Picture this: a group of eleven people standing next to a mascot holding a ball on a court. You might assume it’s a basketball team, but that’s only part right. In this case, I’m scrolling through my Twitter feed and it’s a photo of the team behind the social media accounts of the Minnesota Timberwolves: eleven separate people working behind the scenes to produce content and engage fans.
Guess which team had the number one ranked NBA Twitter account for three years in a row until last year? Our very own Portland Trail Blazers. The big market teams who you would expect to rank high due to sheer numbers (such as New York, Boston, and Miami) didn’t even crack the top twenty!
So if it’s not the number of followers you have, what makes the best accounts? How do they connect with fans? How do they reach new fans?
First, they know the most likely reason someone would initially follow them: to know how the team is performing on the court, including stats, highlights, and game time commentary. Second, they know that fans want to interact with actual people and not a bot pumping out data. Not only do the best twitter accounts make the data visually appealing, they are witty with their words.
However, the best NBA twitter accounts give someone a reason to follow them beyond what is happening on the court. The best accounts entertain by including behind-the-scenes looks of practice, pre-game attire, the locker room, boarding the airplane— basically anywhere the typical fan doesn’t have access. They humanize the players by highlighting their personalities, including their work in the community. They creatively interact with other teams, accounts and capitalize on fan favorites. They also incorporate pop culture and current events. All of this makes fans feel like we’re part of the team, too.
The best twitter accounts stand out by striking a balance between being useful and entertaining, humorous and witty, honest and self-deprecating. They are all engaging and consistent. The end result? Fans feel like we’re interacting as opposed to just consuming.
So, how can we take a page out of this playbook and promote Oregon’s agriculture and natural resources?
All of this takes time to plan and create content to share on social media. Maybe you’re tired of spending too much time trying to do it yourself? Not sure how to start? Skeptical about whether it makes a difference? If you answered “yes” to any of those questions, Oregon Aglink can help. We have a new benefit for our members through a partnership with Western Insights Media, an Oregon-based social media brand management company focused specifically on natural resources. Oregon Aglink members can save on services to manage digital content, and it’s completely customizable, catered specifically to your business’ needs.
Social media is not going away. The natural resource industry cannot hide from it. We must engage – certainly not at the expense of face-to-face connections, but we have to be in the digital space where untrue news and myths about natural resource production proliferate. Information spreads too quickly to ignore its potential impact.
While the majority of brands connected to Oregon agriculture do not have a professional basketball team-sized social media department (or budget) coordinating their posting online, we can work together to leverage one another and promote Oregon’s natural resources as a team effort in the digital world. Email us at [email protected] to learn how your business and our industry can gain from this new member benefit!