Tag: twitter

Twitter Handles on Jerseys

By Guest On February 11, 2013 In Social Media, Twitter

Bringing social media into the physical world. Yes, it’s one of the social trends in the sports industry— hashtags on football fields, Twitter handles on the basketball courts and Twitter handles on jerseys.

But the truth is, you can’t slap social on everything and call it brilliant. When promoting social media at a sporting event it should enhance the game (not detract), serve a unique purpose and engage.

Let’s take a look at why I don’t like the idea of replacing names on jerseys with Twitter handles:

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Elevating Behind-the-Scenes Content on Social Media

By Guest On February 2, 2013 In Best Practices, Facebook

If you work in social media and sports (for a team or league), one of your goals should include giving fans content they can’t get anywhere else. For teams and leagues, having a social media presence is not about competing with the likes of ESPN, Sports Illustrated and other major media outlets. It’s about bringing in your own voice, tapping in to your niche audience and delivering unique content.

Team and league employees have 24-7, behind-the-scenes access to players, practice, facilities, etc. Use it. Capitalize on it. Play off of it.

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Way Too Early Vine Predictions

By Guest On April 15, 2015 In Social Media

The social media space has been overtaken by a new phenomenon– Vine.  In case you haven’t heard, here’s what Vine is (according to its iTune description):

Vine is the best way to see and share life in motion. Create short, beautiful, looping videos in a simple and fun way for your friends and family to see.

Vine lets people create six-second videos to embed in Twitter (just like you can do with photos) or share on Facebook. The app itself looks much like Instagram; it’s a community where people can like videos, comment, tag, search, etc.

Six seconds might not seem like a lot of time, but as we have seen in its short life so far, a six-second video is plenty of time for creativity. Proof here.

While it’s still way too early to tell, I think Vine has a lot of potential in the sports space. Here are my way too early predictions for how Vine might be used in the sports industry:

Highlights
This is the most obvious one.  Vine is the perfect opportunity to capture a highlight or great play and immediately share it on Twitter and Facebook. Yes, instant replay in its truest form. Michigan example here.

Promotions + Announcements
The New York Jets posted this Vine about “how Jets chant“. Basically, fans (or their staff) held up signs to spell out the Jets’ cheer. Teams and leagues can execute this simple idea in a lot of ways. For example:

  • Remind fans to use their hashtag.
  • Make an announcement. Who knows? Maybe one day we will see a team make a huge announcement on Vine, like a new head coach.
  • Ask fans to take action with something (perhaps for a recently launched campaign).
  • Have a player make a statement, thank fans for coming to the game, spell out a quotable quote, etc.

History
Check out this Gap Vine highlighting their ads throughout the years. This exact same philosophy can apply to sports. Whether the video walks through old media guides or a photo essay, there are a lot of opportunities for teams to take fans down memory lane.

Capture Emotion
A six-second video is plenty of time to pack a powerful punch of emotion; it all comes down to being at the right place, at the right time. Community managers need to keep their eyes out for teammates celebrating, the agony of pain, overzealous fans, the look of defeat, etc.  Fans love the drama and emotion of sports. It helps to tell the story.

Behind the  Scenes
I’m a big believer in behind the scenes content for teams and leagues across any social media platform. Teams and leagues should focus on giving fans access to something they can’t get anywhere else; if the game / event is on TV, the focus should be on enhancing the second screen experience (not play-by-play). Behind the scenes Vine videos could include:

How To’s
Teams and leagues with a younger audience should consider creating Vine videos that demonstrate how to properly execute a skill, training technique, etc. With just six seconds, it needs to be simple, but the idea is something worth exploring.

& Much More
Of course, people are extremely creative and will blow this list away.  Take what the University of Michigan did to promote their basketball game.  My point is this: the opportunities with Vine are endless.

While it’s too early to tell if Vine is a fad or here to stay, it never hurts to start brainstorming ways your brand can use the application.

