episode 11 of the dsmsports podcast w/ josh tucker of the l.a. dodgers

Best Of... L.A. Dodgers' Josh TuckerEpisode 11 of the Digital and Social Media Sports Podcast

On episode 11 of the Digital and Social Media Sports Podcast, Josh Tucker of the Los Angeles Dodgers discussed using social media to tell a brand story, learn what content with which fans want to engage, frame a story for every Dodgers game, and more.

What follows are some snippets from the episode. Listen to the full podcast on iTunes or DSMSports.net

@njh287; DSMSports.net


Josh's career path –

Went to USC, majored in CommunicationsConnected with professors in sports PR classes, including one who worked for the Dodgers and Kings; stayed in touch and reached out when social media job opened w/ Dodgers

He needed experience first --> So Josh first worked for a social media agency doing social media for various brands



Josh's career path (continued) –

A social media job with the Dodgers opened up and Josh leveraged more contacts to get an interview with the Dodgers; He came prepared with an extensive deck on what he could do for the brand

"Communicating and keeping in touch is the most important thing I can recommend..." (cites several internships and positions through networking and relationships)



"I can't keep up with the kids these days...my 14 year-old brother first showed me Snapchat, so it's good to have him as my 'social media consultant.'"



On getting started with the Dodgers -

"I was in the marketing department...there was no real structure or direction from the organization...""I came in and said 'We're posting too many ticket sales and too many sponsor messages...It really was learning from each other and working it into our strategy to really drive engagement."



"We serve the organization, every aspect of it...It's being in-tuned with (every department). I see myself as a hybrid of PR, marketing, and sales." -- Talks about recent formation of 'digital marketing department'



"Fan engagement is my #1 KPI and hopefully it always will be. Anything else is a benefit and I think the organization understands that."



"We are promoting our tickets sales in an engaging way that still adds our value to our fans...we've come to understand that's the way to go about it...Social media is like this extra arm of our marketing department."



Great example of LA Kings tweeting from inside a San Manuel (casino sponsor) suite and showcasing how it is to experience the game from a suite



"I'm trying to tell a story and it's the Dodgers brand story. It's not just about when we score a run and how we win. It's about the relationship we have with fans."



This episode's helpful too: Bit.ly

- A free URL shortening site; many use, but many don't maximize- Add a “+” sign to the end of ANY bit.ly link and that URL will give you stats about clicks and shares for your link over time- When creating a link, click the small pencil button and customize your bit.ly; it WILL increase clicks throughs!- Pay attention to the source of your clicks – Twitter vs. Facebook; facebook.com vs. m.facebook.com, etc.- Use the day part data to track the lifespan of a link and when links, all other things being equal, get the most clicks



"Driving conversation (early on) was easy because ownership came in and was committed to the idea of a whole new blue."



“My first month of being in the organization I had to get my posts approved internally and they wouldn't let me send an open-ended Facebook post for fear of negative comments.”

- But new ownership convinced Josh otherwise; fan reactions no longer discouraged, but welcomed because more positive...

"Since then, we have the most engaged fan base in MLB. It shows the passion of the fans and strength of the brand."



New owners were committed to social media from day one

"It was a process in educating them, as well...The Dodgers wwee hurt from not having success in the (early days) of social media...(At that time), the Dodgers weren't living up to the brand."



"We take a very analytical approach to all the platforms we're on. Unless we think we can provide value to a specific platform, we're not on it."



On deciding where to be -- cites example of Tumblr -

"We saw the impact and desire for GIFs...Tumblr is that platform...It's a cross between our Vine and Instagram now. We saw 1000% growth on the platform and had huge engagement per fan. We heard what the fans were saying and that was something they wanted more of."



"The conversation of (ROI on a platform) doesn't really happen..IF I can fit it into my schedule, I have the opportunity to do that."

- cites resources with MLB being very helpful to, for example, make GIFs for them by request



"Geo-targeting on Facebook is extremely overlooked...We often will geo-target and language-target posts around Ryu to Korean and Korean-speaking Dodgers fans." (example: tune-in messages)

"It's a global brand."



