D-backs Social Media Manager John Prewitt (@Dbacks) was working for an executive compensation research firm when he decided he wanted a career change and earned his MBA in Sports Business at Arizona State. It was during his second year of school he landed an internship in marketing and analytics with the D-backs. The next year, 2010, the D-backs hired him full time and a year later put its social media operations in the marketing department. He recalls, “At that time, brands were still trying to figure out what to do with Facebook and Twitter to connect with their customers, which I thought was fascinating. I had some ideas, which I presented to the team and they let me run with it.” Ultimately, that led to his current position. Prewitt added, “We’re constantly paying attention to what our fans are saying and looking for ways to interact with them. We try not to forget the social part of social media.”
SOCIAL SNAPSHOT
Must-follows: There are so many good ones out there, but I’d probably have to say Bleacher Report. They’re really pushing the envelope when it comes to creative content.
Favorite app: Instagram. There’s just so much cool content being shared there and it’s become a great way to connect with everyone and everything you love. Instagram Stories has also been a game-changer.
Average time per day on social media: Probably too much. I can’t wait until they make smartphone batteries that last an entire day.
How the team's social media changed under your watch:
When I first started handling our social media, I think we had about 85,000 Facebook fans and 6,000 Twitter followers. We didn’t have an Instagram yet and Snapchat didn’t even exist. Now we have more than 1.6 million fans who are following us across our different platforms. We’ve gone from sharing RSS feeds and typing status updates to taking our fans behind the scenes with professionally-produced photos, graphics and videos. It’s kind of crazy how much simpler social media was back then compared to how it is now, and it’s because smartphone technology has advanced so much in the past 5-10 years.
Types of content fans are wanting most:
I joke that our most engaging post of all-time would be a candid video of Paul Goldschmidt eating a Churro Dog in one of our throwback uniforms, which fans have a great affinity for. People, food and fashion -- that’s what social media is all about, right? In all seriousness, our fans want content that makes them feel like they’re part of the team, whether that’s with a cool graphic to celebrate a big win or a funny video that humanizes our players in a way that fans can relate to.
Philosophy on how content is used on social platforms:
Each platform has different functions and we do our best to cater our content accordingly. We post more often on Twitter than we do on Facebook or Instagram because Twitter is still more of that real-time, second-screen experience. On Facebook, we share a higher percentage of video content than we do anywhere else because that’s what works there. The same can be said of photos on Instagram. GIFs are more of a Twitter thing. That being said, there’s been a bit of a social media convergence with the platforms adding similar features over the past few years, so sometimes one size does fit all.
How D-backs manage social media duties:
We have two full-time employees and two interns dedicated to social media, plus we get a lot of support from our photographers, Clubhouse Creative graphic designers, DBTV video production team and from MLB’s digital group. We also have several other members of our larger department who are constantly on the lookout for great photos and potential content. On game days, our coordinator usually handles Facebook, Twitter and Instagram while one of our interns handles Snapchat and Instagram Stories. We create and source content from several areas and strategically determine when and where to share it with our fans.
On the team's Facebook Watch appearances:
We’ve played in two Facebook Watch games so far this season. Reviews from fans have been mixed, but it’s pretty cool that fans across the world get to watch us play. Most baseball fans outside Arizona probably don’t know our team very well, but we’ve gotten off to a great start and this has been good exposure for us. It was fun to see all the fan comments about the game and participate in the conversation. I know MLB and Facebook will use the fan feedback to keep improving.
What comes next for the D-backs and sports in social media:
I’m curious to see what happens with virtual reality and 360-degree content and how it impacts social media. It hasn’t gone mainstream yet because the technology isn’t quite there, at least at an affordable level, but we’re probably not too far away from people being able to use their mobile devices to produce high-quality immersive content. That’s going to create some great opportunities to engage our fans.
If you know anyone who should be featured for their use of social media, send their name to us at jperez@sportsbusinessdaily.com.
