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Social Studies: WNBA Dream's Dan Goldberger On Crowded Atlanta Market, Standing Out

WNBA Atlanta Dream Dir of Digital Media & Marketing Dan Goldberger (@DanGoldberger) is heading toward his second season with the franchise and has not been afraid to experiment with the club's social media platforms. He said the Dream this season will experiment with Snapchat Spectacles to see if they are something fans might enjoy. Goldberger said of adjusting to social media trends, "We're only as a good as how quickly we can respond." He also has emphasized teamwork among his staffers. Goldberger: "Social is teamwork. We have to work together to put out the best content and be the best in the WNBA.

Carving a place in the crowded Atlanta sports market:

SOCIAL SNAPSHOT
Must-follow
: I follow a lot of people in the social marketing field, especially on Twitter, like Gary Vaynerchuk.
Favorite app: Instagram. Sometimes I go on a  rampage and post too much in a month, and sometimes I won't post anything at all for a while.
Average time per day on social media: Probably eight hours a day, and then at home I do a lot of two screening.


It's tough. We're definitely a niche sport right now. There are hardcore fans, and then we have our ancillary fans. But it's not competition. We're embracing our big brother in the NBA and the other sports here in town. We reach out to see if they can share stuff on their digital platforms or how we can work with them. MLS is another team coming into the market and they have huge base to start out with. We've reached out to them to see how we can best work together. We want to be good partners in this city.

Working with other teams through social media:
The industry is so small that we all overlap, and knowing we can work together only makes us stronger. 

Women's sports using social media differently to stand out:
For us, the goal is to highlight the athleticism of the women. There is a stereotype about women basketball players where a lot of people say, "I can do what they do." You can't. They are the best athletes in the world at what they do.They may not be playing above the rim, but they are playing at the rim and they are making incredible moves and things that make you say, "Wow." We may not have the star factor of a LeBron James or a Kobe Bryant, but we're getting there. We have players like Elena Delle Donne, Maya Moore and Candace Parker making names for themselves in the industry.

Which teams and companies do social media right?
Everyone says Clemson, and one of the things they do great is teamwork. The Hawks are also good. They wanted to change their brand, and they used social to help change the way people look at them --  and now they're seen as more of a fun and embracing brand. On the business side, everyone's still trying to sell something. Consumers are not stupid. They follow brands because they appreciate that brand. When you follow a brand, they are selling you something. They aren't on social media just to give you an experience. They are looking to create ROI.

Platforms on which the Dream has their most success:
It's really growing on Instagram. We've started to give over access to our players to take over stories. It touches all age groups. Facebook has also been successful. We sample on Snapchat and are going to get more involved in that.

Noting milestones, such as 100 days out from season's start:
It's huge. We can remind people we are going from our planning season to our hype-up season -- that we're coming back and that we exist. And especially since we are moving facilities, we wanted to highlight that in a fun way.


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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