Unplugged: Mid Major Success Shows Us Social Media Needs Emotion

I want to start with a couple pictures to set things up. Note these are two different yet similar pictures from big early season wins. These are two Mid-Majors, Drake of the MVC and Middle Tennessee State of the Sun Belt who were not supposed to win. But win they did, in striking fashion -- Drake over Iowa State by 9 (a team that whacked them by 48 last year) and Middle Tennessee State over UCLA by 20. Check these pictures, both of which pulled from websites covering the games.

I LOVE these images. Love them. Why? They are a signal of the purity of the game. And why you love the game. Or why fans of those teams are so excited right now. (The energy in those fist pumps in the Drake student section is nuts!)

Now let's turn to the sources of realtime reaction - Twitter. I'll look at both Drake (here) Middle Tennessee State (here). The first checkpoint -- were they timely and active -- was passed. Both programs gave updates - more of them as the energy in the game grew. And both programs came back after the game -- Drake with a RT of Coach Phelps, MTSU with a shoutout from the TV coverage.

Now comes the harder thing... Emotion. Take a peak at both screens below and I'll come back after the images.






I think it is safe to say that the energy from these tweets doesn't quite hit the energy in the images. It is a hard bar to hit -- and one that words can sometimes struggle to capture. But big wins over big conference schools do not happen every day. Scheduling big teams is tough, and sadly when you win, it is even tougher. That means we need to maximize every big win in social media to rally our fan bases, recruits, and alums together.

Here are 5 tips that can help all programs seize the moment with emotion.

1. Photos. Why not use photos yourself? You have more access than anyone - the all access pass to your team. Find ways to share that emotion, rather than simply the facts, when magic happens.

2. Have a Plan, in Advance. I don't think we should ever be surprised our team won. Believe the win is going to happen, and then you are ready to rally immediately. Before the game starts, work out the plan with your team on how you are going to use this win to grow the fan base.

3. Retweet fans. No one is more emotional than a fan base. Find the best ones and retweet them, often.

4. Don't be afraid to be bold. That doesn't mean you have to put someone else down. It just means it is ok to use emotion in your copy and in your hashtags.

5. Arrange for Access. When fans are going nuts, bring your coaches (or players) onto Twitter for a quick Q/A after the game... or the next day. Why simply reserve that right for the local radio station? You can control the conversation and you can build your brand!

Disclaimer - I'm a Drake Bulldog alum (and former player) and couldn't be happier for this win. It's only one win, but it shows progression and the team is still young with potential to grow.

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

Andy