November 2016 – Digital and Social Media Sports

Dolphins Deliver With Visually Stunning and Player-Facing Content

The Miami Dolphins are located within an empire of eye candy. From beaches to babes, there is no limit to the visual panoply of pics that command the attention of fans living in South Florida.

The Dolphins clearly prioritize their visual content — from real-time photos to touched-up pics and even video montages of photos peppering their content and telling their stories. This is all underpinned by a desire to endear individual players to fans and serve as a strong second screen and content supplement to the plays taking place on the field.

I caught the Dolphins at a good time, as they earned their sixth consecutive win to get into the playoff picture, beating the San Francisco 49ers at home fairly easily. Each of the big four platforms was utilized, with only Snapchat feeling a bit under-served, and the Dolphins delivered again and again throughout game day Sunday with eye-catching visuals that were attractive whether you were cheering Fins Up or not.

While many tend to take it for granted, the Dolphins did a great job of feeding fans on Facebook with an array of content to engage fans with visuals and player-focused content. As is the case with most teams, the Dolphins got a lot of sponsored content ‘out of the way’ in the day and hours leading up to the game, with content-laden posts/graphics/links tagging and including a sponsor. They also re-purposed some of their creative over this time period, but it was likely not noticeable to fans, with likely only a handful seeing all the posts from the Dolphins Page at this time. Also notable was an evergreen Facebook cover image, differing from some teams that will change week-to-week to promote that week’s game.

The Dolphins had an impressive array of video content leading up to the game, from talk with a commentator, hype videos, and an excellent 360-video allowing fans to look around the locker room and the field in the hours before the game. Once the game began, the volume decreased, but I was struck by the end of quarter score graphics — not just static graphics (and not sponsored), but score update VIDEOS that showcased not just the score, but some awesome shots from the game action during that quarter. A great way to (likely) drive more impressions and engagement, and to make the most of the Dolphins’ sweet collection of photos from the game.

As the game went on, the Dolphins shared some additional photos besides the score update videos (and each of the photos were nicely branded with a ‘Miami Dolphins’ pennant logo. After the game, the Dolphins shared some great, short videos featuring players personally speaking to fans and one player talking about how great the home crowd was. It doesn’t get much better than that! Like others, there was no native video highlights from the game (and not much pushing website traffic to view clips, either). The game day ended with a couple sponsored content posts to cap off a fun day for fans on Facebook that had them exposed to tons of appealing content in many forms.

Of course, the busiest platform for the Dolphins, and one where we saw more visual storytelling and player promotion, was their Twitter presence. We saw the typical hype videos and preview content on game day, but we also saw player arrivals (typical to what most teams share on Snapchat) with some well-done (not amateur) photos of players arriving and preparing. By singling out players one at a time, particularly out of their pads and unis, it really served to individualize them effectively for fans. And even the sponsored content (presented by Bose) were fantastic visuals that felt very organic for Bose, typically showing players using Bose gear. Their video content of pregame arrivals and prep were labeled Bud Light Quick Hits, an easy way to insert a sponsor with content the team knows fans will love and want.

The Dolphins were mostly consistent in effectively tagging players (and even their venue) in tweets — an easy, but oft-overlooked way to get more engagement and users for these accounts. There was a heavy volume of quick visual content to get fans ready before the game started…and the next tweet was a 49ers scoring play. I did appreciate that they gave some info about the play (Kaepernick to Hyde) and also tweeted out lineup and player health info themselves (no RT’s of a PR account or team reporters).

When the Dolphins began making big plays, the team whipped out some creative, retro-feeling (like Nintendo classic-ish, which is all the rage on social) GIFs to celebrate big plays. They all looked very similar, but were personalized (and it looked great) for specific players, at times. These GIFs were also used for scoring plays, as there was no special [or sponsored] graphic for scoring plays. Each was then followed up with an image (branded with that Dolphins pennant logo), giving some stats about the drive. The team also did well to share some highlights from the NFL Snappy TV account, quoting some NFL tweets. Each quarter update was given by a graphic (same as the first frame on their Facebook videos),. but no video here, as that was Facebook-only [do not mind that, at all].

