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Social Studies: LPGA's Tina Barnes-Budd Discusses Helping Sponsors, Players

LPGA Senior Dir of Social Media Marketing & Communications Tina Barnes-Budd (@TinaBarnesBudd) has high praise for the role tour players have played in growing the LPGA's social media presence. She said, "We use our players a lot as our ambassadors, whether they are taking over our Instagram account or doing a fan chat on Facebook. They are so willing to help us grow the brand through our channels, but they also realize it’s helping grow their brand as well. That buy-in from players has really helped separate ourselves."

The role of social media in the LPGA’s popularity growth:
It had a tremendous part in it. Prior to social media, we relied heavily on the media to push out our great stories. We found with social media we can push out those stories and there is no roadblock to do that. As we started doing that, it just kind of snowballed from there.

Utilizing social-media platforms others are not:
One of our philosophies is we’re willing to take risks. That’s something we’re proud of. Whether it’s a Twitter handle on a caddie nameplate or trying new platforms like Periscope. It’s such a cluttered space that anything we can do to gain attention, we want to do that.

Pride in being ahead of the curve on social media:
What we’ve learned a lot through social media is humans connect with humans, not logos. When we can use these different platforms to humanize our brand or players can humanize their brand, we will definitely use it. Our players are willing to do this with us; they’re a great partner in social media with us. They understand the power of it. It’s great for our sponsors. Every week, we send out a one-page sheet to the players that are in the field which talks about the sponsors’ products and services, but it also gives all the hashtags and handles they can use when they are tweeting out.

Helping sponsors tie in beyond player mentions:
One thing we do, and it’s getting more and more as we sign new contracts or renew with a current sponsor, is that social media has become such a huge part of that contract. What we usually do is sit down with them and brainstorm how we can help them promote their brand. The one thing we are a stickler on is that it has to be relevant to the LPGA. We strive to be creative in doing that so it doesn’t turn off the fans; they can see it coming from a mile away.

SOCIAL SNAPSHOT:

Favorite App: Storify
Must-Follow: PGA Tour
Social-Media Taboos: You are what you tweet

Concerns on partnering with players:
I can remember, back in '09, we had a player summit where one of the segments was fan engagement and social media had just really started. We asked all the players in the room and maybe five raised their hand. One of them was Christina Kim. She stood up and said it was a great way to engage with fans, we all should use it. Once the players heard another player say that, it really kind of validated that. That’s when all of a sudden all the players were signing up. We had training sessions with them, we educate them every week.

Unique usage:
We also use Spotify to help humanize the brand of our players. We ask them to put together a playlist. For instance, Sandra Gal who has become known as a painter, I asked her to put together a playlist of the kind of music she likes to play while she is painting. We have a Spotify account that people can join and see different players and their playlists.

If you know anyone who should be featured for their use of social media, send their name to us at jperez@sportsbusinessdaily.com

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