A Pitch-Hikers Guide to Smashing Sports Social

A PITCH-HIKER’S GUIDE TO SMASHING SPORTS SOCIAL

Fan engagement, mobilising a community, breaking the internet – David Levin, Executive Creative Director at That Lot, part of the Weber Shandwick Collective, gives his top tips on how sports organisations can make it to the promised land by nailing it on social media

We live in a world where live sport is at our fingertips. And those very same fingertips have round the clock access to favourite players, favourite clubs, and even your favourite James Milner parody accounts. But this level of access is only of benefit to you if you know how to harness it – how to give fans what they want and turn individual passion into an internet-breaking online community. With that goal in mind (arguably goal of the season), here’s some tips for nailing a match-fit sportssocial presence.

Punch Above Your Weight

One of the worst social media crimes, particularly in sports social, is mediocrity. Fans want tailor-made access to content they can’t get anywhere else. Shows like “All Or Nothing” and “Drive To Survive” have made that a reality, with huge success. Posting standard stock pics from training no longer cuts the mustard and is unlikely to cut through the noise. Because it’s more boring than James Milner.

Set The Tone

Something that sets average sport-social accounts apart from excellent ones is tone of voice. The sweet-spot tends to be capturing the tone, and some cases the humour, of the fans and being brave enough to let it shine through. Most important thing? It needs to feel human. A great example of this is Leyton Orient FC. The tone of their community management stops thumbs and pleases fans. Such as their recent take-down of grumpy Man United influencer Mark Goldridge. And if you needed further evidence of how important words are in sport, what pray tell is the latest addition to the Oxford English Dictionary? That’s right, “squeaky bum time”.

Add Values

In 2022, you need to stand for something. Whether you’re a brand or a club, there’s an expectation for you to be a force for good. The meteoric efforts of Marcus Rashford to harness social momentum and change government policy have raised the bar here. To many, Rashford isn’t just a footballer, he’s an activist and a hero.

Get Creative

Some of my favourite sportssocial accounts are the ones that look beyond sport and lean-in to culture to create their content. Bleacher Report are heavyweight champions of this artform. They recently nailed using a BBC show, Industry (plus quality Photoshop skills), to react to a Barcelona defeat. I’m also a fan of sports-social accounts that zero-in creatively on a very specific niche, such as ageing 1980s footballers.

Get Reactive

All social media strategy should have reactive at its core. Reacting in real-time to what’s happening in the world, and finding a way to make it relevant to your fans, is how you reach the promised land. Southampton FC smashed this out of the park when they hit top spot in the Premier League for the first time in their history with their tweet, just a day after Donald Trump had posted the same as the US election drama unfolded. Or may I present to you again Leyton Orient (maybe

I’m a closet Orient fan?) – here’s how they reacted to Harry Kane scoring the penalty that took England to the Euros final. It’s short, sharp and guaranteed to resonate with Orient fans and beyond.

Honesty is a Solid Policy

In sports-social, there’s a lot to be said for honest commentary, even if that means accepting defeat. One of my favourite tweets of all time was from the boxer, George Groves, a couple of hours after he was defeated by Carl Froch with a punch that would’ve flattened a bus. Rather than make any excuses, Groves put his hands/gloves up and took it on the chin.

Don’t Chase Followers, Build a Community

More than ever, social media is about community. Partly because we’ve all spent two years indoors realising we actually quite like human interaction, and partly algorithmically: platforms prioritise content that sparks conversation, so you need to be followed by people that actually engage meaningfully with your content. Ultimately, there are commercial implications for growing and engaging that community as well. Giving them the content that they feel compelled to react with and share, showcases to prospective commercial partners an engaged community that they will be desperate to tap into.

With this in mind, consider posting conversation starters that fans will want to jump on. Put your fans up-front in your feed. And make sure you engage in two-way conversation. Because at the end of the day, social media is a game of two-halves – you and the fans.

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