Social media can be tricky for sports teams to utilize effectively. The document provides ideas for how teams can use various social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Google+, and YouTube to engage with existing and potential fans. It suggests responding to fan queries on Twitter, using hashtags to promote events, sharing historical team content and polls on Facebook, tailoring content for different fan groups on Google+, and uploading videos to YouTube to increase discoverability. Examples are given of teams like Manchester United, the Los Angeles Lakers, women's soccer teams, and the Vancouver Canucks that effectively use social media.

2. Social Media
For Sports
Teams

3. Getting the most out of Social Media
can be tricky for all kinds of business,
organisations and even sports teams.
Many Social Media “experts” will tout
their alleged ability to drive “hundreds
and thousands of sales” from various
social media platforms, but if you have
that mindset, you are likely to be
disappointed.

4. For me, social media is for engaging
with customers (existing and
potential), or in the case of a sports
team: fans. You should be aiming to
make your team more accessible to
your fans and help them to feel closer
to you in any way possible.

5. As well as this, reward them with
some great content that they will
enjoy and potentially share. If your
content is shared, potentially your
team will gain new fans, or re-ignite an
interest from those who may not have
been following your team for various
reasons.

6. Not all of these ideas will be applicable
to every team, however there should
be plenty of food for thought for you
here:

7. Social Media for Sports
Teams | Social Media
Usage Ideas:

8. Twitter
Respond to queries – This could be
related to the cost of tickets, or
merchandise, or could even be as
straight forward as telling people what
time the gates are open for the game. If
you have a twitter presence and you
are asked a question, respond!

9. Twitter
Hashtags
If you are promoting an event, use a
hashtrag and try to encourage others to
do so if and when they are tweeting
about you. If you are providing live
updates, such as scores, use an
appropriate hashtag.

10. Facebook ~Facebook Pages
 The Facebook page has recently
switched over to the new “timeline”
format, which many have divided
opinions over. However, this timeline
feature provides a great opportunity
for you to display historical
information and media. If your team
has won trophies, create a timed entry
to showcase this, with images or
video.

11.  You should also look to promote
events, or host competitions on your
Facebook page to really engage with
your “likers”. Polls tend to get a good
response, so look to run those on a
fairly regular basis.

12.  The “tabs” aren’t as prominent any
more, however they shouldn’t be
ignored completely. If you have
something worthy of placing on your
Facebook page, such as special offers,
or even selected items from your
online store, host them within a tab.

13. Google+
 The beauty of Google+ is the circles
feature, that will allow different
content to be displayed to different
users in your circles.

14.  If you can get a lot of information
about your fans, such as if they are
season ticket holders, you could
present them with different
information compared to those that
may not be very regular attendees.
You’ll need to research thoroughly not
to upset anybody though!

15.  You could use the “Hangout” feature,
potentially to bring fans together with
the players or coaching staff for an
online chat session, that isn’t
particularly frequently used at the
moment, but could catch on in the
near future.

16. YouTube
 Youtube is the biggest video hosting
platform around, yet many sports
teams aren’t using it. If you are
hosting video content on your website,
upload them to youtube as well and
have your own branded youtube
channel.

17.  By naming the video titles
appropriately, your videos will be
found by those looking for your
content and you will also find that
they will appear in Google’s search
results.

18. Social Media For Sports
Teams | Who does it well?
 Facebook – Manchester United & Los
Angeles Lakers Manchester United’s
facebook timeline is full of great
historic content that fans and even
haters would enjoy looking through.

19.  The Los Angeles Lakers have taken a
similar approach, mixing up their
social media posts with current and
historic events. They also present a
huge memorabilia collection and host
a history of past players and coaches.

20.  Twitter: Women’s Soccer Team &
Vancouver Canucks
In the 2011 World Cup, having been
heavily engaged by the team, the fans
of the Japan Women’s team set the
record for the most tweets during the
final game, using the hashtag
#ladyballers.

21. Women’s soccer also dominated the
trending topics, with some stars of the
tournament, significantly increase
their followers.

22. The Vancouver Canucks are clearly
dedicated to the Twitter followers,
they even host “Tweet Up” meetings
to bring their online followers
together in the real world!