Episode 31 of the DSMSports Podcast w/ Grace Hoy of ASU Athletics

Best Of...Grace Hoy on the
Digital and Social Media Sports Podcast
Grace Hoy, Social Media Coordinator for Arizona State University Sun
Devils athletics, was the featured guest on episode 31 of the
DSMSports Podcast.
What follows are some snippets from the interview. Hear the full episode
on www.DSMSports.net or download it on from iTunes Store podcasts
Enjoy...
@njh287
DSMSports.net

Grace's career path:
Got involved in the sports scene at ASU (majored in marketing) after
attending an all-girls high school
→ Did an internship with the sports information department during
junior year at ASU and an internship the following summer at MTV
World in NY
→ Did another media relations internship with ASU during her senior
year
→ After graduation, became Social Media Coordinator with ASU
Media Relations
@njh287
DSMSports.net

“Treat any internship or experience like a job, take
your task seriously, and show initiative.”
“I was doing the internship because I genuinely
enjoyed it...The more I progressed, the more I loved
it, and the job opened up right as I was graduating.”
@njh287
DSMSports.net

“Social media is great because it's right in the intersection of so
many departments...I get to work with media relations,
marketing, ticketing, and converse with the fans and get them
excited.”
“Social media is great because you can see real-time results, with
analytics, and see how something is performing.”
@njh287
DSMSports.net

On her position at ASU:
“I was lucky I had some background interning for the
department, but there was so much more when I started...It's
managing our main social media accounts, Sun Devils
Athletics, on eight different social platforms, and working with
our team SIDs to make sure our team accounts are updated
and they fall under a consistent brand strategy and that we
have similar messaging.
But we assure each sport is also promoted individually, we
cover live events, and try to reach target audiences, and
drive revenue generation through ticket sales, as well.”
@njh287
DSMSports.net

“I love that [in social media] you get to interact with all
departments...every week, I compile an analytics
report to look at how our (numbers) have
changed...and I also do a report of all PAC 12
schools to see how well we're poerforming,
benchmark to our competitors, and look out for nay
posts that stand out.”
@njh287
DSMSports.net

Tools Grace uses:
Google Wildfire, Hootsuite, native Facebook and Twitter analytics,
Postano analytics
@njh287
DSMSports.net

On ASU and Postano:
“When I started, we were just finishing up our social media
command center...Postano is key for me and my team on
game day...we use Postano to monitor fan content on social
media feeds and push posts to the video board during
games...we also use hash tag voting and show real-time
results of (the polls)...
We also use Postano for a social media hub on our
website...we aggregate fan content (from week to week).”
Grace notes Postano IS driving more fan participation and
seeing fans sharing excitement when their post is shown on
video board at games
@njh287
DSMSports.net

On ASU's venue connectivity:
“Most of our facilities are great...for football, when you
have 60,000 people it's tougher, but we are working
on upgrades.”
“We get so many selfies from fans in the stadium
throughout games, so fans are very active (with no
connection problems) at games.”
@njh287
DSMSports.net

Where social media fits into ASU Athletics hierarchy:
“We are our own department of digital media and
communications, which falls under one of our senior
associate athletic director...it really involves almost
every other department we work with...We need all
arms.”
@njh287
DSMSports.net

“Unifying the message and the brand voice is critical...we
have 22 sports teams on social media and our own
things to promote...in the eyes of the fans, it's one
brand, (so) we often come together to help the
messaging, themes, and main points we should be
pushing. And that's replicated on the main account.”
→ NOTES how both ASU main account and ASU FB
account live-tweet updates of the football games; uses
Twitter analytics to see how much follower cross-over
there is between main account and individual team
accounts
@njh287
DSMSports.net

“It's so important to construct messaging for your
different demographics...but also have your
message be broad enough so it applies to all of
them.”
“(Engagement) really fluctuates on the post,
depending on who's tuned in...the sport, who the
basic season ticket holder is involved, and any
promotion we have going on.”
@njh287
DSMSports.net

Grace notes how social media posts are integrated
into emails; analytics behind content is looked at
across email, web, and social media to push most
successful content across channels
Hoy tells about how segment of football player reading
tweets from each other came together from creation
of the idea to execution
@njh287
DSMSports.net

“We produce a ton of video content and have good access to
the student athletes and try to promote them on and off the
field...from their academic achievements to (features) that
show their personality...It worked out really well and
everyone was on board.”
@njh287
DSMSports.net

“For the most part, teams have their own (social media)
rules, but we haven't had student athlete issues on social
media. We go through best practices...have a seminar with
our freshman athletes...At the end of the day, it's your
individual outlet, but you're also a reflection of Sun Devil
Athletics and the university.”
@njh287
DSMSports.net

Helpful Tool Add GIF; create a GIF from any YouTube
video
Just input the text AddGIF, in the URL of any YouTube
video before the YouTube
Example: www.addgifyoutube.com/?v=x12fk53
@njh287
DSMSports.net

On this football season:
I Am A Sun Devil campaign on social/web over social media
to have current + past ASU fans/alums all over the world
share content about ASU athletics
The m e fo r the s p o rts s e a s o n: “Sun Devil laws,” with themes
for each team and each game integrated into social media
campaigns, such as “Maroon Monsoon” for football
“The main theme for football is 'leave no doubt'...in addition
to weekly themes,” which are featured on the stadium
screen and the website social hub.
@njh287
DSMSports.net

