Baseball Boring? Social Media Begs to Differ

Posted: April 30, 2012 in Major League Baseball, Sports and Social Media, Twitter
Tags: , , , , , ,
1

Major League Baseball is winning over fans in 2012 with its social and digital media strategy.

Major League Baseball fans have it good.

The league leads professional sports when it comes to reaching fans in new and innovative ways. The recent start to the 2012 season — and all the ways in which fans can connect to their favorite teams — proves that.

Baseball is NOT boring. It’s not dead. It’s alive and well and filled with energetic and engaged fans.

“Its traditions fit the fabric of spring and summer like few other elements of Americana,” says Joe Favorito, a veteran sports and entertainment marketing and PR consultant. “No other sport anywhere in the world can find ways to engage the casual and ardent follower for a night, a week or a year.”

Social and mobile drive fan interest and engagement. MLB recognizes this, and has doubled its efforts in 2012.

“Baseball is really a social conversation for us,” MLB.com’s director of new media, Andrew Patterson, told Mashable at the beginning of the season. “There’s a game going on, but there’s a conversation happening too.”

Conversation is important, especially when the season is so long. At 81 home games, the average fan has little chance to see every one in person. So fans watch TV, go online and use social media to follow the action. Specifically, they use social media as the action happens.   

“Sports have the whole social/TV engagement thing on lockdown,” says Josh Wolford, a staff writer for WebProNews. “83 percent of sports fans say they check sports-related social media pages while watching the game on TV.”

MLB recognizes this new and growing trend, and turns its sometimes slow and floundering product into 140-character, bite-size pieces.

“Integrating more social and mobile into the experience isn’t an aberration, it’s more likely to become the norm,” Patterson says. “The idea now isn’t just to package the content we have and put it out on social media — it’s to create content we know works well on social.”

Where is MLB winning the social media experience? Here are some of FourthAnd140.com’s favorites:

Social Media Clubhouse
Every MLB website hosts a Social Media Clubhouse, which is a one-stop shop for social-media savvy fans. For example, the Cleveland Indians’ Social Media Clubhouse makes it easy to connect with players on Twitter, follow all the official social media sites – including new additions Tumblr and Pinterest. The Social Media Clubhouse is somewhat hidden in the templated MLB team site navigation (under Fans>Connect with TEAM). The page is also very much a jumble of images and links, but it’s a start.

MLB FanCave gets bigger
Now in its second year, MLB FanCave boasts nine new inhabitants, who were chosen from a whopping 50,000 interested fans. The Cave uses online and real-life experiences to give fans added value, including musical artists and celebrities who will visit the Manhattan digs this summer. FanCave definitely speaks to the younger MLB fan, which fits well with its heavy social media reliance.

The Milwaukee Brewers take their campaign for All-Star Game votes to Facebook, with these easy-to-add Cover Photos.

Facebook is covered
MLB teams make it one-click simple for fans to customize their Facebook profiles this season with a series of pre-made, highly-produced cover photos. Check out what the Milwaukee Brewers offer fans who want to show team pride on Facebook, including some recent All-Star Game ballot propaganda.

Mobile apps go with you
MLB At Bat is a free app which offers player statistics, box scores and more. Subscribers can pay $14.99 for additional content, including video and live radio broadcasts — all right on your phone or tablet.

My favorite is the location-based MLB At the Ballpark app, a check-in service for those fans lucky enough to attend games in person. At the Park connects fans with other fans, and can track stadium check-ins — complete with win-loss records for the games attended. Users can unlock deals, order food and find seats once inside a stadium.

Tweetups and more
More MLB teams are adding in-game activities for social media-savvy fans, like social media nights or special seating. Cleveland wins this space with its Indians Social Suite – a dedicated box for Twitter-friendly fans, and other teams are sure to follow. (I feel a road trip to Cleveland coming on this summer.)

Where else is MLB winning with social and mobile? Add your favorites in the comments below.

Thanks for being a fan.

#JetsHunt Takes Fans on a Tour of New York Jets’ Social Media Channels

Posted: April 27, 2012 in NFL, Pinterest, Sports and Social Media, Twitter
Tags: , ,
0

The New York Jets executed a rather underwhelming social media scavenger hunt with #JetsHunt.

How do you get more fans to connect with you on all your social media channels? Try a social media scavenger hunt.

