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Four Takeaways from Pew’s 2013 Social Media Update

By Guest On January 6, 2014 In Lessons Learned, Social Media

Pew Research recently came out with their Social Media Update for 2013. Research is wonderful, but what’s more important are the takeaways and stories you can piece together from it all.

I’ve spent some time with Pew’s latest numbers and thought I would share my four biggest takeaways. There is nothing groundbreaking here, but I thought the reminders are still worth sharing.

Please Note: They sampled 1,801 US adults, age 18 and older.

No. 1- Facebook is still king.

71% of online adults are now Facebook users (Pew).

Despite all the recent chatter about Facebook, statistics like this show over and over again that Facebook is still king. While I do agree that younger demographics are also engaging on other platforms (and probably more), we can’t ignore these statistics.

We also need to keep in mind that not everyone is experiencing the same Facebook fatigue as we (social media managers) are. It’s still important to cater to the platform and think about paying to play for bigger reach.

Seven Social Media Lessons Learned in 2013

By Guest On April 15, 2015 In Lessons Learned, Social Media with 3 Comments

I believe one of the keys to being successful in social media is taking the time to measure, evaluate and tweak. In an industry that is constantly evolving, we have to sit back and reflect. As 2013 comes to a close, now is the perfect opportunity to put all the pieces to your social media puzzle together—what worked, what didn’t work, what stays, what goes, etc.

Instead of reflecting on my lessons learned, I thought it would be good to get perspective from people across different organizations in sports business. The contributors, ranging from those in professional sports to agency work, provided valuable insight for us all. Without further ado, here are seven social media lessons learned from some very bright minds in sports:

1. It’s important to tell a cohesive brand story.

Josh Tucker, Social Media Coordinator for LA Dodgers

In 2013 it really hit me how important it is to tell a cohesive brand story on social — add value and communicate engaging stories that evoke emotional responses from fans. This applies to any personality, non-profit, brand, etc. What is your story? Define it, share it, and allow fans to contribute to your story. For a sports team in the digital age, there are so many important initiatives and messages to convey — sales, sponsorship, community, marketing, stadium operations, tune-in messages, and so on. It’s imperative that you find your narrative; otherwise it’s easy to drown in the fire hose.

Also, I thought this quote by Verne Lundquist was beyond brilliant: “The most destructive four-letter word in social media isn’t a cuss word, it’s ‘send.’ I think we’ve all learned this one way or another.

Connect with Josh: @joshbtucker
Follow the LA Dodgers: Facebook / Twitter
Josh helped lead the LA Dodgers to a big year in social media. Read about it here.

2. Flexibility is key.

Julie Dolak, Manager of Digital of Social Media for Tampa Bay Sports & Entertainment

I think the biggest takeaway for social media in 2013 was establishing the flexibility within your company to mare timing and opportunity for maximum social marketing success. Big brands like adidas stole the show on social media by preparing for major news regarding their sponsored athletes, such as Derrick Rose, with a complete social content strategy to stay top of mind as consumers discussed the athlete on social media. It’s imperative to establish flexible marketing dollars to elevate well timed, branded content to engage in conversations with consumers around your brand on social platforms.

Connect with Julia on Twitter: @JulieDolak
Follow The Tampa Bay Lightning: Facebook / Twitter

3. Positivity goes a long way.

Mark Hodgkin, Senior Director of Digital Media for American Athletic Conference

This year was a difficult one for our conference – there has been a lot of negativity, skepticism and bitterness related to the breakup of the BIG EAST and reconstitution as the American Athletic Conference. For a long time, we have been extra careful in social not to elicit snark and negativity from our fans. This year we decided to be unrelentingly positive on social. The results were a pleasant surprise – the typical negativity did not completely disappear but we saw a new wave of strong influencers take our back and it has been great for our social presence.

Connect with Mark: @Mark_Hodgkin
Follow the American Athletic Conference: Facebook / Twitter

4. Branding matters, so find your garnish.

Jim Delaney, President at Activate Sports & Entertainment

My ‘ah-ha moment’ this year actually had nothing to do with social or sports biz, but nonetheless has further influenced my approach to both. It was an article in AdAge about Keith Villa, the founding brewmaster of my favorite beer, Blue Moon. In it, Villa talked about how Coors was on the verge of shuttering the brand entirely, until his breakthrough of serving his beer with an orange… and sales took off from there. The story reminded me once again that branding matters and the garnish — your extra little touches, how you serve up and deliver your product — can actually have the biggest impact on your business.

