Tierney Rocky's Blog

Since I grew up in a baseball family, I am a big fan of the game. This fact, coupled with my degree specializing in Marketing, meant I naturally found Brian Solis’ interview with the social media director of the San Francisco Giants interesting. Here are a few of the highlights, and my insights on them. (And I have to add: my dad would be proud of this post!)

Baseball is probably the most traditional sport out there, with strong roots in its past, typically slow to adopt changes. It is America’s beloved past time. Yet despite this, it has managed to adapt in today’s changing environment, making powerful use of social media. Why? Because as Brian Srabian said: baseball is inherently social. Fans have always enjoyed taking pictures of them selves in the stadium, and discussing game strategy or player performance with each other. Now, this sharing and conversing has progressed onto Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, where there is actually so much user generated content that teams must have their own social media managers to help compile, guide, and contribute to the online discussion.

As is expected from user-generated content, fans are the ones sharing their photos, videos and updates for the team, adding more value and credibility than if its source was strictly from the team’s social media manager. However Brian Solis urges viewers to think further about how sports teams can realize and leverage this, and how the value is not from the fact that fans can control the content, but because they feel they need to share it. Fans feel compelled, to share because they want people to be a part of it with them. I think this reality raises a good point about the need for community. People want to share their experience with others who understand the true value behind what they feel passionate about, so they have someone to relate to, or even show off to. These psychological reasons speak volumes as to why brand communities are so important. With these loyal communities now posting and discussing online, it has become that much easier for the team (much like a company) to monitor them and identify who their main influencers are that build up the rest of the community. This can be valuable information for detailed segmentation and targeting, as well as knowing which fans to converse with to continue the online discussion and attempt to engage other less-involved fans.

To watch the video: Brian Solis Interviews Brian Srabian