The New York Jets partnered with JetBlue to launch #JetsHunt this week. The team posted five questions on some of its social media channels, including Twitter, Google Plus, Pinterest and Tumblr. One lucky winner was promised “2 VIP tickets to a NYC event” on Saturday, April 28. The catch? Follow clues posted on the various social sites, tweet your guess to the Jets and you’re qualified to win.

The concept is brilliant, especially as college and professional teams in all sports look to connect with fans across emerging social media channels like Pinterest. It could also drive renewed interest into fledgling sites like Google Plus, where teams – and many brands – have had difficulty building communities.

The Jets kicked off #JetsHunt on Twitter, engaging its 366,000+ followers with the first of five clues. The results were … underwhelming by most standards. The tweet, sent April 23, yielded just seven retweets and four favorites.

The Jets posted a second clue on Tumblr the following day. The results were equally unimpressive, where one fan commented and no one shared it or liked it. Yikes!

The Jets took #JetsHunt to Pinterest the same day with this pin. It was re-pinned just once. And folks, the Jets have some work to do on Pinterest with just 52 followers (yours truly included).

The fourth clue showed up on Google Plus April 25 where around 2,000 fans have “circled” the Jets. The post received just six comments, four +1s and two shares.

The #JetsHunt map shows fans where to find clues on the team's social media channels.

The Jets mercifully wrapped up #JetsHunt later that day with a fifth and final clue. It was retweeted just three times. At press time, the #JetsHunt hashtag reached approximately 375,000 Twitter accounts, according to TweetReach. Remember, 366,000 of those are already followers of @NYJets. (And 1,200 of those impressions came from a tweet I sent during the hunt.) Only 45 unique Twitter users actually posted the #JetsHunt hashtag over four days.

Was #JetsHunt a failure? I can’t rightfully answer that because I don’t know what the Jets were looking to accomplish. I can say that if I’d been running this contest, I wouldn’t be happy with the results. I believe there’s merit in the idea – connecting a brand’s different social media channels through one common activity (and rewarding fans for doing so). And I like this tactic for brands of all kinds, especially if it’s delivered with more enthusiasm and cross-promotion. (A search for #JetsHunt on NewYorkJets.com yielded no results.)

Should the Jets be concerned? Again, without knowing the back story, it’s hard to judge. But there’s room for improvement in the team’s Pinterest, Google Plus and Tumblr sites, and I appreciate the effort to help fans connect the dots (pun intended). However, if you’re going to spend the time developing a fan-friendly contest, put your best foot forward. Your fans will appreciate it, and so will the people writing the checks.

Thanks for being a fan.

Student-Athletes and Social Media Monitoring: A Conversation With Varsity Monitor

Posted: March 21, 2012 in Facebook, NCAA, Sports and Social Media, Twitter
Tags: , ,
2
Varsity Monitor logo

Varsity Monitor is one of several new services available to colleges and universities looking to track the social media activities of their student-athletes.

Social media monitoring of student-athletes is quickly becoming a hot potato among the NCAA, college coaches, administrators, lawyers and legislators.

Despite a recent NCAA ruling some believe puts this matter to rest, more questions remain. Who governs this space? Where does the law stand on privacy and litigation around potential negligent social media monitoring?

I won’t deny these are all major concerns, and I’ll be covering them in an upcoming piece on FourthAnd140.com. But I thought it was a good time to hear from one of the pioneers in this space, so you can understand what we mean by social media monitoring at the university level.

Varsity Monitor was one of the first to provide this kind of service at all levels.  Here’s a brief conversation the fine folks at Varsity Monitor had recently with FourthAnd140.com about the services they provide – and the issues they face.

F140: What does Varsity Monitor do?

VM: Varsity Monitor provides social media monitoring of athletes’ social media activities, both within their personal accounts as well as what other people are saying about them online. We have proprietary technology to scan and filter for specific content, and everything we do is within the framework of the social media TOS [terms of service] and is permission-based. We take the privacy of the athletes we work with very seriously.

F140: Who uses your service?

VM: Athletic departments, compliance and coaches. Our clients include Oklahoma University, University of Texas football, University of North Carolina, University of Nebraska and Villanova University.

F140: Why is there a need for social media monitoring of NCAA athletes?

