How would I advise Sports Stars on using Twitter and avoiding the pitfalls?

This is a topic that I will talking about tonight on one of our national treasures, BBC Radio 5 Live, so I thought what better way to go through what I would say than write about it here on UKSN!

This is the theoretical opportunity to have my favourite player sat in front of me and I am there to teach him all I know about Twitter and empower him with the tools to do a great job with his fans and take his brand onwards and upwards.

 

1)                  Ask them the right questions

My first and most key question would be ‘why do you want to go onto twitter’.  A simple enough question one would think but one that can show their motivations and start to be able to shape some thoughts around it.

If it is ‘to chat with my mates’ or ‘cos everyone else is on it’…. it could be the start of a long day (or a very short one).  First thing to note here is that Twitter is not for everyone, there have been very good examples of sports stars rushing onto the platform who then realise how intrusive and demanding it can be….and then rush away again.

If you look at the personalities of the top, most engaged sports stars on Twitter they are of a more outgoing type with Rio Ferdinand, Ian Poulter, Kevin Pietersen and Robbie Savage coming to mind. 

Some will be more comfortable with Facebook (Federer, Nadal, Beckham, etc) whilst others want more depth and prefer to blog (or video blog/podcast)….there are so many options out there for people nowadays to express themselves.

If it is only for the above reasons then they should either be advised not too or they will be on there only a short time before they get bored and try something else.  The top tweeters are those who have a purpose and motivation, whether that be to; show what life is like away from the pitch for a footballer (diet, exercise, etc), showcase their personality for work away from the pitch (stepping into broadcasting for example), help promote the sport that they love to a wider audience or promote the charities they support to push up publicity and donations.

These all give good insights into them and will help developing the training and strategy they are after.

Other questions that would be important to find out the answers to before you start are;

How digitally savvy are they?  They will influence how much time is needed on the basics and the type of training they will need (do they know about retweeting, replying, direct messaging? Best not assume they do).

What are their passions? Is there something away from the pitch that they love, what is it that they would talk about with the most enthusiasm.

 

2)                  Develop some simple rules and stick to them

Once on Twitter we should be all too aware as to how much they are used as a news source for not only blogs but news stations and tabloid papers.  Some may not be aware and think that if their friends are the only ones that are following them that they are just talking to them.  Some examples and testing with them at this point would be advisable.

Now they are on there and tweeting they need some kind of mechanic that stops them saying things that they really shouldn’t be.  This is where the simple rules step in and should be developed with them.

When we had the BBC event back in February it was interesting to hear Jake Humphries say what his method was that stopped him tweeting after a few drinks.  He was, and still is, very conscious that his tweets are posted onto the front page of the BBC Sport website.  Suddenly those messages that just sit on Twitter are opened up to much larger audience and could be very costly indeed.

Now for a player it could be something a lot simpler, like having a simple saying such as;

“Don’t tweet what you wouldn’t say to your mum/gran” or “Think before you tweet” or “This is my brand, keep it safe” or “Would I say this to a journalist?”.

Whatever works for that person and can act as a safety net.  It probably wouldn’t do any harm at this stage to point out a few mistakes that have been made before and how those who made them have learnt from them.  Plus, if the club/NGB has a social media policy then go through it with them to ensure it is understood.

With the IOC printing their rules & regs yesterday, the penalties for those caught flouting the rules are severe in the extreme.  Would an athlete put at risk 4 years (and more) hard, dedicated training and competing to be banned from the London games over some tweets??!

 

3)                  Have some interesting content

This is a crucial part as you want it to be interesting without being forced so where do you start?  A good point will be from the first question you asked, ‘why do they want to be on twitter’.

This gives you a starter for ten and you can build it up around that.  They keys here are to be authentic, natural and insightful.  Give as much information as you are happy with giving without it becoming intrusive.

