USING TWITTER, FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM & OTHER POPULAR PLATFORMS TO EFFECTIVELY MANAGE YOUR MESSAGE AND PROMOTE YOUR BRAND.
WHAT ABOUT ME? The challenge for schools. 2
OUR NETWORKS ONE AT A TIME FACEBOOK Content-rich posts photos and videos TWITTER Short, quick informative posts typically with a micro-link attached INSTAGRAM Visual representations of events, student-athletes. SNAPCHAT Est. February 2009 Est. February 2009 Est. February 2014 Est. October 2014 Photo-texting app popular with teens use Stories to promote events Primary audience = parents Primary audience = media Primary audience = students Primary audience = students 3
LIVE EVENTS BREAD & BUTTER MHSAA Basketball Championships Two weekends in March Live Tweets In-game updates, scoring Follow-Up Editorial content on Second Half houses all post-game information, hardware glory shots, interviews, quotes, stats, etc. 4
NEWS NECESSARY EVIL MHSAA Announcements Press releases, administrative news Linkage RT, link to other news outlets Staff Stuff Use staff to generate ideas, content they likely have something to promote, too. 5
OUR STORIES COMMUNICATING OUR BRAND Where Are Our Fans? Where Are Yours? Student-athletes, parents, coaches and officials are online. They are online, mobile consumers of a product we provide and must promote effectively. New media allows us to do that immediately. 6
PLAN THE WORK CONTENT IDEAS FOR SCHOOLS SCORES & SCHEDULES Include link to school website & print-friendly schedule. CORE VALUES Sportsmanship? Respect? Success? Multi-sport athletes? Community pride? Volunteerism? FUN Show fans why they should be AT the game rather than seeing it online. RECOGNITION Tweet, Tweet, Tweet What do you stand for? Sell the excitement! Use names when possible! Tag your athletes generates buzz and creates sense of community. 7
WORK THE PLAN Where to begin? What can schools do to increase their reach? How can you bring more people to the gate on Thursday night? How can you sell more school merchandise? What tools are available to make this fast, easy and affordable? SCHOOL STRATEGY Student-Athletes Scores Core Values Fun Recognition Links Photos & Video Parents/Fans Media Interaction News & Announcements 8
DUTCH NATION Holland + Instagram = FUN HOLLAND 9
HARD LESSONS SETTING AN EXAMPLE BRAND AMBASSADORS View student players and fans as promotion assets. Most vocal, energetic and active fans of your school. Use them! ENCOURAGE THE RIGHT WAY TO GET INVOLVED Monitor, observe, praise those who use platforms properly. RT student-athletes with mature voices. Give public kudos to those representing the school as you d like to see it represented. 10
HORNET SWARM Saline High School Saline HS leverages their brand via Facebook and Twitter. Every sport, every tournament, every score all can be found on one (or both) of the platforms. AD Rob White took most on himself to start but now incorporates professional photos, student-produced highlight packages and sports columns from local media. COMMUNITY Fans, parents and studentathletes know and expect news about Saline to come from the school Saline Athletics Facebook and Twitter accounts. BEHIND-THE-SCENES Captures moments cameras don t catch. Tells the story from a unique, different, personal angle. CANDIDS If he s in the gym, Rob is taking photos on his iphone. Immediately shares and creates credibility. SUCCESS STORIES Emphasis on teams advancing in post-season tournament. 11
WAYS TO CHEAT TIPS & TRICKS Cut corners and save time. Work smarter, not harder. Include these in the tabs you open every day online. Incorporate social into your everyday activity. Hootsuite Manage and schedule posts to multiple social media profiles on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Foursquare and more, all from one app 12
WAYS TO CHEAT TIPS & TRICKS Cut corners and save time. Work smarter, not harder. Include these in the tabs you open every day online. Incorporate social into your everyday activity. Hootsuite Manage and schedule posts to multiple social media profiles on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Foursquare and more, all from one app Google Alerts. Stop scouring the internet alone. Create automatic searches and email alerts for your school name, your top athletes, your admins. 14
WAYS TO CHEAT TIPS & TRICKS Cut corners and save time. Work smarter, not harder. Include these in the tabs you open every day online. Incorporate social into your everyday activity. Hootsuite Manage and schedule posts to multiple social media profiles on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Foursquare and more, all from one app Google Alerts. Stop scouring the internet alone. Create automatic searches and email alerts for your school name, your top athletes, your admins. Pixlr. Photo editing, re-sizing, insert text. Basically everything you ever wanted from MS Paint but never figured out. 16
YOUR STORIES COMMUNICATING YOUR BRAND What s the First Thing You ll Do? 18
CONTACT US FIND US ONLINE! (+517) 332-5046 (+517) 242-5117 www.mhsaa.com andi@mhsaa.com www.facebook.com/mhsaasports @MHSAA 19
Q & A 20