VM: Social media introduces new challenges for athletic departments. For example, every athletic department has a code of conduct, what do they do about social media? Does it make sense to have a code of conduct with no plan to make it a reality? A way to confirm the rules are being followed? That’s where Varsity Monitor comes in. We provide them with tools to address this new challenge.

F140: How so?

VM: For college athletic departments, it’s about preparing the SA [student-athlete] for life after college/sports, while protecting their institution’s brand. The misuse of social media by athletes can negatively affect the brand of the school, in the process harming the athletes’ post-athlete employment opportunities. On the flip side, proper use of social media cannot only enhance the school’s brand profile but also make the athlete more marketable after graduation.

F140: What technology powers Varsity Monitor?

VM: We have developed proprietary technology that is able to scan, aggregate and filter social media content created about and by the athletes.

F140: Wouldn’t banning the use of social media by student-athletes just solve these issues?

VM: Banning is not the answer. In addition to our monitoring services, [Varsity Monitor] offers advanced administrator and SA education to help everyone use social media in a constructive way. By banning social media, you are limiting the skill set of your athletes for jobs in marketing/sales after sports and also limiting the potential upside of the use of Twitter and Facebook. We understand why people ban, but those who work with Varsity Monitor are able to use education, monitoring and enforcement, thereby managing the social media behavior without the need for bans.

F140: What does VM do when you find questionable information? How do you handle it?

VM: We treat all information observed as confidential. We never publicize it or use if for commercial gain. We attempt to keep negative posts/image-destroying information from reaching a larger audience. Finally, and most importantly, we educate the individual on the positive use of social media, discussing how it can impact one’s personal and professional life.

F140: What other services are provided by Varsity Monitor?

VM: We scan for positive content and examples of highly effective ways to use social media, so administrators can demonstrate to others the best way to take advantage of social media.

F140: What sets Varsity Monitor apart?

VM: First and foremost, we believe monitoring is a tool to be used to educate. That’s our mantra. Second, we treat all information observed as confidential. We have very strict guidelines on how this information is handled and managed. We listen to our customers, providing a flexible service designed to adapt to meet the unique demands of our clients.
______________________

Regardless of your opinion of social media monitoring services like Varsity Monitor, I believe they’re here to stay. Can they improve? Yes. And since they’re moving from an NCAA mandated-driven tool to a service-driven model, the focus should remain on student safety, education and personal branding. As I’ve argued in the past, this is a time of great learning for student-athletes, and their coaches and administrators should take advantage of these teaching moments.

However, college sports is also big business. Athletic departments are wise to manage their online reputations, which includes monitoring social media activities – just like many Fortune 500 brands do today. (This is part of what I do for a living.) You can’t ever control the message, but you can monitor and react to it. And you can teach those in your organization to use social media safely, properly and effectively – to the benefit of everyone.

What do you think of social media monitoring services like Varsity Monitor? Leave your comments here, or hit me up on Twitter. I’ll continue to cover this topic because I’m passionate about it.

Thanks for being a fan.

Nascar’s Brad Keselowski Proves Twitter’s Real-Time Power

Posted: February 29, 2012 in NASCAR, Sports and Social Media, Twitter
Tags: , , ,
0

A picture is worth a thousand re-tweets - and 100,000+ new followers - for NASCAR driver Brad Keselowski.

Sometimes, it takes an almost unbelievable event to prove who really understands the power of social media and sports.

Enter the 54th Daytona 500, which introduced hundreds of thousands of new fans to Nascar, rain delays, track maintenance, jet-powered driers, new uses for Tide laundry detergent, and a social media-savvy driver named Brad Keselowski.

In arguably the strangest running of the Great American Race, Nascar fans – and many others – tuned into a Monday night version of the Daytona 500 for a wild finish, complete with a fiery crash between Juan Pablo Montoya’s car and a safety vehicle loaded with some 200 gallons of jet fuel.

The collision produced a huge fireball, a scorched track and a new social media darling in the sports world. Stopped a safe distance from the crash, Keselowski did what any other person stuck in traffic would do – he pulled out his phone and started tweeting about it.

As the Associated Press described it: ”The two-plus hour stoppage turned into a tweet-up of sorts, as the drivers climbed from their cars and crowded around Keselowski, who had pulled out his phone to provide real-time updates to his fans by posting photos and answering questions.”