We’ve taken a brand-first approach to our work with pro teams in social too, with the launch of digital networks for the NJ Devils (Mission Control), Boston Bruins (D.E.N.) and Minnesota Wild (#StateOfHockey Digital Network). Each of those teams has generated new revenue from their committed efforts, but I’m especially pleased that they will each end this year among the top five in the NHL in terms of Klout score and social fan engagement, No. 1 -3 among U.S. teams. Find your garnish!

Connect with Jim: @activate
Learn more about Activate Sports & Entertainment here.

5. Take the time to listen and learn.

Derrick Docket, Assistant Commissioner of New Media and Technology for Missouri Valley Conference

In social media, people spend a lot of time reacting and broadcasting. It’s easy to get into a habit and stick with it. But what about listening? We always hear that social media is meant to be interactive and conversational. Well, you can’t have a conversation if you’re not listening, right? Take a second to listen to what your fans are saying. You just might hear something worthwhile. After all, that’s your audience.

Also, it doesn’t hurt to listen to the experiences of others. I’ve learned that the best resources for learning are people in the same boat as you. Social media has given everyone the opportunity to network like we’ve never seen before – in real time. Sharing ideas and getting different perspectives has become a valuable learning tool that can assist in everyone’s education. Don’t miss out.

And finally, by no means do I consider myself an expert at social. But I continue to be amazed at the levels of engagement that the Missouri Valley Conference receives in the summer months with #MVCMascotMadness. For the past 3 summers, we’ve allowed fans to vote for their favorite mascot in the conference in a tournament-style vote. Sounds like nothing, but it has quickly become a fan favorite and has become a fun way for our fans to engage in the summer, a time frame that is normally quiet for us. What started as a light-hearted conversation in the office has become a summer tradition.

Connect with Derrick: @ddocket
Follow the Missouri Valley Conference: Twitter / Facebook

6. Don’t assume fans are receiving your message.

Andrew Lentz, Assistant Director of Digital Media for U of Oklahoma

During a campaign we ran earlier in the year, I was blown away by how many of our fans that were actively participating with our hashtag but weren’t actually following us on Twitter. Whether certain fans are unaware of your social media presence or had just unfollowed you at some point, you can’t assume that they’re automatically following you and seeing your messages. It’s easy to get caught up in creating content for your platforms and executing your social media plan, but it’s ultimately only half the battle. Engaging with your fans has to go beyond the ones that show up in your mentions. Proactively join the conversations that are happening about your teams and don’t underestimate the impact that can have for your brand.

Connect with Andrew: @ALentzOU
Follow the Sooners: Facebook / Twitter

7. There is value in meaningful content.

Kevin DeShazo, Owner of Fieldhouse Media

I think the biggest moment for me was to see how significant sports are to social media. A stat came out that 50 percent of tweets about TV programs are about sports, while less than 2 percent of TV programming is sports. My social media world revolves around sports so it’s easy to live in that vacuum, but those numbers show that social media truly is the second screen of choice for sports fans. I think the takeaway is that, from the perspective of a brand (pro or college team/athletic department), we have to get better at providing engaging, meaningful content that goes far beyond play-by-play or general updates. I feel like I just rattled off a bunch of cliché buzzwords, but they still hold weight. The more valuable content we give them (for free), the more attached they get and the more we can then follow-up with an ask (tickets, apparel, voting for contests, etc).

Connect with Kevin: @KevinDeShazo
Learn more about Fieldhouse Media here.

Now it’s your time to share… what was your biggest social media lesson learned in 2013?

14 Things I Would Like to See in Social Media + Sports in 2014

By Guest On December 5, 2013 In Facebook, Social Media, Twitter with 21 Comments

1. Dollars behind Facebook.

You can no longer rely solely on earned media with Facebook. If you want to make the most of the platform, you simply have to pay to play.

This truth is hard for me to swallow. I use to be a firm believer in organic growth and reach on social media platforms, but after watching Facebook engagement and reach fall flat this past year, I firmly believe you have to strategically put dollars behind your content. You don’t have to take my word though… Facebook has admitted organic reach is dipping. See for yourself.

The bottom line is this… if you’re okay with only 16 percent of your Facebook fans seeing your content (source), then keep doing what you’re doing. If you want your content to stand out from all the noise and reach more people, then you need to pay.

2. Social data to make smart decisions.

Gatorade’s Mission Control was founded in 2010 and since then we’ve seen others, from the Oregon Ducks to NASCAR, follow their lead. Now is the time to shift the focus from the bright and shiny tools to actual data that can influence smart business decisions. Research proves organizations want to find ways to measure their digital initiatives and use social data across business. In a recent study done by OMI, it was found that analytics is the most coveted skill in digital right now.