Staying with their propensity for pics, the Dolphins continued to supplement our game-watching experience with fantastic photography. In lieu of play-by-play, the Dolphins used text sparingly and let their photos speak for them – showing a sick catch and celebrating a big play. They did continue to provide scoring updates (including the opponent, which is refreshing), but did stay silent for the last 15-20 minutes of the game as fans sweated out a last-minute drive by the 49ers with a chance to tie the game. When the clock hit zero, the Dolphins came out with a final score graphic, exhaling along with all the fans. Some teams try to articulate the emotion of the moments of a tight finish, with language and emoji, but the Dolphins opted to let fans focus, celebrating in the end (and then serving up post game content).

After the game ended, the Dolphins told the story of the game with more awesome photography, to go along with graphics and some player retweets, as well. The team also went live on Periscope (they are among the best on the platform and their Monday presser with Head Coach Adam Gase had over 40,000 viewers) for post game press coverage. They had the same two videos of players addressing the fans on camera right after the game that we saw on Facebook. Again, love this. The only link in any Twitter post came late in the day, with a link to a game recap. They also included a sponsor on one of their photo tweets, but it fit right in with all the great visuals we saw throughout the post game and throughout the day from the Dolphins on Twitter.

Of course, the Dolphins and their dedication to eye-catching imagery, was impressive on Instagram. The pregame window featured a collection of pregame shots and on-field warm-ups, along with a hype video and some sponsored content. The Dolphins would continue posting during the game, with some sick content all branded with the Miami Dolphins pennant logo, as well as end of quarter score updates.

The Dolphins did not rack up a ton of interaction with their posts, but the visual ‘wow’ content continued, with some strong raw images and well-applied edits or filters.There was n re-purposing of video post game, but just some additional photos, particularly close-ups of players, building that identification with fans.

The Dolphins are among the few NFL teams to utilize Instagram Stories, and the product is a stunning collection of imagery. Not necessarily a cohesive narrative, but a well-curated photo offering. They had a nice branded intro to their game day Story and then featured the build-up to the game with an awesome array of images. It makes it easy to quickly consume a visual story of the Dophins pregame.

The Story did not end once the game began, either. More thoughtfully selected images that showed game action and exuded emotion kept Instagram users engaged as they tapped on while watching the game. The Dolphins utilized Instagram Stories to feed more of the Instagram content they love to fans; not so much a unique and compelling use, but I enjoyed, and no doubt other fans did too, seeing a steady stream of stunning visuals throughout the game day, fit for the Instagram platform.

The Dolphins dedicated themselves to incredible imagery on their platforms and do not spend as much time on Snapchat, which, of course, is more about ephemeralness and rawness. The Dolphins had three pregame posts, including some shots of their sweet throwback jerseys for the game and a quick personal word from a player, and utilized the game day pregame filter. Not sure if they have a home stadium geofilter or not.

Following the Dolphins’ social media on a game day is a visual delight, with iconic photography and both real-time and prepared content. The player imagery showcasing their individuals is second to none and they create opportunities for fans to fawn over (and engaged with) players. They are also prime Periscope users, dedicated to the platform (and their numbers reflect it).

The Dolphins may still be working to reach their potential on the field, but they know and showcase their strengths on social media, capturing the eyes and emotions of fans, one image at a time.

Postscript: On Monday, the Dolphins shared a marvelous montage of fan videos showing their perspective and the ambient atmosphere on the final decisive play of the game, which cemented the win for Miami. Very cool!

