Minnesota Football Gives Us Real Talk Via Twitter

We've seen lots of great examples of teams handling good news via Twitter. That's the easier job -- building excitement when things are hot. But a tougher question is what does one do when things aren't going good, when fans are more likely to vent frustration (or call for the head of someone) than to express optimism?

Minnesota Football shows us the answer, emphatically: Be Real.

Let's start by visiting the Minnesota Football Twitter page, here. (I screen grabbed this last week). What you'll find is the voice of Head Coach Kill broken into a series of Tweets.

Naturally, these are quotes given by Coach at a press conference. But you can also tell how they are amazing statements into the social feeds of fans.

And fans tended to respond well. See the examples below. They hear the right message -- that it's going to take time but this coach is right for the challenge. And he isn't downplaying it. Fans in turn amplify the message.

I have been pondering this for awhile, wondering what it could teach us. The conclusion I've made is that when times are tough it is best to embrace them and address the world through social media, much like you would do to try and convince a recruit to sign up for your vision of the future. It isn't about false hope. It is about being authentic and real, but doing it in a way that transforms the negative into a positive. "My job is to make those kids men. They're going to learn how to handle adversity and win." Amazing.

I have no idea if this will pay off in the wins and losses column. What I do know is that Minnesota Football has a brand that is about fighting through adversity, not running from it. About standing up to the challenge and growing through the process. And I wouldn't know this if it weren't for social media.

What's your challenge? What are you hiding from? What can you learn from the Minnesota Gophers?

Hope you're digging this. Come back on Friday as I break down more Digital Best Practices. You can also follow along on Twitter (I'm @andypawlowski, here) and on Facebook,here.

Andy