Tag: social media sports

MLB Brought Baseball Back In Style

By Guest On April 5, 2014 In Social Media with 1 Comment

The start of any sport season is always the perfect opportunity for teams, leagues and sponsors to capitalize on the excitement of fans who have been waiting months for the action to kick off. We have seen some great countdowns from teams and leagues to the start of the season, but the MLB took a different approach as baseball season kicked off. Instead of counting down, they celebrated baseball being back and highlighted all the great things about the sport and league.

In my opinion, they nailed their baseball is back campaign:

  • Copy was short and sweet
  • Content had a consistent look and feel
  • They tapped into emotion (which compels people to share)

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The Psychology of Social Media

By Guest On March 5, 2014 In Lessons Learned, Social Media with 3 Comments

Social media gives us an entryway to fans and consumers. But even with the access, social media managers can’t just sell, shout “me” and make it all about the team, league or company. People want to interact with brands the way they do every other person on social—through a personal and authentic relationship.

Here’s what I’ve learned… social media is less about the platforms and more about the way we communicate to build those relationships. As crazy as it sounds, a big key to success lies in tapping into psychology. You have to know your audience.

I typically don’t talk about my own work here, but with this topic it is hard to talk about someone else’s success without really understanding their work inside and out. So, I would like to focus on my experience with NCAA Wrestling (Twitter, Facebook). Through it I’ve come to understand how important the psychology behind the work we do actually is. It’s my job to think, act and talk like a wrestler.

Being authentic on the wrestling platforms was trying at first. I’ve never wrestled. In fact, I had never been to a wrestling meet or had any interaction with the sport before diving into the community. Because of this, I had to take the time to talk with people who are engrained in the sport, understand the demographics and study content success.

Wrestling has taught me the important role psychology plays in social media, and for that, I’m thankful. I’ve seen some success in the community because I can answer the fundamental questions below about my audience. It is my hope that the questions below are helpful for you too:

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Should Teams & Leagues Actively Engage With Fans on Twitter?

By Guest On July 15, 2013 In Best Practices, Lessons Learned, Twitter with 4 Comments

The other day I watched a wonderful SportsCenter Featured piece on two former high school wrestlers (one of the wrestlers is now a Paralympian) and an unlikely bond they formed with former ESPN producer Lisa Fenn. Since the feature was so compelling, I tweeted out the link. This is what followed:

I was impressed that I got a response from @USParalympics since I didn’t tag or mention them in my tweet. Their social media team knew the SportsCenter Featured piece was bound to get some traction, so they monitored the link (in all forms, long and shortened) and engaged with those who felt compelled to share the story.  Basically, they were capitalizing on a new, captive audience they had at the moment. Smart move.

Their tweet got me thinking about the importance of listening, engaging and building relationships on Twitter. All too often, brands just push on the platform. No longer is Twitter just a platform to inform; it’s a community where teams and leagues need to engage. 

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