Podcasts

Episode 81: How Josh Decker and Tagboard Bring Communities Together

Listen to episode 81 of the Digital and Social Media Sports podcast, with Josh Decker, CEO at Tagboard.

episode81

73 minute duration. Show format contains separate parts. Subscribe to the podcast via iTunes or listen on Stitcher

Posted by Neil Horowitz Follow me on Twitter @njh287 Connect on LinkedIn

Fan Development, Social Media, Sports Technology

Sports Teams Start Using Snapchat Spectacles and Make Fans Feel Part of the Team

Another day, another new toy for social media and sports, as Snapchat’s Spectacles (remember, Snapchat is a camera company, not a social media company), have arrived on the scene. It’s like Google Glass + GoPro, but cooler and more intrinsically connected with social media and a network for distribution.

This past week, two sports teams — the Minnesota Wild of the NHL and the University of Miami Hurricanes football team — got a hold of some Spectacles and became the first major sports teams to start creating content with Snapchat’s new product. No best practices, no tried and true concepts, just pure experimentation and using the Spectacles to deliver new content in new ways to fans that they could not do without Spectacles.

The best part of Snapchat has been the raw, uncut access to teams fans have gotten, and Spectacles allows fans, through the lens of the trusty social media manager, to not just be in the room as an onlooker, but to truly feel part of the narrative, part of the team. These were the moments that stood out to me for both teams, when it felt like the fan watching was part of the pregame walk past all the cheering fans (for the Canes) or another member of the circle kicking around the soccer ball before a game (as we did with the Wild).

Just like there’s no comparison to the goosebumps induced when a player makes eye contact with the fans or speaks directly to them, Spectacles offers the opportunity for immersion. The behind-the-scenes content, in and of itself, is highly effective, but is taken to another level when fans feel like an active participant, instead of a passive onlooker. It drives that deeper engagement and connection that teams are after in their social media efforts.

The rest of the content seen from these teams’ first forays with Spectacles gave a different, first-person POV into the game day experience. The Hurricanes took fans on the field pregame (but this was understandably less participatory than the previous content), while the Wild got creative in trying to find other unique ways to give fans a perspective they hadn’t experienced before. This included seeing what it’s like to have a view on a ZAMBONI ride and even put us behind the t-shirt cannon with the mascot, firing shirts into the crowd. There is a lot of experimentation left to come, and teams will get to spread their wings of creativity to see what works well with Snapchat Spectacles.

More teams will get their hands on Spectacles and, no doubt, we’ll continue to see more novel and new ways to use them to produce compelling content. The biggest takeaway, for me, from these initial uses is to, like with any new toy, consider what Spectacles allow teams to do than they couldn’t do before. For Spectacles, the ‘whoa’ moments came when the Spectacles made fans feel like another player on the team, not a fly on the wall, but another participant. I imagine it’ll be awesome when a player dons Spectacles at practice, inside a pregame huddle, etc. In this sense, it’s like a more accessible, ore social version of GoPro, complete with features that make Snapchat different, too, like filters, quick video edits, quick sharing to the masses, and, eventually, the integration of player-generated and fan-generated content to weave first-person POV stories unlike ever before.

Social media has allowed teams to create everlasting connections with fans more than ever before – driving emotional investment with the team and players. Spectacles offers a new way to make fans feel a part of the team, to build attachments that new tech like VR and AR promises. Delivering the content and telling the stories is now easier than ever, the next step is to make fans feel like they’re not just watching the stories, but part of them, feeling the emotion, seeing the little gestures and idiosyncrasies that social media managers take for granted, and making these larger-than-life figures come to life. I can’t wait to see what lies ahead as Spectacles re-define spectating and fans will feel ever more connected and engaged.

College, Digital, Social Media, Sports Technology, Streaming and Video

Adapting and Experimenting the New Norm for Social Media and Sports

The two most frightening words in the English language — status quo.

In an age when content and news is absorbed and delivered instantaneously, when industries are disrupted seemingly overnight, and when consumer behaviors evolve just when we were catching up, flexibility is essential. The team at West Virginia University Athletic has embraced and executed upon a mindset of being in control of their own digital destiny, and eagerly exploring encouraging avenues.

