Tomorrow marks 100 days before the Rio Games, which ordinarily means that all of the hype and media surrounding the Olympics is taken to a new level of intensity. However, according to USOC Social Media Strategist Joey Maestas (@SportsJoey), keeping that intensity and production at an Olympic level does not just happen in the leadup to the Games. “That was the problem we had in the past, that we would change gears. This time we tried to set a standard on our feeds that we don’t have to change gears. We’re just going to push a little bit more and put out more content. But there was never a flip-the-switch moment.”
SOCIAL SNAPSHOT Favorite app:Twitter. It was the first one I signed up for and I've always been a fan of live tweeting. Must-follow: I really like Jordan Burroughs. I love his Twitter handle and he takes fans inside his life. He has a little son, Beacon, who has turned into a little celebrity, and has his own Instagram feed. Average time spent per day on social media: A good seven hours.
Prepping for the Games:
I got on board right after Sochi from Sports Illustrated. You are always planning for future Games, but the interesting part was something we had to figure out. On non-Olympic years, how do you build a following and how do you get people interested in Team USA? During the Games, that growth and engagement is going to come. But it's been the non-Olympic years, like last year, where we've really built something. We are harnessing the power of Team USA and what people think of Team USA. We make sure that every day we are talking to a new fan or athlete to make that connection. Any brand can get caught up in a one-way conversation.
Working with social platforms:
Relationships are key. To be close to the sports teams and the paid media teams at these platforms makes everything easier in finding out about what new products are being beta tested so that Team USA can be part of any beta rollout. You can partner on different opportunities coming up or get more data or better optimize the data you are getting from the platforms.
Platform with which the USOC has had its greatest reach:
We've seen growth on all of them, but Snapchat is exploding for us. We were an early adopter of Snapchat, and while we have had to explain what it is to a lot of different people around the USOC, everyone has come on board with it and loves it.
Structure with NGBs, athletes, etc:
We’ve built a strong relationship with all the NGBs to keep us in the loop. I get emails or direct messages all the time saying, "We have this great event coming up. We’d love for you guys to cover it." That’s our goal. We’re an inspirational brand -- we’re the cheerleaders behind the athletes. We want to push and congratulate them. We rely heavily on what these NGBs give us. But we also send writers and video teams and social teams to these different events. We can’t cover every little thing, but we have to look at what does well on digital.
Working with corporate partners:
All the sponsors are very different and we work with them in different ways. A great example right now is something we just launched called “Working Out With Team USA,” and that's presented by Chobani. We brought in athletes and filmed them working out. The first one, which was released last week, was Jordan Burroughs. It was him telling his life story, which is pretty incredible, and that already has 3 million views on Facebook. It's a sponsored video series that came across natural and organic.
If you know anyone who should be featured for their use of social media, send their name to us at jperez@sportsbusinessdaily.com.
