When it comes to sports, there are always two games: the one on the field and the one in social media feeds where fans consume stats, recaps, and battle it out with other diehards online. College and professional sports marketing teams have long leveraged the power of visual media to bring the action on the field to the small screen in order to inspire fandom, fill seats at games, and even help ramp up the crowd’s energy that in turn inspire athletes on the field. As any team will tell you, a devoted, engaged fanbase is integral to the success of the organization as a whole. And a social media manager is basically the quarterback of online fandom. But in a crowded, noisy space what content stands out?
It doesn’t have to be fancy or particularly high-tech: In 2015, the Golden State Warriors used simple GIFs and emojis to troll the LA Clippers. The Denver Broncos used Twitter as a live feed to spotlight the plays that brought down the New England Patriots. And the Atlanta Hawks created a Spotify playlist for their fans. Below are more ideas about how you can use social media to bring attention to your team whether you’re trying to rally support for a club sport or designing multimedia campaigns for the NFL. And even if you’re rallying fandom for something else, like a business or a cause, there’s still something to learn from a sports team’s social media playbook. We turned to our own social feeds to find creative ways to take an offensive approach to engaging fans where they consume sports content the most—on their phones.