One of the first steps in this direction was deviating from just about everyone else in the country by making their website an internal project, eschewing the SIDEARMs and CBS Interactives of the world, in favor of more control and more self-serve customization and ability to adapt and change on the fly.

“(Having our own website) is really the flexibility of doing what we want when we want to do it…,” said Grant Dovey, Digital Media Manager for WVU Athletics. “The website I look at is CNN.com. If you look at CNN, sometimes it won’t look the same… Right now (on our website)…if we win something, maybe I change it and make the whole top of the page one column (for example, instead of thirds)…”

It may seem subtle, but jumping onto the back-end of the website and revising the overall template and presentation to account for the news of the day or the newest feature or social feature of the moment offers impressive flexibility. It’s more than website administration, though, it’s an attitude of looking for ways to optimize and to get better on a daily basis.

Social media and sports pros are often in an advantageous position in which representatives from the social media networks are eager to work with them to get their massive audiences active on their platforms, as well as sampling and maximizing their newest features.To be sure, many are too busy or succumb to a suspicion of more work or resources needed to try something new, possibly at the expense of something tried and true. But the only way to discover something great is to find a way to try it., before the season’s hours turn into days and months, and you blink and it’s the last week of the season.

“I am all about trying new things,” said Dovey of working with social media networks to help WVU Athletics get the most out of them and work with newer features. “…If (social media platforms) have something new they want to throw our way, I’m all about it…Just continuing to try anything new is what we’re down for.”

Yes, there is shiny new toy syndrome. But there is also the opposite (insert witty name here). The best are always keeping their eyes and ears open, though, looking at everything they’re doing, digitally and socially, through the lens of their fans. It’s not about keeping up or staying ahead, being the first, or just being different for the sake of being different. We must not be afraid to deviate from the safe and comfortable, and seek to create a better experience or better content or fans. Master your craft, but don’t get so good at your routine that you’re not ready to adapt to what happens tomorrow. Tell your stories, but be prepared to present them in newer and better ways. And don’t get seduced by the safety and satisfaction of status quo.

Team Reviews

Social Media Team Review: Bills Pick Their Moments to Fan the Flames for Fans

Nobody circles the wagons like the Buffalo Bills. Or, at least that’s how the saying goes. I followed closely along with their social media coverage of a road game win on a recent Sunday at Cincinnati (note that road games oftentimes feature less content and manpower for pro sports teams, including many NFL clubs).

The Bills take a thoughtful, timely approach to social media — with a lot of engaging, endearing, and informative content leading up to the game, before shifting into more of a game coverage mode, with just enough emotion at the right times to throw gas on the fire for their fans, while still serving as a source of info. They came in prepared, reacted to the ebb and flow of the game, and kept the content coming, even into the Monday following the game.

As is the case with many NFL teams, particularly in the pregame window, Snapchat was such a unique, effective (broadcasting) platform for the Bills on Sunday. Yes, we had the obligatory plane boarding and suitcase pics, but these were made better by players egging for the camera, including some playful poses for one group. These little glimpses of fun and personality make fans go from rooting to loving, eliciting some sort of emotion in fans. The Bills also had an opportune use of Snapchat’s temperature filter to show a ball-sy Bills player out for warm-ups shirtless. They even captured some Bills fans on-site in Cincy.

Warm-ups are often a time, when the relationship between the social media person and the players is right and one of trust (and the social person when and to whom they can or should go for content) can be seen at its finest. The Bills shined here getting some personal interaction with Shady McCoy on camera, as well a timely shot of a d-lineman dancing. Way to be ready to capture that priceless moment! After some solid pregame access of players getting psyched up to take the field, the Bills shut down Snapchat for the day. This is an area where some NFL clubs stay active all game (or are active at halftime and/or post game), but the Bills’ game day use of Snapchat on this Sunday was 100% pregame, even after an exciting win and (no doubt) happy flight home. Still, some good work in the pregame window on Snapchat.

