Snapchat’s Growth in Sports Marketing

That’s not a selfie your player is taking. It’s a “snap.” Everyone’s doing it. And by “everyone,” I don’t just mean teenagers.

Check out these statistics:

• 15 percent of the American adult population reported using Snapchat
• Thirteen percent of 35–44 year olds are on Snapchat
• 60% of smartphone users, ages 13–34 years old, use Snapchat
• The demographic with the largest current usage growth: 18–35 year olds

That means middle school students, high school students, college students, and their parents are regularly using this social media platform. And because this is where your primary target market is investing their attention, YOU should be investing attention to it too!

Snapchat isn’t just a photo-messaging platform anymore. With the “story” feature, sports organizations are able to story-tell to their followers through photos and 10-second videos. Score updates, behind-the-scenes content, and fan contests are just a few of the ways sports teams are using Snapchat to brand themselves.

Recently, Jonny Gamet, Sports Information Director for the Bob Jones University Bruins (NCCAA D1), and Kaitlyn Unruh, Video Production Assistant for the Greenville Swamp Rabbits (ECHL), were kind enough to answer some questions about their teams’ uses of Snapchat.

When did your organization begin using Snapchat? What was the thought process behind the decision to use the platform?
Jonny: We began in December 2014, but we really didn’t start using it steadily until the Spring of that year. Snapchat is an ever-growing platform, but it wasn’t until recent that most sports teams and organizations began to use it. We found that it could be a great way for our fans to connect to our teams through the bjubruins account.
Kaitlyn: The team had an account last season under the old name (Road Warriors), but once we launched our rebranding in August 2015, we had to start the Swamp Rabbits account from scratch.

How is the fan following and engagement on your account?
Jonny: Snapchat doesn’t allow you to know exactly how many followers you have, but we have over 500 followers. We’ll get between 400–475 viewing our stories.
Kaitlyn: Right now we have about 190 people viewing our story. Depending on which player is in the picture or video, we will get up to 10 screenshots.

How many people are responsible for overseeing and creating content?
Jonny: There is one main person responsible and then probably three others who post occasionally (e.g., a team takeover where a team will post content from a trip).
Kaitlyn: For the most part, I am the only one. On Snapchat you can only have one device logged in at a time, so it can get kind of complicated if you have several people trying to run the same account from multiple phones. I also think consistency is key when managing social media accounts, and I try to be semi-consistent in what is posted to the account. But on the other hand, I do think that occasionally switching things up and having a different perspective can be good as well.

Do you have a schedule for posting content, or how do you determine when to post content?
Jonny: We do. The nature of Snapchat is such that we don’t really schedule the “content” as much as the events we are going to be snapping/providing content for. For example, we wouldn’t necessarily say, “Take this picture at a men’s basketball game,” but we know that we will do several snaps leading up to and during the event.
Kaitlyn: On game days you can usually expect to see some warmup snaps, players walking in and out of the locker room, and a few videos from the game (scores, face-offs, players). I also try to go to community events with some of the players to show a different side of the players.

What kind of content have you found to be the most engaging with followers?
Jonny: We find our most engaging content is our “Fan Friday’s,” which is a scavenger hunt-type series of posts. People have to find our mascot, Brody, on campus to win prizes. Fans also love content from our teams when they’re on the road, since many of our fans don’t get to see the teams when they aren’t at home. Snapchat gives fans a “sneak peek” into behind-the-scenes content that a majority of our fan base never gets to see.
Kaitlyn: Last week we had a player takeover where one of our backup goalies took over the account for a day while the team went on the road. Any time a picture of a player gets posted, the screenshots go way up. Fans also like it when players take a selfie and sign the picture.

What kind of suggestions would you have for a sports program that’s deciding whether or not to use Snapchat?
Jonny: I would say if you are going to get Snapchat, do it well. Don’t just sign up to sign up because your fan base will quickly see that was your intent. Talk with your players, staff and younger people in your organization to see what they like to see from their friends and followers on Snapchat, and then seek to implement similar ideas from your account. It is a very popular platform and provides great access to your organization, but you also have to balance that with “informational” content. Snapchat is a unique way for your fans to connect with your organization. If you have the time and creativity to tackle this platform, it will provide a great source of engagement and content.
Kaitlyn: I would highly recommend that a sports team open a Snapchat account. It is a great way to interact with a different demographic of fans that you may not reach solely on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. I like being able to engage with fans on a more personal level than our other social media accounts. Many times fans will send snaps to our account of them getting ready to come to the game, or they will let us know that they are watching the game! It is fun to get conversations started through Snapchat. On Facebook and Twitter you have to maintain a certain level of professionalism, but on Snapchat I feel like you can let that slide a little and just have fun.

Would love to hear how your sports organization is utilizing Snapchat!

Big thanks to Jonny Gamet and Kaitlyn Unruh for taking the time to answer questions! Give them a follow on Twitter: @jonnygamet and @kaitlynFUNruh

If you enjoyed this or benefited from it at all, could you do me a huge favor and hit the heart below? And be sure to follow me on Snapchat: tonywmiller!