In 200 words, please respond to the prompt as if you were contributing to the discussion:
All professional sports teams use social media to engage with their fans, giving
them a backstage pass into the daily operations of the organization. They also use
social media to communicate to their followers about special events and promotions that
are happening. No other means of marketing specialization reaches the team’s target
audience better than social media as people are following and getting updated daily on
exactly what’s going on with their favorite team.
The Detroit Tigers of Major League Baseball started the 2012 season with 55,000
Twitter followers. By season’s end, they had over 180,000 which was a 220% increase,
which gave them fifth place among all 30 MLB teams that year (Roni, 2012). In
addition, the Tigers started their 2012 campaign in April on Facebook with a PTAT index
(People Talking About This) rate of 3.15 and by the time they lost in the World Series to
the San Francisco Giants led the league in PTAT with an index of 30.6; nearly 10 times
what they started the season off with (Roni, 2012).
Detroit decided to use social media to promote an off-season event earlier this
year on January 24 called Tiger Fest, or in Twitter language #TigerFest. The event was
a meet and greet event in which the team only advertised on social media. Over 10,000
fans showed up for the event and it was a total success.
There were games for kids, face painting, photo booths among all of the chances
for fans to meet their favorite Tigers players. The Tigers also created a promotion for
fans waiting in line to upload a photo of themselves on Twitter and have a chance to win
free memorabilia if their photo was chosen by the Tigers’ social media department
(DeMarius0312, 2015).
The Tigers use four separate Twitter accounts to engage with their fans and
throughout the event uploaded photos of fans interacting with players and overall just
having a good time.
The event was such a success that Detroit decided that this would be an annual
event as so many people participated in an event that was solely advertised on social
media. Even Tiger players who participated in the event went to social media
afterwards to show their support for their team and #TigerFest.
Throughout the season, the Tigers do a lot of promotion using social media. One
of their fan favorites is something called “Tweet Your Seat” where fans will go on Twitter
and Tweet their seat number and if selected by the Tigers social media marketing team
will receive free merchandise and autographed memorabilia of Tigers players
(DeMarius0312, 2015).
Overall, advertising and promotion using social media for sports teams are a
great way to reach your intended audience and by their marketing departments
brainstorming endless promotions and giveaways is a great way to get fans involved.
It was hard to find a Bible verse to fit into this discussion as it has to do with
marketing and technology but one that I did find was Proverbs 25:11 “A word fitly
spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver.” I would have to say that given the
nature of marketing on social media is a smart way to speak to the masses.
References
Detroit Tigers Social Media Promotion #TigerFest (with images, tweets) · DeMarius0312.
(2015, January 24). Retrieved December 9, 2015, from
https://storify.com/DeMarius0312/detroit-tigers
Detroit Tigers Take a Bite Out of Social Media Supremacy | Amp Your Strat. (2012, October
24).
Retrieved December 9, 2015, from http://www.ampyourstrat.com/2012/10/detroittigers-take-a-bite-out-of-social-media-supremacy/
