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MLB clubs see social media gains in lead-up to season

For MLB teams on the field, spring training is a time to get ready for the season ahead.

Similarly for teams’ digital operations, March is when organizations ramp up their social media efforts, anticipating the six-plus months of games (and coverage) to come.

Teams this March saw increases virtually across the board for their Twitter, Instagram and Google+ offerings (see chart). Reasons for the gains varied by team and fan base, but in some cases, spring training offerings brought several clubs together in their efforts.

On March 12, for example, actor Will Ferrell’s outing of playing for 10 teams in one day created a buzz throughout MLB and the Cactus League.

“It’s just a reminder that we are in the entertainment business, and social media is a great way to connect with fans using content that makes people smile and laugh,” said Bryan Srabian, director of social media for the San Francisco Giants, one of the teams for which Ferrell suited up.

Three additional teams that rostered Ferrell on the night (San Diego, Seattle and the Chicago Cubs) finished March among the top four teams for “follower” increases on Instagram during the month. The Padres were up 14 percent, the Mariners were up 10 percent and the Cubs were up 8 percent. The Pittsburgh Pirates (also up 10 percent) rounded out the top four.

While there are some overlapping themes across various social media platforms, team officials say there isn’t one standard strategy that should be blindly applied en masse. As Colleen Maxwell, the Chicago White Sox’s senior coordinator of social media, said, “It’s important to us to understand our purpose and presence on each platform.”

The White Sox have gone so far as to write out a different mission statement for each of the social media platforms they use. “Once we created the mission statements, it was much clearer to see our strategy as a whole and develop ideas for each individual platform,” she said.

Neither Srabian nor Maxwell cited increased revenue as a core goal of their efforts — think process over result — but they did highlight the positive impact social media has had on their organizations as a whole. According to Srabian, the Giants employ an “80/20 model” in which 80 percent of the team’s content is aimed at engaging fans, and the remaining 20 percent is marketing-related.

“Revenue is the last thing we think of,” he said, though he did note that the Giants have seen “a strong increase in sponsorship-related content as a result of [the team’s] highly engaged social media fan base.”

“I think if you truly want a strong social media presence, to be fully engaged with fans, you can’t think of monetization. That will come in the end. The more focused you are on fans and delivering a truly entertaining presence, the more successful you will be.”

 
Craig Williams is associate editor of Resource Guide Live.

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