"As with any culture, you have to understand every language and culture; same with any platform and each culture."



Great insight about the @Dodgers' "Stay Classy, San Diego" tweet, in reference to a bench-clearing brawl between LA and SD, which, ultimately ended up in ace Zack Greinke sustaining a broken collarbone



"It's having a voice...but staying on brand. You can still have a personality on behalf of the brand, it's just understanding and finding that voice."



"Trying to come up with new content (for 162+ games) is difficult, but I benefit from being in Los Angeles. Every game, we try to have a different story, whether through a first pitch or national anthem or something going on in LA."



Major League Baseball Advanced Media's "Real-Time Correspondent" program has reprenstatives in every city that fulfill team requests for content from teams when they're on the road.



"With ticket sales, we have a robust promo schedule, so it's about coming up with a way to market and showcase those items."

"Fans get the FOMO of not being at (Dodger Stadium)."



"Being in-tune with the fan base and understanding what the fans want is one of the most important parts of my job."



"It's not always about the superstars, it's about finding the story lines fans want because they're funny or unique...(Our access allows us to tell those stories)."



@LAKings Takeover -

Kings reached out via DM asking if they wanted to take over account, help promote Stadium Series

"The funniest takeaway is that every sport is so different...understanding the flow of a different sport is insane."



This episode's shareable stat: In 2013, approximately 36 million people in the USA played fantasy sports...



Coolest celebrities that have tweeted with or about the @Dodgers:

Selena Gomez, Miley Cyrus, Rob Delaney (initiated a National Anthem singing appearance all through him tweeting at them)Seeing our feed after they tweeted about us was pretty epic.



Besides @Dodgers, teams with best Twitter accounts:

Giants, Mariners, Brewers, Rays...“It's because they have a personality and more important they have a strategy...It's so important that every tweet has a purpose. Without a strategy, it's just noise."



Josh's helpful tools for his work:

MLB Advanced Media (w/ analytics, content, etc.);

Bit.Ly - It's such an easy tool to monitor real-time traffic;

Adobe Social - social media management platform used by MLB and its clubs; Tweet Deck - It's the background of my computer screen (had 58 tabs open as we spoke!)



The social media platform to watch in 2014:

Twitter"I only see Twitter as a social media platform for sports growing and continuing to grow. Once more people get more educated about how to use Twitter...There's still huge growth and the real-time nature of it feeds into the human psyche."

- adds: "I do not think Snapchat has any place in sports."



Favorite hash tag in his time with the Dodgers: #ITFDB (It's time for Dodgers baseball)

"It started as a way to shorten (the phrase), but every day, at game time, that hash tag (dominates) our mentions because it is now completely integrated into our fan base. It's on our ticket stock, in the stadium...It translates incredibly well onto social...It's been the basis of tons of (social media) contests."



The social network the Dodgers do really well: Instagram, over 400,000 followers and the engagement is incredible; accumulated 30.8 million likes in 2013. Engagement per fan is highest, by far, on Instagram. We figure out what kind of content our fans like best, but still continue to learn the platform.



The social network he'd like to see the Dodgers improve on in 2014: Facebook - “Creating viral and shareable content on Facebook (and keeping up with) their News Feed algorithm...In terms of driving traffic and sales, it's the number one platform for us."



Josh's Social Media All-Star to Follow: @CespedesBBQ; @mike_petriello (Dodgers writer)

- Also a shout-out to #smsportschat - either active or passive live participation or reading the transcripts (of the Twitter chat).



Where to find Dodgers and Josh on social:

@Dodgers on Twitter and Instagram, Vine, Facebook, Tumblr.

@JoshBTucker on Twitter



Thanks so much to Josh for sharing his time, knowledge, experience, and expertise with the Digital and Social Media Sports podcast!

Listen to the podcast and find more episodes and content on iTunes and at www.DSMSports.net.

You can also follow me on Twitter @njh287


http://www.DSMSports.net/

episode 11 of the dsmsports podcast w/ josh tucker of the l.a. dodgers

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