As Director of Interactive Media for the Boston Celtics, Peter Stringer (@PeterStringer) oversees the social media entities of one of the NBA’s most successful, storied and beloved franchises. I caught up with Stringer recently and asked him about social media, engagement, mobile apps and how job seekers can help their cause through social media.
What is your primary objective in representing the Celtics brand via social media?
We can only host so many fans in our arena throughout the season, but there’s seemingly no end to the amount of fans who want to experience the Celtics whether it’s in the arena, on TV, the radio or online. Our fans actively seek out Celtics content and we need to have a presence everywhere our fans are willing to engage with us. Social media platforms allow us to direct interact with those fans without the middle-man, and it’s a powerful tool for us, given the massive audience we’ve built on social media. Right now, at almost 1.9 million Facebook fans, we’re the third largest team sports brand in North America, and at 85,000 followers, the fourth largest (North American team sports) team on Twitter.
What is the biggest challenge facing an NBA team (or any pro sports team) when it comes to social media?
The biggest challenge is the pace of change. It’s constant, there’s always something new to learn, and the rules of engagement and technology change on a daily basis. Facebook loves to roll out new rules or features with little or no notice and as marketers, we have to be ready to adapt. And from a league standpoint, some of the rules that are in place hamper our ability to market to some of our most passionate fans. Leagues really need to rethink how teams are allowed to engage fans and leverage corporate partners, and not just inside their own marketing territory. There’s opportunities well outside a team’s DMA upon which they currently aren’t allowed to capitalize.
About Brendan Wilhide
Brendan Wilhide runs Sportsin140.com, a site that covers sports and social media. He is currently co-authoring a textbook on social media for the sports industry. Follow him on Twitter: @BrendanWilhide and @Sportsin140.
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