A Real Game Changer – Effective Communication through Social Media

Jan 25, 2013

Social Media is a real game changer for sporting organisations,  was the message to emerge out from January’s sports networking session hosted by the Federation of Irish Sport and legal partners Leman Solicitors.

The London 2012 Games was dubbed the ‘Socialympics’, never before never before had the public such a level access to the athletes, gaining as insight into their preparations and experiences leading up to and during the games. A social media revolution is taking place with technology advancing on an almost daily basis – check out this video:

 

 

 

In recognition of need for organisations to stay ahead of the game in online communications, the theme of Thursday’s discussion was ‘Effective Communication through Social Media’ with an emphasis on how CEOs/Leaders of National Governing Bodies for sport can use social media to communicate and promote/protect their sport.

Over twenty representatives  from fifteen sports took part in the interactive discussion, led by social media guru and CEO of SocialMedia.ie, Conor Lynch, which provided participants with opportunity to meet with other leaders in sport in an informal setting to share experiences.

Using relevant Irish sport examples, Conor led the group through the different social media channels, latest trends and must have measurement and monitoring tools, leaving the the participants with some top tips on effective use of social media:

Facebook:

  • Post pictures more frequently
  • Decrease posting text only updates, fans do not interact with these
  • For maximum reach, post at 3pm or 8pm. Fans are most active and likely to share
  • Post consistently, at least once a day

Twitter:

  • Create a Twitter account if not already in place
  • Tweet latest news relating to the event/organisation
  • Tweet regularly, at least twice per day to start
  • For maximum reach, Tweet shareable content at 1pm
  • Use hashtags in your tweets

Engagement with followers is vital and Conor looked overseas to find the best example of how a sporting organisation is making social media work for them. Superbowl finalists, the Baltimore Ravens, are second to none when it comes to engaging with audiences on Facebook and Twitter – you can check out their pages here:

Baltimore Ravens Facebook           Baltimore Ravens Twitter

‘If your not measuring, your not managing’ – here are some top tools that you can use to see how you social media channels are performing, and maximise thier usage:


Here are some of the slides from Conor’s presentation:

 


The Federation of Irish Sport would like to thank Conor Lynch and Barry O’Sullivan of SocialMedia.ie for sharing their expertise with us and to Leman Solicitors for hosting the event.

Don’t forget to check out the Federation of Irish Sport’s media channels: