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Social Studies: Univ. Of Georgia's Jen Galas On Sponsored Content

After initially focusing on attracting national brands for its athletic social media channels, the Univ. of Georgia has now seen better value by focusing on sponsors in their backyard. UGA Associate Dir of Digital Services Jen Galas (@UGAAthletics) said, "In 2015-16, really, it was focused more on our national partners and things that were done through IMG at a national level. Partners that had a lot of schools, we all got similar content. In 2017, we started focusing on using our social platforms as a source of revenue and started approaching our local partners, and with the changing times, we started to see a value." UGA this summer created a "Countdown to Kickoff" content series, and when the sales department approached Galas with the idea of selling the inventory, she said that it had to be the right partner, a company with local ties. Atlanta-based Coca-Cola landed the sponsorship, which then found its branding on 38 pieces of content over 75 days. Galas: "Nothing says Georgia like Coke."

SOCIAL SNAPSHOT
Must-follows: The Dolphins, and that is pretty much on all of their platforms. They are exceptional at what they do.
Favorite apps: Twitter and Weather Channel.
Average time per day on social media: 12-14 hours. 

Typical day:
There is not a typical day. Between what sports are happening and what seasons we are in, if there is news coming out. I try to work with our sport platforms and help them get the best reach for what they are trying to do. That may be getting people to their matches, publicizing student-athletes and coaches. Currently I am working on reporting for our entire athletic channel with benchmarking and things like that.

Staff size:
In digital services, specifically, it's just me. But I have a team of incredibly talented students that help me a lot with graphic design and content creation. I work very, very closely with, for most sports, it's their SID. At that point, I turn into a resource for them and give them the content they need and the best practices to put it out. We worked with a design agency that came up with our social media templates. We have given those to every SID so they are able to create their own graphics. We have video interns who help the sports platforms with most of their video needs. We also have IMG staff that helps us with all of our sponsored and sold content.

Sponsored content:
We've taken a content-first approach in that we decide what we think our fans would want to see. If a corporate partner wants to come in and sponsor it, we'll let them, but very rarely do they dictate exactly what we are going to do. We try to find the things that have worked well for us and try to tie partners to that rather than have them come up with something on their own. It's something we are really proud of because it is a little bit different. We are one of the few schools that has figured out a way to do it.

New battleground:
As cliché as it sounds, social and digital have become the front door, really the front porch. It's what people see, it's how people consume content, it's how people get their news. It's become a platform to get information and for people to stand out. For a long time, people thought it's just a thing, it's just a thing we have to do -- it's a checkmark. Now people are realizing that acts as a 24-7 billboard for your program. You don't have to drive past it on the highway, you don't have to listen to a broadcast on the radio or see the game. You can consume that content wherever and whenever you want. That has become really important to fans and the brand. You have to be engaging, you have to be on top of your game all of the time.

Tech you cannot live without:
My phone. It's with me constantly. When I don't have it, I feel like I'm missing a limb. I can't function throughout the day without it.

Who is doing social and digital well in college space:
You have to take into account staff sizing or what their missions are or goals for each department. Clemson has been at the top of the game and have been leaders for a long time. Ohio State does it well. South Carolina does it well, Auburn does it well. Washington does it well. What I find interesting is schools who are in the FCS level do it very well, too. I've been there and know what the staff sizes look like. Samford is a school that does a really good job with it.


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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