The Sox would likely be #1, if it wasn’t for those damn Yankees. (Yes, I went there, readers; I’m from New England, so it’s like a law. Respect for Jeter, though.) Still, it’s an interesting ‘moneyball’ type of stat for social media marketers looking to connect fans and brands.
During the most recent World Series, the social analytics team at StatSocial ran an interesting report measuring the influence of fans following their favorite MLB teams on Twitter.
While the San Francisco Giants won the pennant this year, it appears they still have some work to do in the Silicon Valley area to attract a more influential following on social media. As it turns out, the New York Yankees topped the list with a “Twitter Pull” (StatSocial’s metric) of 1,416x, which means their Twitter account is 1,416x more influential than the average Twitter account.
Of course, we know that the NY Yankees also have a loyal following of celebrity fans with high-profile Twitter accounts, but even Jay-Z can’t be accounting for all of that influence. So StatSocial went a step further, cross-referencing the audience demographics of those fans, adding layers for gender, age, race, income, and then sought out their related interests and brands these highly engaged groups of fans also followed.
What @RedSox Fans Look Like On Twitter
In an infographic StatSocial created for Marketing Land, they were able to drill down into the Twitter metrics to see what brands and media networks Boston Red Sox fans were interested in outside of baseball, along with the relevant demographic stats.
How @RedSox Connects With Fans On Social Media
At the SMX Social Media Marketing conference (happening just two weeks from today at ARIA Las Vegas), we’ll learn a lot more about the social makeup of Red Sox Nation during the keynote conversation with Meghan Ryan, Marketing & Social Media Specialist for the Boston Red Sox.
In addition to talking tweets and followers on other social platforms, Meghan will share the stage with LA Kings’ social media manager, Pat Donahue, to talk abut the ins and outs of keeping sports fans engaged in the regular season and during playoffs, when it’s (hopefully) easier to come up with great content to share socially.
Watching how sports teams interact with fans is a useful teaching tool for social media marketers in any industry. As professional leagues and teams develop their brand voices online and leverage social in innovative new ways to keep the conversation going in the off-season, there’s a lot of winning strategies marketers can adapt for their own social efforts.
Learning to navigate the losses and the legions of disgruntled fans is also a skill pro sports teams often have the challenge of dealing with, along with other unique and difficult circumstances, such as controversial news and legal issues.
Walking the line between news-jacking and being authentically involved in real-time conversation, to being respectful in the face of tragedy, sports teams are also in a unique position to use social media to lift community spirits or raise awareness for charitable causes connected to the clubs.
We're all on the same team. #BostonStrong pic.twitter.com/gPqkMEjHl2 — Boston Red Sox (@RedSox) April 15, 2014
Whether a Sox fan or not, we’re betting all of the attendees at SMX will be listening intently to Meghan Ryan during the keynote panel, as she shares insight on how the MLB team has taken into account fan demographics, connects with social media audiences across different platforms and uses social outreach to engage with fans worldwide.
The keynote panel and networking reception immediately following is included in the EXPO+ pass, so if you’re game, register for that or an All-Access pass now, and we’ll see you in Las Vegas for an (unofficial) #RedSoxNation tweetup on November 19th!
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