This past week I worked the Women’s College World Series where we activated with Instagram for the first time at the championship. Since Instagram is a visual platform, I wanted to tell the student-athlete and behind-the-scenes story through pictures (yeah, obviously). I wasn’t worried about real-time information, game updates, etc.; I just wanted to capture powerful visuals to help showcase the championship.
As the tournament went on though, I noticed some fans were having conversations among themselves on the Instagram platform—what time does the game start, what is the TV coverage, what is the score, what is happening etc.? This wasn’t in my plan.
After evalauting the coverage, it’s clear to me that my to strategy to “tell the student-athlete / behind-the-scenes story” needs to be shifted moving forward. Our fans didn’t just want the pretty visuals. While that’s still a large part of what they want, they also want information like score updates, TV information, etc. on Instagram. I imagine this need will be even larger next year as the Instagram audience grows.
Other teams, leagues, etc. have already figured out this need for information on Instagram. Take for example this Instagram post from the Atlanta Braves letting fans know about traffic (pic via @mditt):
Just like the Braves (I’m assuming), I noticed a shift in my community- gravitating towards Instagram for engagement, interaction and information– and not just a pretty visual. Now it’s up to me to adjust my strategy accordingly.
The truth is, more and more fans are moving away from the likes of Facebook and on to other platforms. And, as they do, they are still going to seek certain information. This is a great example of that. It’s time we pay attention to where our community is and what they’re actually craving. As they shift, we have to shift too.