[NOTE: The Bills do have a solid home Snapchat geofilter]

The majority of their attention, and really a source of almost all other content [and more] seen on other platforms, the Bills’ Twitter presence was very active, particularly pregame and post game. Their in-game tweeting was timely and typically informative and noticeably a bit lower in volume than many other clubs (but refreshingly so).

The pregame window was busy with a vast majority of sponsored content (similar to Facebook, but heavier volume on Twitter). Despite all the brands and logos, the Bills have taken care to present their sponsored content with value added, whether a GIF featuring United Airlines showing their travel, a funny cartoon to report the weather, and content from Bose and Tostitos, among others, that added value, among many others. The sponsorship felt relevant and never forced, and even had an element of engagement with their Selfie contest. Definitely a lot of brand impressions, but also good content for fans, for the most part.

The rest of pregame featured some of the typical game prep content seen elsewhere, as well as a pic destined for virality of a player out for warm-up shirtless. Though the most extensive pregame content was seen on Snapchat, there was more of a focus on information and even some retweets of players and reporters. The game began without much fanfare and the Bills, from there on out, mostly reported scoring plays and turnovers, often whipping out a few pre-made, customized-for-player GIFs. Good to see they were prepared for their running back Lesean McCoy to pass Marshawn Lynch on the career rushing yards list, with a nice graphic they shared across platforms. Their template for end of quarter / half updates were well-done (not branded) and they eschewed additional graphics like drive summaries, stat graphics, and the like.

There is no single way that NFL clubs disseminate team info on Twitter, but the Bills are among those that (mostly) choose to do so by pointing to their PR account or team reporters. The Bills, as mentioned, mostly were active with scoring and turnover updates, but had some solid pre-made graphics in the can ready for use. Among in-game content was also a sponsored “Photo of the Game” (selected quite early for such a lofty declaration! Ha). As the game progressed, the Bills injected a little bit of voice into tweets, including a little swag around good plays and a solemn emoji when passing on news of McCoy’s injury.

The infusion of emotion actually increased in the waning minutes and seconds of the game when the Bills win was still in question. This is the only spot when the Bills threw out a couple of tweets just to post, well, something, because they could sense the emotion of the fans (and likely seeing Twitter going a bit nuts). Many teams will do this throughout the game; the Bills only did when it mattered most. After the final whistle, the Bills served a final score graphic (and, have to happily mention, got a final score graphic [the same one] on Facebook instantly, too!).

The Bills did not go live with any video after the game, but passed on an array of content for their fans to see after the win. It was primarily photos and quotes (just a few), as well as a subtle mocking of a cliche? They also shared a Snappy TV clip o a touchdown play, but did not share any highlights during the game itself. The Bills didn’t go heavy with volume, but remained attentive. Overall, their Twitter presence is prepared, thoughtful, and fun; not a lot of fan interaction, but they are clearly paying attention and reading the fans.

The Bills were heavy on Facebook in the days and hours leading up to the game. As on Twitter, there was a lot of (quality) sponsored content and preview content prior to the game, but no hype videos sometimes seen from other clubs. The visuals were strong and eye-catching, however, mostly seeking website traffic as the goal.

There was much of the same sponsored content seen on Twitter, and some unique stuff, too, along with pregame photos and a natively uploaded video of the players waiting to head to the field. They were not shy about posting (which was good), filling their fans’ pregame feed with a decent volume of content.

Once the game began, volume on Facebook slowed down considerably, with just the sponsored ‘Photo of the Game’ in the first quarter, a halftime graphic, and posting of the McCoy rushing milestone graphic seen elsewhere. After the game, the Bills posted a final score graphic, with a link to photos, followed later by a link to game highlights. The last post of the night was a promotional graphic offering free shipping on merchandise purchase of $50 or more, in celebration of the win.