In less time than it took crews to clean up Daytona’s track, Keselowski’s 38-character post with accompanying photo became perhaps the most famous live sports tweet ever.

Short and sweet: Keselowski's famous Daytona 500 tweet.

It was simple and effective, and spread as fast as leaking jet fuel down a sloped race track. In minutes, Keselowski’s Twitter account ballooned from a pedestrian 75,000 followers to more than 200,000. And nearly all of Twitter’s U.S. trending topics were related to Daytona, including such fan favorites as “crazy” (0.55 percent of all tweets), “Nascar” (0.51 percent) and “Daytona500″ (0.63 percent), according to Trendistic.

Powered by an unlikely crash and a compelling iPhone photo, Americans put Keselowski’s name (the correct spelling) in 0.55 percent of all tweets and helped Daytona’s TV ratings peak at 8.8.

The fact AP even included the words “tweet-up” in a sports story makes what happened at Daytona a milestone for the ever-evolving intersection of sports and social media. Keselowski’s actions should be a wake-up call for Major League Baseball, the NHL and NFL, all authors of strict no-tweet policies during games. The NFL even fines players for doing this.

In less time than it took crews to clean up Daytona’s track, Keselowski’s 38-character post with accompanying photo became perhaps the most famous live sports tweet ever.

While Keselowski wasn’t technically tweeting during a live event (his car was not moving), his Twitter-first thinking is something fans crave. It also fits well with Nascar’s new marketing strategy, which emphasizes social media. That’s not something you hear from other major U.S. sports leagues, which concentrate on more traditional channels to engage fans. But Nascar did their homework, and found social media is important to fans – and sponsors.

“[Keselowski] distinguished himself in being the poster child for an engaging athlete — the type of athlete that the fans really connect to in a multitude of ways,” Nascar spokesman David Higdon told the New York Times. “He’s a digital native. This is an extension of his personality.”

There’s tremendous value in empowering athletes to connect with fans before, during and after sporting events, as long as it fits their personalities and doesn’t detract from individual performances. Just ask the 100,00+ new people who followed Brad Keselowski last night (including yours truly).

“We encourage our drivers to use social media to express themselves as long as they do so without risking their safety or that of others,” the official Nascar account Tweeted less than a day after the Daytona 500 activities.

Why not embrace this kind of engagement? It’s hard to argue with the results.

Thanks for being a fan.

Twitter Is For Everyone – Even Crazy Sports Executives

Posted: February 22, 2012 in NFL, Sports and Social Media, Twitter
Tags: , , , ,
6
Colts owners and CEO Jim Irsay

Indianapolis Colts' owner and CEO Jim Irsay has taken heat for tweeting some pretty wacky stuff. But that doesn't mean he and other sports executives should abandon Twitter.

Sports executives say some weird stuff on Twitter.

With 150,000 followers and an active Twitter account, Indianapolis Colts  owner and CEO Jim Irsay is one of the more colorful professional sports executives on Twitter today. He’s tweeted some wacky stuff.

New York Mets general manager Sandy Alderson is pretty new to Twitter page, but he’s already using it to joke about financial problems facing his franchise. OK.

Their behavior, and that of other sports execs, is risky business, according to some so-called pundits. Using Twitter is risky business for anyone, but executives have more to lose. Could Irsay and Alderson exercise more caution? Of course.

Let’s not blame the venue, though. While 140 characters limits what we share, it’s not an excuse to make this fast-moving, highly watched communications channel off-limits to executives – from any industry – especially one as highly charged as sports.

As Bleacher Report puts it: “What was once a place where things had to be ‘confirmed,’ Twitter has become a platform for announcing breaking news for writers, athletes, politicians, business owners, fans and everyone else you can think of.”

Twitter is relevant. Smart executives know this. As a social media administrator for a Fortune 300 brand, I work with leaders daily on what and how to share information on Twitter. It’s an approach I believe any executive could take – no matter the industry. Do execs tweet things that make you scratch your head? Yes. Does it show they’re more human? Absolutely. Is it risky? Getting out of bed is risky.

I believe Twitter can help sports execs – and their organization. But like any communication channel, there should be a strategy powering each tweet. These five principles guide my consultations with executives about Twitter. I think they could work for the Jim Irsays of the world looking for ways to effectively use Twitter.