 


So, what do you think… will you give it a go?

Creating Quick Content

By Guest On May 19, 2015 In Social Media

I try to live by a golden rule: Thou shall not post to Facebook without a graphic or photo.

Yes, I’m a firm believer  that content is an extremely powerful tool when it’s engaging, shareable and tugs at the consumer. Studies and statistics have proven that visual content is king. Here’s proof— & more here— in case you need it.

As community managers, there are several hurdles we often face when it comes to creating content. Whether we don’t have enough time, the right programs or a background in graphic design, it’s much easier to throw up a link than to go through the hassle of creating a graphic.  Let me tell you a little secret:
You can create great content on a whim, without Photoshop or any background in graphic design.

Yes! The ability to create share-worthy graphics is right at our fingertips, thanks to the smartphone.  See the picture I’ve created a picture below:

I’m sorry the picture isn’t brand related, but is my cute pup, so hopefully that makes up for it. I also went overboard on the editing (know it can look a lot more professional than this) just to give you an idea of the possibilities. So what’s the secret? For me, it’s the apps below:


My essential apps for creating great graphics are Snapseed, PhotoToaster, Instagram, PicFrame & Instafonts. Once you download the apps, just remember:

  1. They all have different capabilities, so I rarely create a graphic using just one app. Multiple filters from multiple apps can make a pretty interesting graphic.
  2. There’s also no exact science or step-by-step process to creating the perfect graphic from your phone.

I challenge you to download the apps, play around and see what you can create.

 

 

 

I have a lot more thoughts about creating content, especially in regards to sports brands, but we will leave that for another day. Until then, let me know what photo editing apps you can’t you live without below. 

Thanks for reading! 

Criticism & Crazy

By Guest On May 19, 2015 In Social Media with 2 Comments

It’s a very slow trend, but a few athletic departments have started promoting personal Twitter accounts of student-athletes on their various communication platforms. At first, I loved the idea. I’m a firm believer student-athletes should be allowed to use social media. It’s about education, not elimination.  So, why not give fans an inside look into what it’s like to be a student-athlete? Why not elevate the student-athletes who engage responsibly on social media?

But I’ve had concerns lately. It’s not about student-athletes saying the wrong thing on social media (though of course, that is a worry)… I’m concerned about promoting student-athlete accounts for two things they can’t control: Criticism & crazy.

 

1. Criticism

Criticism is a part of life, and sooner or later we all have to learn how to deal with it. The criticism student-athletes face on social media though is not the normal, constructive criticism received from a coach, job review, etc. Irrational fans get on social media after a loss and start name-calling, blaming, etc. Criticism on social media is rarely constructive.

If a student-athlete chooses to be on Twitter or any other social media platform, they have to face the reality that criticism will come. People find student-athlete Twitter handles whether or not the school promotes them, no doubt.

The issue: Do schools want to be the avenue for people to find student-athlete accounts, especially if that person only tweets negativity?

 

2. Crazed Fans, Stalkers, etc.

Social media gives fans a peek inside student-athletes lives like they’ve never had before; it also gives fans direct access to communicate with student-athletes.

Unfortunately, this direct access and peek inside personal lives can lead to not-so-good situations- stalkers, people who take advantage, etc. Again, this could happen whether or not the school promotes the student-athlete Twitter accounts.  

The issue: If an athletic department promotes personal Twitter accounts of student-athletes, and one of those student-athletes gets a stalker via social media, is the school accountable?  After all, the stalker saw the Twitter handle on the athletic department website.

It’s something to think about.

 

Bottom Line

Protecting student-athletes should be priority, so for me, it all comes down to accountability with the athletic departments. If a program promotes personal social media accounts, and something goes array (like a stalker), are the schools accountable?  I understand this isn’t something everyone will deal with, but there is always that chance. Schools need to have a plan in place, just in case.

 

 

 

What do you think? Is promoting the personal social media accounts of student-athletes a do or a don’t?

Thanks for reading!