#SMSports Trends Winning on Twitter Right Now

By Guest On February 25, 2015 In Twitter, Uncategorized with 4 Comments

We all know that Twitter + sports make a great combination. During peak game times, there’s a good chance you’ll find sports dominating the trending topics. The platform is perfect for our industry.

Even though Twitter and sports are a match made in heaven, it’s great to take a step back and look at ways to improve platform use. I’ve spent time looking at the latest trends working for teams and leagues, and I compiled a list of the ones winning right now. Many of them translate across platform. If you are looking for new ways to dominate Twitter, here are some ideas:

Simple graphics and copy.

Sometimes simple is better. We live in a world filled with limited attention spans. If you make it hard for fans to digest and understand content, you’ll lose them before they think about engaging, sharing, etc. I love the trend of keeping things simple in both copy and graphics:

[graphics]

[copy]

Don’t overthink your content. As the examples prove above, complicated and overstated isn’t always the way to go.

 

Starting lineup graphics.

Michigan and Washington have found ways to spruce up starting lineup announcements through graphics. Michigan is using player cards that have an old school look and feel; Washington’s graphics are crisp, sharp and clean. Both are great ways to make content more visual and interesting:

 

GIFS.

In case you didn’t know, the NBA is all about the GIFS. You can view an awesome Twitter timeline with examples here (courtesy of @JuliePhayer).

While I think GIFS are often overplayed, it’s hard to deny their popularity. They’re a great way to show humor and humanize teams when used the right way. With GIFS, I think it’s important to highlight players and personnel as much as possible and not force pop culture just for the sake of it. Instead, use pop culture references strategically and sparingly to make a bigger splash. Here are some great examples:

 

Emojis.

A couple weeks ago, I asked people on Twitter what they thought about brands using emojis. The answers were quite diverse and interesting. And whatever your thoughts about them are, there’s one thing for certain: There’s an emoji craze going on.

Much like GIFS, emojis are often abused and overused. When used at just the right time and moments tough, emojis can help make a statement and make a team account more human. The key (again) is to use them strategically and sparingly. Here are some good examples:

 

Telling it in a screen shot.

You can’t always rely on people to click through, so you need to prioritize. Do you want to get the message out or drive people to your website? Lately I’ve seen a few examples of schools, leagues, etc. opting to post a screen grab instead of linking to more. If the message is important enough, then I think it’s a good move:

 

Use of multiple photos.

I love the multiple-photos feature from Twitter because it’s a great tool for teams and leagues to paint a full picture in one tweet. Instead of cluttering your timeline with a ton of tweets, see if there’s an opportunity to put together a statement / story in one tweet:

 

Look and feel based on the uniforms.

Since the start of basketball season, I’ve been swooning over the @Lakers’ score graphics. The colors change up based on the uniforms they’re wearing that game, but they still keeping a consistent look and feel. They are using gold at home, purple on the road and Sunday white / black. The concept is a great way to integrate gameday initiatives into a team’s social presence:

 

Video call to action.

Twitter has an awesome new CTA feature on their hosted video card: The ability to let users watch a video on the bottom right, while browsing other ones. It’s a great way to keep fans engaged longer:

 

 

 

Now it’s your turn to sound off: What trends have you seen lately on Twitter that have stood out to you? Be sure to share them below!

Thanks for reading! 

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4 comments.

  1. Extensive analysis, Jess!

    Firsthand, we saw incredible engagement on the Ohio Football account when we used fireworks emojis after a touchdown. Emojis do work in those “right time and moments”. I agree that they make team accounts more human. As for the athletic department accounts as a whole, I do not believe emojis, GIFs, or the like should be used. Straight-laced is the safe bet there.

    The GIF examples are excellent. What I enjoy most about the NBA teams that use them well is that they have a bank of team-specific GIFs. By using these, they circumvent any issues of the GIF seeming “forced” as a pop culture reference.

    Again, an enjoyable read!

    • Thanks so much for reading. It’s interesting to hear how you approach the main athletic department account versus football account differently with GIFs, emojis, etc. I like it!

      I’m not sure if it was apparent in the post, but I am definitely on the fence with using emojis– and agree– it has to be right time / moments and sparingly. I also think it’s important to pay attention to your analytics: If they aren’t resonating or generating a lot of engagement, don’t use them.

      Glad you like the GIF examples. I agree with you… team-specific GIFs are the best!

      Thanks again, Carson! Have a good one!

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