Social media ROI and benchmarking:
“Increasing our following, our brand affinity, striving to
be at the top of PAC 12 Conference (are our
goals)...pointing out what types of messaging
works, why a medium or post was more popular so
we can repurpose it...keeping an eye on what times
of day works best, types of links, (etc.)...”
@njh287
DSMSports.net

“A really fun way to interact with (other schools/teams) is
through mascot accounts...fans really love (the
mascot exchanges on social media)...Especially when
it is the Sun Devil, (Sparky's social accounts) allows
us to have a little fun with the fans.”
[notes the big popularity of tweets about Sparky's
pushups for points at football games]
@njh287
DSMSports.net

“We really push our live streams for (non-televised)
events...That's really great for fans that are
elsewhere...We give in-game updates and scores
and stats from the league.
“For fans that are local, we focus on coming out to the
games in person, but, for non-local games, we
engage with fans all over the world (i.e. where are
you watching)?...Any way we can connect with
them and stay engaged is something we want to
do.”
@njh287
DSMSports.net

Grace tells about live-tweeting ASU football's big win on a Hail
Mary pass to defeat USC at the last second
“As soon as that happened, I knew we had to get the clip up right
away, so I used Snappy.tv and it became our most retweeted
tweet ever...(pushed content to all channels right away and day
after)...”We put together a video of fan reactions and used that
and made sure we were on top of every social media platform
and pushing out as much timely info as we can.”
→ Twitter came first, then Facebook and website, then social
media extended thereafter to drive fans to web content,
infographic put on Instagram, while also keeping other
sports/events in mind, too.
@njh287
DSMSports.net

Grace talks about PAC 12 and ASU's participation in the “It's
On Us” campaign, especially how individual Sun Devil
teams, notably football and women's basketball, used
social media to share personal reasons for supporting the
campaign; received national attention.
“It goes back to us highlighting not only what student athletes
are doing on the field, but off the field, too...it was great to
see them supporting a great cause.”
“Fans really responded to it...it's great to believe in a program
that performs well and does good things (too). It was great
to see fans really get behind that.”
@njh287
DSMSports.net

Shareable Stat:
34% of respondents in an eMarketer survey said they
plan to purchase tickets to a live event digitally soon
(computer or mobile)
@njh287
DSMSports.net

Grace's favorite ASU hash tag and why:
#KeepTheCup – Based on keeping the “territorial cup”
against rival University of Arizona; applies to head-to-
head football and year-long competition across
sports
@njh287
DSMSports.net

Coolest celeb/alumnus that interacts with
@SunDevilsAthletics:
James Harden → “Before it was 'fear the beard,' it was
'fear the fork.'”
@njh287
DSMSports.net

The biggest social media lesson/epiphany for Grace:
The “Wizard of Oz' theory...Fans follow brands because they want
to see the great and powerful Oz; they don't want to see the
people creating behind the curtain and that's why the consistent
strategy (behind it) is really important.”
@njh287
DSMSports.net

The pro sports teams with the best social media and why:
The @SFGiants are fun and creative and good to follow,
according to Grace (despite her being a Padres fan)
@njh287
DSMSports.net

Grace's favorite piece of Sun Devils social content:
The “Who Tweeted That?” feature with the football team.” (which
she plans to expand to other teams)
“Getting fans to see the personalities is really cool.”
@njh287
DSMSports.net

The best ASU Sun Devils tradition:
“We have a cool video of Sparky walking through Phoenix and
stomping on our opponents' buses and then the (football) team
runs out of Tillman's tunnel and the fans go nuts.”
@njh287
DSMSports.net

Best food at ASU:
Grace loved the vegetable korma at the ASU library cafe
@njh287
DSMSports.net

The new[er] social media platform Grace has her eye on:
Apps that take into account consumer tracking and RFID tracking
→ Grace notes the Disney “magic bands” (which uses RFID),
which is “really interesting looking at it from a customer
experience and data perspective.”
@njh287
DSMSports.net

Grace's favorite AZ sports memory:
“Our first blackout game against Mizzou...there was a monsoon
and they had stop some of the plays...People were hyped up
and then we won in overtime and it was so exciting. That made
me want to work in the sports department.”
@njh287
DSMSports.net

Besides ASU, which football team will win the national
championship?
“There have been so many upsets...I think it could go in multiple
ways.”
(notes she prefers a PAC 12 team regardless)
@njh287
DSMSports.net

Grace's social media all-star to follow:
Jessica Smith @WarJessEagle:
“She follows what a ton of people are doing. It's really interesting to
watch her blog and all the stuff she posts.”
@njh287
DSMSports.net

Where to find Grace and ASU Athletics on social
media:
Follow @GraceHoy on Twitter
@TheSunDevils on Twitter; Arizona Statte Sun Devils
on Facebook; @SunDevilsAthletics on Instagram
ASU Athletics has presence on: Facebook, Twitter,
Pinterest, Instagram, Vine, Google Plus, Spotify,
YouTube, Tumblr
@njh287
DSMSports.net

Thanks so much to Grace Hoy for joining the
Digital & Social Media Sports podcast!
For more info on the podcast, check out
DSMSports.net and follow me @njh287
@njh287
DSMSports.net

Episode 31 of the DSMSports Podcast w/ Grace Hoy of ASU Athletics

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Episode 31 of the DSMSports Podcast w/ Grace Hoy of ASU Athletics