Break team news. Top-down communication is valuable for any organization. Place your leader in the position to share important – and breaking – info via social media. It shows he or she is leading the decision-making process. It lends credibility to the individual and your organization. Should executives take the lead on sharing all breaking news via Twitter? No. But you can pick and choose what makes the most sense and position them favorably with followers.

Be a thought leader. Highlight issues facing the league and offer your stance. Authenticity is extremely important – and valuable – on Twitter. Talking about the challenges and issues facing your organization displays courage. You’ll likely get negative feedback, but the conversation and honest engagement create instant credibility for execs.

Promote charitable causes your organization supports. Social media’s sharing principle makes talking about your organization’s non-profit work a no-brainer. You’re already supporting a variety of worthy causes. Use Twitter to preach the gospel according to those charities. Earn good will, but do good things in the process by putting your followers behind you on a cause. You’ll bring new people into the fold – those who follow because of your good deeds.

Engage with fans, players and staff. Here’s another way to highlight those in your organization who are doing good things. Get everyone on Twitter and be sure to use the proper Twitter handles when calling them out for excellence. And when fans interact with you, answer their questions, address issues and talk to them by name. They’re people, too, and will appreciate your willingness to engage one-on-one.

Be real. You’re a human being. Use Twitter to prove it. Your life isn’t all about being an executive. You have family, friends, hobbies and more to talk about. Include them in your day-to-day tweets. Share pictures, stories and more about your personal life, so your followers understand you better. Keep everyone at a safe distance – but let them see a side most others won’t. They’ll appreciate you – and your organization – even more.

What can you add to the list? Share your ideas in the comments below.

Thanks for being a fan.

Editor’s note: Special thanks to Bill Voth for sparking the ideas behind this post. Bill is one of many smart and talented people I’ve “met” on Twitter who is also interested in this curious intersection of sports and social media. I’m fortunate to have connected with Bill and others like him, and continually learn from them.

Twitter Powers Jeremy Lin’s Rise to NBA – and Social Media – Superstar

Posted: February 11, 2012 in Facebook, NBA, Sports and Social Media, Twitter
Tags: , , , , ,
3

Jeremy Lin is dominating the NBA - and discussions on Twitter.

By now you’ve probably heard of Jeremy Lin. The newest NBA star and point guard for the New York Knicks burst onto the scene this week, scoring a bucketload of points and helping his team win four straight games, including a 92-85 win over the Los Angeles Lakers Feb. 10.

Lin’s rise from bench warmer to burning-hot superstar is an amazing story. A week ago, he’d never started an NBA game, or scored more than 13 points. Lin is also an Asian-American, something unheard of in the NBA, but also inspirational to many with similar backgrounds. This is a guy who has been sleeping on his brother’s couch!

It’s an incredible story. And you know who likes a good story? People on Twitter.

Since taking the reigns at point guard for the Knicks less than a week ago, Lin’s playing prowess was matched only by his social media status. Want some proof? Just try to keep up with the numbers.

Let’s start with Lin’s Klout score. On Feb. 5, it was a flat-lined and pedestrian 58.77. It ballooned to 73.63 in just six days. During this same time, Lin’s True Reach was just 9,000 before ballooning to more than 89,000. His follower count traced a similar path above 150,000. It’s a number that will look silly at the end of the NBA season, because I suspect it will be six or seven times that come June.

Kloutastic: Jeremy Lin's rise from obscurity to social media stardom - in less than a week.

Lin’s story is not just about follower count, it’s also about the conversation. And Lin dominates the talk on Twitter every time he suits up. According to Trendistic, “Jeremy Lin” was included in as much as 1.69 percent of tweets worldwide on Friday, Feb. 10 (9 p.m. CST). In his previous three games, he garnered 0.12, 0.17 and 0.19 percent of the Twitter conversation, respectively.

Not to be outdone, Lin’s Facebook page swelled above 260,000 likes with off-the-chart engagement levels (107,000+ “People Talking About This“). Posts as recent as Feb. 4 received 23,000 likes and more than 3,000 comments.

Trend-LIN Topic: Jeremy Lin creates incredible buzz on Twitter every time he plays.

Lin’s rise captivates audiences outside of New York City, which is where Twitter and Facebook fan the flames of “Linsanity” – one of the many user-generated hash tags created to describe him. These variations – along with the regular spelling of his name – dominate Twitter’s trending topics before, during and after Knicks’ games.