The Bills had a couple of eye-catching visuals on their Instagram, but it was not a main focus on game day. Their most memorable post on Instagram came a few days prior, with a unique print (Prisma-ish) image with the caption ‘Protect the rock.’ On game weekend, it was mostly a source of re-purposed content and graphics that were well-designed and curated, but not unique to the platform. It showed a bit with a closely cropped graphic on Saturday and a CTA on their Selfie contest asking fans to submit pics below (in the IG comments; they can link to their IG post, I suppose). Their feed was still a nice visual sight, throughout the day.

The Bills were not too busy with Instagram during teh game, but did post some well-chosen professional photos to post during the game. They did not use Instagram as a place for score updates or score update graphics, sticking just to pics. The Bills did not use Instagram video or utilize Instagram stories, as well.

The Buffalo Bills have a dedicated fan base built up over decades of tradition and dedication, of ups and downs. The Bills don’t overwhelm them with overwhelming amounts of content, but they are clearly thoughtful, prepared, and pointed with their social media strategy, and do well to monetize it, also. Fans and sponsors are well-served by the Bills social media presence, delivering what fans expect, want, and need on social media on game day.

Analytics and Data, Sports Venues

When Big Data Meets Real-Time Actionable Insights

Following along the recent Sports Business Journal Sports Marketing Symposium in November 2016 [see recap] and one thought shared via Twitter astutely articulated the future.

The sports and entertainment world is more adept than ever at collecting data — from every transaction, every click, and even every movement, digital and physical. A method of collecting such data was step one. The next phase was funneling all of this data into a query-able database, typically known as a ‘data warehouse.’ (We’re talking terabytes of data here, folks). Then, analysts could use that data to draw insights, visualize reports, and understand the who/what/why/when/where more than ever before to create actionable segments and insights, to improve fan experience and precision marketing.

But, as Russell Scibetti suggests in his tweet (and Scibetti and KORE Software are among industry leaders in this space) computing power and programming acumen is at or near the point when such actions can occur in real-time and in a more precise and personalized manner than ever before. The visionary refrain is the notion of thousands of individual experiences for the thousands of fans in attendance at games and events.

It’s AI telling you when to leave based on where you live and the current traffic, where to park and enter the venue, where to get your preferred food and beverage (or have it pre-ordered for you in an app), maybe a welcome message from your favorite player while you’re making your way to your seat, a reminder about free face-painting for your kids (yeah, we know you have kids), and so on (and this is barely scratching the surface).

With so much data informing artificial intelligence mechanisms and increasingly more data making such mechanisms increasingly smarter, we are indeed on the precipice of an incredible new era of fan experience. When the entire experience and venue seems custom tailored to you — a Truman Show-like reality enabled by big data and actionable interpretation and activation of big data.

Personalization is the new expectation. And the power to personalize has never been great.

College, Sponsorships

Is the Future of Small College Athletics Best in a Bundle?

Disseminating content is easier than ever before. Virtually gone are the days when TV networks, newspapers, and radio decided what content got produced and to whom it was made available. And while the big college athletics conferences have big money TV deals still, for the smaller guys, at the D2 and D3 and NAIA levels, the opportunity to allow their fans to watch their games is wide open.

With Facebook Live and Periscope, with tri-casters and live streaming, small but adept and talented college athletics programs can now produce their own broadcasts for their fans and alumni to watch. While they may not generate six or seven figures in terms of viewership and website/social media traffic, the consistency and the compelling reach they DO command is worth considering.

But big brands often don’t have time for small buys. And the Learfields, IMG Colleges, Fox Colleges, and even their smaller counterparts like JMI Sports and Van Wagner aren’t yey vying to manage the digital media rights of the hundreds of small schools with viable athletics programs all around the country.

The best solution, in the informed opinion of CSU Monterey Bay Director of Athletics Kirby Garry (who spoke with me for a recent interview) is to unite…and then those numbers will command some considerable attention.