In 2014, let’s use social data to help drive product decisions and athlete endorsements (consumer sporting goods); adjust game broadcasts (ahem, if ABC listened on social they would know Eminem and college football don’t mix); garner feedback about the game day experience; understand the content fans are craving.

We have all this information right at our fingertips and in real time. It’s time to look beyond the likes, shares and comments to meaningful stories in social data that help influence real business decisions.

Five Critical Components to a Solid Social Media Strategy

By Guest On June 2, 2015 In Best Practices, Social Media with 1 Comment

Sometimes I hate the term social media because it pins us to the platforms. For those who have read my blog before, this statement probably doesn’t surprise you. In my opinion, at the highest level, social media is a form of communication. The platforms may come and go, but the need to reach people online (in consumable, meaningful ways) will not.

I’ve seen the tunnel vision focus on platforms translate into strategy. And while platforms are obviously an important key to social media success, they are only a piece of the puzzle. I believe a good social media strategy is composed of building blocks. If you can lay the proper groundwork, then the result will be a strong social media strategy.

Below are my five basic, but critical, components to a solid social media plan:

1. Meaningful goals.

The best way “to do” social media is to be strategic. At the end of the day, your social media goals should map back to organizational goals.

Why are meaningful goals so important? I’ve read before that eight of 10 CEO’s don’t trust social media. In my opinion, the only way to change that perception to educate and demonstrate how social media can add value to organizations. This work begins with setting goals. Your goals should cascade down from organizational goals to make them meaningful. Keep that in the forefront of your mind as you embark on your goal-setting journey.

2. Content plan.

Interesting content is a top three reason people follow brands on social media (found here). In this day and age, good content is the key to standing out from all the noise.

At the heart of every social strategy should be a great content strategy. I firmly believe that working on a content plan before you focus on the platforms will help you tell a more meaningful and cohesive brand story. The key is to create a content plan that maps back to your overall goals, positions your product / organization in the right light and tells your story.

3. Defined brand voice.

Having a defined brand voice is a critical component to success. People want to connect with your vawoo.co.uk/vaping-space/ on a human level in social media. Your brand voice should reflect your company, be consistent and be one that you own. People will see right through your voice if it’s not authentic.

Make sure you take the time to build a brand voice. Doing the work upfront will help everyone in your organization tell a cohesive brand story in compelling fashion.

4. Platform strategy.

A platform strategy allows you to manage content distribution and messaging that best drives engagement, consumption and reach through each social media outlet. A good platform strategy understands that each platform is different, and it leverages those platforms in a way that is native to them (how are people using the platform? Mimic that the best you can). Remember, what works on what platform won’t work on the other… that’s always important to keep in mind.

5. Measurement for success.

Finally, every social media strategy should measure success (circling back to your overall goals). Make sure you are crunching meaningful numbers that can influence your work and / or demonstrate value. Additionally, you and your staff should be empowered to make changes based on the data. Why measure success if you can’t take action?

In my opinion, if you can develop these five key components the result will be a strong and meaningful social media strategy. It’s a lot of work, but it’s important. Additionally, this foundation will help you as your move on to other areas of strategy, such as cross-platform campaigns and influencer outreach.

So now it’s your turn…in your opinion, what components are critical to developing a solid social media strategy?

The Red Sox Won a World Series & Hit a Home Run on Twitter

By Guest On October 31, 2013 In Twitter with 1 Comment

The Boston Red Sox didn’t just win the World Series last night. They also hit a home run on Twitter. The @RedSox account did a great job mixing up their tweets from commentary, to behind-the-scenes content to game moments throughout the day and night. More importantly, tweets didn’t just read like a box score.

I decided to have some fun and take a look at a few numbers from their coverage of Game 6. Below are the tidbits I found (please note, all numbers are approximate):

The official account tweeted more than 110 times.
Their earliest tweet came at 6:03 a.m. Their last tweet was sent Halloween morning.
The account earned more than 163,6oo retweets in one day.
Their best performing tweet garnered 24,331 retweets.
Before they clinched the World Series, behind-the-scenes coverage generated an average of 577 retweets. After they clinched it, behind-the-scenes content averaged 1,861 retweets. Who says winning does not help?
In terms of media, photos generated the most retweets on average with 2,211, followed by Vine (1,921) and Instagram (840).