Lin’s story has overwhelmed the social media landscape - in just six days. That is unbelievable.

Perhaps it’s also why some say Lin is already a polarizing sports figure, similar to Tim Tebow (who is Lin’s hero, incidentally). Too much Linsanity, too fast, could quickly turn off fans. Others say – like Tebow – Lin’s faith is an issue, and that you either love him or hate him.

I don’t see it that way. What I see is a kid getting his chance and taking full advantage of it. Unlike Tebow, Lin was not a highly-regarded pro prospect. He was undrafted, worked his way up through the NBA summer league but was cut by the Houston Rockets in December. He’s only getting a chance on the Knicks because of injuries.

Lin’s story is compelling and worth talking about, not only to Knicks’ and NBA fans, but people everywhere who just might have found the NBA interesting again.

Where does Jeremy Lin go from here? Follow along on Twitter, and you’ll get a front-row seat.

Thanks for being a fan.

Photo credit: Jeremy Lin’s Facebook page

Turning Casual Sports Fans Into Brand Advocates

Posted: January 22, 2012 in NCAA, NFL, Sports and Social Media, Twitter
Tags: , , , ,
1
Please Retweet!

Despite their popularity, today's sports teams still need help amplifying their messages.

Can I get a RT?

If you’re on Twitter enough, you’ve seen this slightly annoying request for help spreading the word about a cause, event or other news deemed important by the original sender. It’s annoying because if the original tweet, cause or event was worthy enough, a RT request shouldn’t be necessary.

It’s an example of the struggle we all have to be heard over an ever-growing din of social media noise. As a digital marketer and communicator, I constantly grapple with this, as do most marketers, no matter how sexy, or unsexy, the brand.

Sports marketers have the upper hand, I would argue, because they generally offer a high-demand product that creates a passionate following – both offline and online. (Note team Twitter follower counts and the Trending Topics on any given NFL Sunday.) But they still have to work for your time and money in a down economy, which means adopting aggressive social media tactics like the rest of us.

I’ve already featured Baylor University’s efforts  to reward brand advocates. The Baltimore Ravens partnered with SocialToaster to create a similar program for the 2011-12 season, called RavensReps. It combines a brand advocate program with gamification techniques, allowing fans “to pick which content types to share and earn points for participating in the program.” Fans earn points by signing up for RavensReps and promoting a variety of Ravens content on their personal social networks. The payback? They move up a fan leader board, and earn prizes like memorabilia and other team merchandise.

The best way to reach today’s fans is through their friends, who are likely also fans.

Brand advocates aren’t anything new, but they do provide value to brands. Even before Twitter and Facebook, marketers tried to connect with the most passionate consumers. Harnessing their collective voice was a challenge then, but it becomes somewhat simpler now.

How? First, social media makes it easier to monitor, collect and share conversations of the most engaged users. Second, consumers actually want to connect with the things they like. Forty-two percent of adults online seek a “social application from their favorite brands,” according to Forrester Research.

Using a social application to create and spread positive brand messages makes sense, even for highly engaging sports teams. Another Forrester study put it this way. ”Social media has proven an invaluable tool for organizing offline influence events, as well as for amplifying the impact of those events.”

Providing fans with quality content and rewarding them for sharing it are two big pieces of the social media puzzle.

“The best way to grow share of voice is to delight your customers,” says Jay Baer, a social media blogger and content strategist, in an article about share of voice. “Delighted customers create satisfaction-driven content, which reaches other customers and prospective customers of your brand, essentially doing your marketing for you.”

The Ravens – and other sports organizations – realize your time (and money) is finite. The best way to reach you may not always be through traditional methods like advertising, or even team Twitter and Facebook posts. The best way to reach today’s fans is through their friends, who are likely also fans. The result creates a blooming conversation around a fan’s favorite team and ultimately influences their decisions, including purchasing tickets or merchandise.

Brand advocate programs, gamification and increasing share of voice are all traditional marketing methods that more of today’s sports teams – professional and collegiate –  are adopting. The good news is, fans are being rewarded for doing what they like to do – being passionate about their teams. The smart sports marketers will use social media and technology to monitor, capture and share that passion.

Now, can I get a RT of this post?

Thanks for being a fan.

Older Entries