Tag: social media night

A Quick Overview of the Warriors’ Social Media Night

By Jessica Smith On March 19, 2015 In Social Media

I recently wrote about UNC’s awesome Social Media Night. When done right, these events can help to bridge the gap between the online and offline world, empower your biggest advocates and attract new fans. And, the opportunities for events like this are endless as long as you unleash your creativity.

This week the Warriors host a Social Media Night that proved, like UNC, how fun these events can be. And while the theme was the same, the initiatives from both teams were different. It’s a great example of how wide open the opportunities are.

I’ve compiled some of the Warriors great ideas from Social Media Night to give you more inspiration. Between this one and UNC’s, you should be ready to roll with a fabulous social night anytime. Here they are:

Social Media Shooting Shirts

The players wore shooting shirts that featured their Twitter handles. The shirts are also available for fans to purchase.

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Snapchat Geofilter

The Warriors uploaded a social media night themed geofilter to Snapchat that fans could use in-venue for the game. This is a great way to promote the initiative and empower your audience to spread the word.

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Social Insider

Fans dream of tweeting for their favorite team! So, the Warriors picked a fan to cover the game socially for them as the “Dubs Social Insider”. This is certainly a great way to reward a brand ambassador, under guidance and supervision of course.

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Contest for Viewers at Home

When you host a social media night, getting your fans engaged at home can be tough. In addition to great content, the Warriors also hosted a contest for fans at home to win free swag. For the contest, they asked fans to snap a picture of #FitzandJB during the broadcast. A simple, easy and fun way to get fans engaged at home and reward them for tuning in.

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In-Venue Integration

To encourage social sharing, Instagram photos and tweets were featured on the scoreboard. The Warriors also had section giveaways determined by the volume of fan tweets; a fun and creative way to get people to rally.

Social Media-Themed GIFS / Graphics

The Warriors created GIFS and graphics that included social media elements like emojis and hashtags. This is a great way to incorporate the theme of the night into social content.

Photo Opportunity

To encourage fans photos, the Warriors had an Instagram frame prop that fans could pose and take pictures with. If a fan used the appropriate hashtag, their photo was then featured on the Instagram Wall. The Instagram frame is a fun and easy way to give fans a photo opportunity. The mobility of the prop is great for in-venue activations too.

 

While the Warriors had a few other initiatives during the night, this gives you a great overall idea of their fun and successful Social Media Night. And as you can see, the opportunities are endless. These themed nights are a great way to rally the troops and reward your biggest ambassadors. Just remember, if you are hosting a social media night, it’s important to promote the event across all your channels.

 

 

What do you think would work well for a social media night? I would love to hear your ideas below!

Thanks for reading! 

A Look at UNC’s Successful Social Media Night

By Jessica Smith On March 3, 2015 In College Athletics, Social Media with 4 Comments

StudentSectionBridging the gap between the online world and the offline world is powerful at events. When you have fans’ attention in-venue, it’s the perfect opportunity to enlist brand ambassadors and bring new ones into your community. Social and digital initiatives are also a great way to entertain fans during lull periods. And, there are many ways to bridge the gap between the online world and the offline world. From hashtag campaigns to contests and full-blown social media nights, the opportunities are endless.

Just last week UNC held a robust Social Media Night that is a great example of how to plan and execute one. According to Lynnea Phillips, the social media coordinator at UNC, their goal was to drive awareness, action and engagement. Here’s a look at all the moving pieces:

 

Coke Zero Fan Cam

The Coke Zero FanCam was a 20,000 megapixel interactive image that allowed fans to zoom in and explore every inch of Dean Smith Center in face-level detail. After the game, fans visited www.cokezero.fancam.com to zoom, tag and share. They had the opportunity to prove that they were there and enter a sweepstakes for a chance to win great prizes.

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Fan Play-By-Play

Carolina turned @GoHeels over to the fans. They were encouraged to use the men’s basketball game day hashtags (#GoHeels and #UNCBBall) to live tweet play-by-play. The best tweets were retweeted from the @GoHeels Twitter account. GIFs, photo edits & emojis were encouraged.

 

Photo Booth

Attendees had the opportunity to use selfie sticks (& props) to capture their game day photos. After the game, pictures were uploaded to a photo album on the official UNC Athletics Facebook page.

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Song Requests

Fans were able to request songs prior to the game by using #TarHeelTunes.

 

Twitter Quote Graphics

Fans that used the game day hashtags (#GoHeels & #UNCBBall) had the chance to have their tweets made into graphics that were released from the @GoHeels Twitter account during the game.

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400 Student Section T-shirts

Shirts were given to the student section as a reward for being one of our most engaged and receptive audiences.

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Emoji Fatheads

Cutouts were given to the student section to tie in the social media theme in the arena.

 

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Served as a video board piece, used to tie in the social media theme in the arena and to entertain during a scheduled media timeout.

While selfie sticks and emoji fatheads may not be for everyone, the initiatives were the perfect fit for UNC’s target audience.

“The majority of our in-arena promotions revolved around the younger audience,” explained Phillips. “We did that intentionally because we wanted to reward students for being one of our most involved audiences.”

With any social media initiative, understanding your audience is a huge key. And, it was UNC Athletics’ understanding of audience that helped make the event so successful. The @GoHeels account saw an increase of nearly 1,500 followers and an uptick in favorites, link click and replies; the selfie sticks and emoji fatheads were a big hit with 250 pictures taken. A win-win for both fans and the athletic department!

For those interested in hosting a social media night, Lynnea has some solid advice: Promote, promote, promote! If you can spread the word, rally your troops and plan initiatives that resonate with your audience, you’ll be sure to have a winning social media night.

 

 

 

A big thanks to Lynnea Phillips for taking the time to offer insight into UNC’s Social Media Night. Be sure to give her a follow on Twitter @LynneaPhillips along with the @GoHeels. 

Thanks for reading!