Day #136: What do they do out there?
Sometimes coaches ask themselves "What do they do out there?" by watching their players on the field. In our field of communication for professional sports organizations we see tons of social media posts and need to know, what organizations, athletes, fans and media members are doing out there.
The rise of social media changed our work tremendous. Your organization don't have to be the first on every platform, more you have to understand the messages people put out in general.
Personally I'm since August 2009 on Twitter and like this social media network the most. Some of us grew up before, some right with, and some even after the birth of the three important social media networks Facebook (2004/02/04), Twitter (2006/03/21), Instagram (2010/10/06). This is why we are more or less natural with this way of communication.
Understand and adapt are keys for your success on social media.
Who is acting out there?
If a head coach of an ice hockey team has goaltenders, D-men and forwards to observe, we have to set an eye on 🏟️ sports organizations, 👟 athletes, 😬 fans and ✍️ media members. We also have our eyes on the action of 🏢 selected businesses/sponsors.
What do sport organizations do out there?
Sports organizations tell their PR stories, promote games/events and engage fans through contests. Also integrating corporate sponsors in the storytelling is an approach for sports organization. The third important field is responding to complaints, customer service issues and actively addressing public relation issues.
What do athletes do out there?
Athletes use social media to build their personal brands by expressing identity, setting statements (e.g., in activism and social justice) and they are engaging fans. Generating content and announcing breaking news (e.g., announcing contract signings) are elements that should and can be planned with the sports organization to make it a perfect-match for both.
What do fans do out there?
Our focus regarding fans on social media is their approach to send both positive and negative messages to organizations, athletes and media members. They also discuss sport news and are posting comments while simultaneously watching games/events – as a good for sports organizations.
What do media members do out there?
Sports media members use social media to report exclusive information (including speculative news) and to link to their articles on the web. Further they are commenting on sports news. A very interesting thing for sports organizations is, that media members are sourcing information (e.g., using tweets from athletes as a source) out of social media.
Do you have an explosive head now? 🤯
If yes, sorry for that. 😉 But no worries. Most of that stuff happens naturally. But this background definitely helps understanding and planning your smart moves on social media.
Have a good day,

Christian Dreier
cd mediateam Est.
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