“(Small Colleges like us) are probably not in the Learfield world, even though a lot of us are on SIDEARM, which is a Learfield company and some of our licensing stuff is now with Learfield,” said Garry. “…At our level, collaboration at the conference level – 13 California institutions…I think we have leverage. But we haven’t done that as a conference…to get together, to see if we have some shared inventory…That’s on us, as athletics directors at universities to start driving that…”

While taken together, the audience size and breadth is indeed impactful, the content coming from the smaller institutions is not being produced by ESPN or Fox or a wealthy network like the Big Ten or Pac 12 Networks, among others. If agencies and brand are going to buy in on the content and properties these schools own and produce, they need to achieve a certain, consistent-enough across the conference, standard of quality. It’s all easier said than done, but, for Garry, it can be done. The eggs will come before the chicken, but with the promise of chicken (money), the eggs (vendor and the institutions themselves [yeah, I love analogies]), are [or should be] willing to invest, knowing there is revenue as the new paradigm comes to life.

“I think it’ll take some investment from a conference-wide positioning, in terms of what we want. I think we need to go through that, the CCAA, as a group. Who is our target audience? What are we about? What is our story?…Where do we sit?” said Garry.
“…We have to spend some money to get us up to par…Our campuses are small and humble and don’t have a lot of infrastructure…so how do we get (consistently quality production)? But I think technology and the level of expectation people have, and some of the platforms that are out there and the vendors that are out there supporting schools like us.

“It’s little by little, but I’m a big proponent of (going at it) at the conference level…”

So what will the future of the business of small college athletics look like? There’s likely no single answer because every school, every category of schools, and every conference is so different with their infrastructure, fan base, sports, and objectives. But where there are fans, there is opportunity. And with a wide open ecosystem of content accessibility and production, an inflection point is near. The good news is that it’ll be a win for all. However it comes out.

Sponsorships, Team Reviews

Social Media Team Review: Titans Try To Take Fans There

I’ve never been to Nashville (I hear it’s a great city). But, after spending a football Sunday with the Tennessee Titans, when they hosted (and clobbered) the Green Bay Packers, I got a terrific taste of what’s it like at a Titans game, through the magic of social media.

The Titans, like every organization, can’t be everywhere all at once, but they focus on platforms they want to pepper at the right time, repurpose content when possible, and, ultimately, try to give fans a sense of incredible access and closeness to the team, the game, and the experience.

From morning through post game, the Titans kept fans continually engaged on Snapchat. There is clearly some good collaboration and teamwork going on to set the scene and try to have fans not miss anything. The story begins with the obligatory player arrival shots and a shot of the empty stadium. But then, I also liked a little taste of the tailgate, including live music and caricature drawings (and a sweet Nissan green screen activation), before cutting back to the behind-the-scenes of pregame player huddles, high-fives, and intros.

After giving a good glimpse of the pregame flyer, the Titans social media team didn’t retreat into pure Twitter mode. They had a sideline presence throughout the game, giving fans an up-close look at players celebrating after big plays, as well as a front row seat at halftime for an emotional military family ceremony and reunion (those will never get old). Impressive presence and added value with this sideline content, and good to see there’s enough in-game, on-field connectivity to send some Snaps! Notable, however, that the Titans never did use the NFL scoreboard filter nor did they use much of their Titan Up geofilter.

The content kept coming (including use of their geofilter) form the sideline and even captured some un celebrations, as well as a post game meeting of the Titans young star QB Marcus Mariota with the veteran star QB of the Packers, Aaron Rodgers. Worth the effort just for that! This was where the content did end, however, with no shots of an excited locker room or post game pressers. The lack of locker room content may be due to football operations not wanting the social media team in there (I’m sure it was a happy locker room after this win). But, regardless, a dedicated and good job on Snapchat that added value for any fan checking it out.