This could be with what type of weights/training have been doing (without giving away any they shouldnt), what their diet is, sponsor shoots they’ve been on, trips for their charity work, some friendly banter with team mates/friends,

As well as giving out information they also need to be prepared to listen and respond, this could be on an ad-hoc basis where just answer questions as they come in or a more structured approach where they set aside a ½ hour every day or two (dependent on the numbers they get) to put together a personal reply.

Another easy way for them to engage better is to run competitions occasionally to give away piece’s of signed kit, etc.  This gives the opportunity for people to become involved with the player and get hold of one of those ‘money-cant-buy’ items that are treasured for a long time.  It can be as simple as a retweet mechanic/answering a simple question or more complex with uploading a photo or video to show their love for the team or player for a chance to win.

Finally, there will a lot of requests to retweet charity messages or upcoming grassroots events which are a nice way to help out others with a message but smaller audience.  What type of messages get retweeted is very much up to the player.

A lot of this is trial and error, have a go and see what people find interesting and what people don’t.  No-one is going to go on there and have it 100% as soon as they press their first button.  Rio has been tweeting for almost 2 years now and Poulter even longer.  It takes time to get it right and build up a dedicated, enthusiastic audience…… time, energy and hard work.

 

4)                  Have a plan for dealing with the ‘Haters’

This can be something that will make or break a player when it comes to Twitter.   It is such an open platform that for every 1000 fans you get there will always be a couple of people on there with the intent to give celebrities/players abuse.

Most of the time you can ignore the detractors as they will be one-off comments and I am sure players will have heard worse on any given Sunday (or Saturday or Wednesday).  But sometimes someone will overstep the mark and take to a personal level that is beyond acceptable.

One of the most successful methods of dealing with it is to retweet those messages in a very public naming and shaming.  This is something that Robbie Savage, Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter have done before.  They can also block those people who abuse them and, if it is really bad, report them to Twitter and ask for them to be banned.

There is no place for the abuse that is sometimes given out.  You can imagine some of the comments made to the likes of Wayne Rooney, Robbie Savage, Tiger Woods and the like.  It is one of the side effects if you like of being famous and in such a public space, so having a plan for when it does happen will make dealing with it much easier.

 

Robbie Savage

Here’s an example of one of our leading lights when it comes to football and Twitter, Robbie Savage, and the work that his PR company Macesport did with him from the start.  It wasn’t a case of just jumping in and not knowing what he was doing, quite the opposite.

Robbie Savage has built a very engaged audience and has taken to Twitter in a massive way.  Now his ‘reason’ for going onto the platform was to “engage with football supporters and give them an inside view of what it is like to be Robbie Savage”.

Now he has done that through using a number of different forms of content, things like;

Pictures from inside the changing room

Pre-match singing videos on the way to the game

Food that he eats after games

Retweeting the abuse that he gets (more on this in a moment)

Competitions to meet him and have a #savagenight  out (top tending topic for 8 hours one Friday in November 2010)

Videos from fans to win #savagenight

Opening up debates on grassroots football with the use of videos about his experiences

Making friends with Rio Ferdinand on Twitter

Raise awareness for Alzheimers Society (his father is suffering from Pick’s Disease)

Bring the dressing room banter to the masses

Twitter has certainly helped bring across Robbie’s obvious personality and aided in making that transition from footballer to broadcaster.  On top of showing potential bosses what type of personality he is there is the large following he has also gathered whilst doing it.  This is invaluable for those at the radio/TV stations as it helps to promote their shows and station.

Finally, the platform is proving a treasure trove of information for broadcasters and journalists alike.  I am sure Robbie uses it during his shows to gage what people are saying and what they should be talking about, much as Jake Humphries does whilst live on the F1 shows.  It has so many uses dependent on what your aims are.

 

I hope this has proved somewhat enlightening and an interesting read at the least.  Being on Twitter doesn’t have to be complicated but a little planning, honesty and fun can go a long way.  What would add to these pieces of advice?

About author

Daniel McLaren
Daniel McLaren 820 posts

Dan is the Founder & CEO of Digital Sport. Can be found at sports industry events and heard every week on the Digital Sport Insider podcast. @DanielMcLaren

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