Tag: social media

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. 

continue reading »

Friday Finds: 06.28.2013

By Guest On June 28, 2013 In College Athletics, Digital, Social Media, Twitter

In our industry, there is always something to learn. In fact, that’s one of the reasons why I started this blog– it helps me keep up with industry trends, know what others are doing in the space and think through applications.

Every week I stumble upon share-worthy pieces of content, digital packages, social media campaigns, etc. from teams, leagues and others in the industry.  But ecause there are so many great examples out there , and I can’t add commentary to everything, really good work (small or large) often goes unshared here.

Industry examples are a great way to get your creative thinking going though, so I thought I would start a regular column on Friday to highlight great digital pieces, social media campaigns and content from the past week. The column won’t be filled with a lot of commentary, but will serve as more of an inspiration board.  I hope you find it useful in some form or fashion.

continue reading »

Thanks for the Small Reminders, MLS

By Guest On June 26, 2013 In Digital, Social Media

Today the Major League Soccer social media team announced this:

Basically, they decided to merge their @MLSinsider account and content with @MLS. Here’s a snippet of the reasoning (you can read their full release here):

Whether or not you think the move is a good one, there are two, very simple (but important) reminders to us all:

      1. We Need to Evaluate, Evaluate & Evaluate
        We live in a communications world that is constant evolving. In my opinion, that’s one of the things that makes working in this industry so exciting and challenging. But, because the tides are constantly changing, we have to constantly evaluate.We all know that community shifts, new platforms emerge and what works today might not work three months from now. It’s up to us, as social media / digital professionals, to take the time every couple months (or whatever that timeframe looks like) to evaluate what we’re doing. What’s working well? What’s not working?

         

      2. It’s Okay To Make Changes (even drastic)
        If you’re going to crunch data, analyze statistics and evaluate, then you need to be willing [and empowered] to make changes. Social media is all about trying new things. If you try a new platform, and then realize you don’t have an audience there, you can remove your presence and it’s going to be okay.  If something isn’t working, change it. You should never do something in social media / digital “because you’ve always done it that way.” That’s the beauty of the space we play in.  We try, we evaluate, we tweak.

I say kudos to the MLS social media team for evaluating their work and making the changes they felt were best for their brand. In a fast-paced world it’s often hard to sit back and ask, “why are we doing this, is this still working?”  The truth is though, there’s never been a greater need to ask those kind of questions as the communication world keeps on changing.

How Can I Create Compelling Content for Social Media With Limited Time, Resources, Etc.?

By Guest On June 16, 2013 In College Athletics, Digital, Social Media with 2 Comments

If you work in athletic communications, I understand time and resources can be half the battle when it comes to social media. Here’s the good news; you can create compelling content with a limited budget, time, resources, etc.

Yes, it’s true… you can create visuals like the one below with just your phone:

Screen Shot 2013-06-11 at 3.51.38 PM

During the 2013 CoSIDA Convention I shared the apps / platforms I use to create compelling content, like the graphic above. I’ve had several people ask me what they were, so I thought I would go ahead and compile a list for you all. So, without further ado, here they are…

Apps I use to create graphics with just my iPhone (please keep in mind it’s almost always a combination of apps):

  • PicFrame (.$.99)- This app lets you combine multiple photos into awesome collages.
  • SnapSeed ($4.99)- There are four great filters on this app- Grunge, Vintage, Drama & Tilt Shift. In addition, the app is great for basic editing (crop, rotate, etc.) and fine-tuning your image. You can really make colors pop with this app.
  • PhotoToaster ($1.99)-  This app is great for textures (canvas, old paper, antique, concrete, etc), vignettes and adjusting light.
  • Over ($1.99)– Add beautiful typography and artwork to your photos.
  • InstaFonts ($3.99)– Add text and filters.

Additional content generation resources / platforms:

  • Infographics– Check out Piktochart, Easel.ly, Info.gram if you’re looking to create infographics with little to no graphic design experience.
  • ThingLink– This app / platform offers an online tool to create interactive images. To create the image, you simply upload a picture, identify hot spots, and add text and links. The best part? The tool is integrated with Twitter.
  • Storify– Storify is a social network service that lets the user create stories or timelines using social media such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Fighting the Social Media Stigma

By Guest On May 22, 2013 In Social Media

Often when I tell people that I work in social media, the response I get is: “I would love to play on Facebook and Twitter all day for a living.”  Can you hear my sigh through your computer?

Yes, sometimes working in social media pigeon holds us to the platforms. People who work in social media have a specific communication style and skill set that goes beyond people able to craft a post and a tweet.

First of all, social media professionals have a unique way of communicating—they can cut through the company-jargon to speak to the heart of consumers, fans, etc. They know how to make the complicated, simpler; they know how to make the ordinary, interesting. Social media strategists understand what it takes to make brands more relevant, timely and human.

In addition, working in social media helps you understand what it means to have an integrated communication plan. After all, social media is only a small piece of a larger puzzle.

I could go on, and on and on.

This is the bottom line: Those who work in social media should bring more to the table than hitting “post” or “tweet”.

It’s our responsibility as social media professionals to communicate our skill sets— in addition knowledge of the platforms—to those who don’t work in the industry so they see value beyond a post or a tweet (we need big-picture thinking).  After all, what we do will long outlive the latest platform fad… it will just take shape in different forms and fashions.

Agree, disagree?