The Titans were scoring a lot and scoring quickly in their dominant win over Green Bay, which meant they had a busy Twitter account throughout the day and the game. But the Titans were prepared to execute — with a clear strategy, a mix of real-time and pre-made content, share-worthy stats, and some cursory pregame and postgame engagement. They started out with some player retweets, as well a little bit of fan and influencer interaction (including their 12th man for the day, PGA golfer Brandt Snedeker). They also shared a Fox PROCast (a great source of player-driven content), and shared some prepared graphics and videos to set the game day. A simple, but nice touch with the photo of the official lineup sheet to report inactives.

After a decent volume of pregame, prepared content (the pregame intro and access was mainly on Snapchat only), the Titans went into game mode, showcasing a bit of swag and personality, certainly enabled by taking the lead very quickly. We saw an array of player-customized scoring GIFs, template ‘Scoring Drives,’ some SnappyTV NFL clips, and distinct language, but not a ton of emoji usage.

The Titans also shared a handful of stats (not in graphic-form), which was a nice addition for fans and different from other teams that often present this kind of content with retweets of team reporters or PR accounts. They did pay some attention to retweet-worthy content from influential accounts and sporadically retweeted during the game. The Titans did report Packers scores, but typically never provided the score with such tweets. Lastly, while Snapchat gave a look at a tearful halftime military reunion for Veteran’s Day Weekend, Twitter took a break for the Titans at the half.

The Titans continued to embrace an excitable, fun voice on Twitter as the outcome of victory became increasingly certain. The Titans finished off their win with a score graphic (with photo from the game) that showed the final score, sans sponsor logo. After teh game, there was no live video, but a few direct quotes tweeted from the post game. Throughout the game and the post game, but not 100% of the time, the Titans did use the Twitter handles of players in their updates and posts.

The Titans continued to stay active on Twitter in the post game window and later Sunday. They gave us the “Surface” (sponsored) Snapshot of the game, the requisite player retweets, and some in-game video. They also shared a lot of website story links and some post game graphics, which were sharp. (Though one with player names and stats was one that had to be pinched to zoom to see at all). Twitter is a busy platform for the Titans, but just about every tweet has value and is thoughtful and they do infuse personality, real-time and prepared content, along with share-worthy photos and stats.

The Titans didn’t spend a lot of time on Instagram, but what they did do presented strong visuals. They are one of several NFL teams that do not consistently utilize Instagram stories. Their volume of activity was certainly lower on the platform, compared to Snapchat and Twitter. They had some carefully and thoughtfully selected professional photos to capture some of the pregame on-field and re-purposed a pregame graphic used on other platforms. Once the game kicked off, there were no Instagram updates for the Titan, besides halftime and final score. The engagement metrics do not seem to be quite as high as other platforms for the Titans (or for other teams on IG).

After the victory, however, the Titans Instagram came back alive with a lot of well-selected photos and winning-feeling captions, including emoji. The Titans stick to primarily [well-curated] Getty/AP photos, employing some filters, or their Instagram content.

Similar to Instagram, the Titans do not put a lot of time and attention into Facebook during the game, though they do a bit more pregame and post game. Like others, preview content the day / hours before consists of sponsored posts and graphics, an emotion-stirring hype video, and a game day graphic. The Titans also had some unique, tailgate-themed content on the Saturday before game day.

After the pregame hype video, Facebook was mostly idle during the game, with the only posts a halftime score graphic and a similar final score graphic. Even after the big win, there was not much Facebook content, with just two more posts — a link to a website photo gallery and a link to a game recap. Despite the limited activity, the team’s performance led to a decent volume of activity on the final score graphic, but overall Facebook is not where the Titans prioritize their efforts.

The Titans go into a game day with a plan — to be in the right place at the right time and to have the right content ready to go. They cater to their more deeply engaged fans on Twitter and Snapchat and pepper their content with highlights, stats, voice, and retweets. Their social media presence serves as a stellar second screen for fans who had a solid social media companion to go along with a big win on the field.