact same content on multiple platforms. The story might be the same, but we want to package it in a manner that fits each individual platform.

 

Working a live event is fast-paced. What three tips do you have for social media managers working live sporting events?

That’s a tough one, because each situation is so unique. For us, the three most essential elements of achieving the goals that we set for ourselves at X Games Aspen were:

1) Have a meticulously detailed plan, but don’t be afraid to punt.

Working an event such as X Games is so unique because it incorporates so much into such small windows of time. From the moment that we went on-air, we were constantly flipping back and forth between distinctly different competitions, both taped and live. That volume of content, in such a condensed time, creates a number of inherent challenges, especially when sponsor obligations and other external factors are incorporated. That’s where organizational skills make all of the difference in the world.

Prior to X Games Aspen, I watched three complete broadcasts from year’s past, as practice. I ran through every scenario possible and physically wrote copy for as many situations as I could imagine. I also pre-built as many results templates and sponsor-obligated elements as possible, that way, when we arrived on the venue and the cameras turned on, a lot of the “must do” work was already done. I had a pretty detailed run-down prepared for those four days, and that truly helped us avoid those “what now” moments. Having said that, there were times that we had to punt on certain posts, because we simply couldn’t find the appropriate time, or changes occurred.

2) Be open-minded and in the moment.

I truly enjoy the planning aspects of creating a comprehensive social media strategy, but I also love the nimbleness of social. Some of the most highly produced, time intensive posts that I have ever worked on have turned out to flop because the core message became lost. I’ve found that, while extensive planning is essential, sometimes we have a tendency to overthink social. Sometimes, people just want you to say what they would say. And, sometimes, that is as simple as:

3) Take calculated risks.

To me, the freedom to take risks is such an enjoyable aspect of working on X Games social media. I draw a tremendous amount of inspiration from pop culture, and that is reflected in our social strategy. The freedom to take risks, and learn from them, without having to send 50 emails is a tremendous luxury.

X Games encompasses so much – distinctly diverse action sports, music and youth culture. But, at the end of the day, it’s about being “cool,” and doing “cool” things, and that is what we attempt to provide to our fans and followers on a consistent basis.

Want to follow the X Games on social media now? Below are the links to help you out:

Facebook | Instagram | Vine | Twitter

 


 

Adam Moussa is the Programming Coordinator at ESPN’s the X Games. He joined ESPN in July of 2013 and the X Games a year later. He clearly knows a thing or two about social, so be sure to give him a follow: @AKMoussa A big thanks to Adam for his time! 

As always, thanks for reading!