The U.S. Women’s National Team set a fantastic example of how using all of your online tools together can generate amazing interest.
So let me start this post by unabashedly stating that I am a huge football (ahem, soccer) fan. I played it growing up, I have a team ‘Over the Pond’ that I follow (COME ON YOU SPURS!) and pretty much go nuts when the World Cup fires up. So naturally when the London Olympics opened, I completely dialed into following the U.S. Women’s National team compete for the gold.
Not being satisfied with just watching matches on TV or streaming online (thanks NBC), I looked up the team’s twitter account (@ussoccer_wnt) for any information that might be provided there. What I got, and what I’d like to share with you, was a fantastic example of how using all of your online tools together can generate amazing interest in your company, organization, product, or in this case, team.
The USWNT (short for U.S. Women’s National Team) squeezed as much out of Twitter as they possibly could to generate interest. And it was unrelenting. They posted match times, scores, in-game play-by-play as well as retweet’s from players and coaches on the team. This alone is a great use of Twitter, but the USWNT did not stop there; they cross-promoted with other aspects of their online media to generate even more interest and excitement.
Following their twitter breadcrumbs, I was able to access articles and videos that were being generated from the team’s main site. Again, having this type of media is great, but it is how you tap into those resources that can show you their true potential. The USWNT did just that. Articles and Videos were posted daily, if not multiple times in the day. The media was branded. Two video series were produced to promote the players (Studio 90) and the team (Behind the Crest), with each one of them being relevant to the USWNT’s progress within the tournament. It was literally an online diary of their Olympic experience. They had cultivated a cadence with their online tools; to the point that I started to EXPECT to see a new media item about the team throughout the day, which in turn drove me back to twitter and their website for more information.
In the end, gold was won, the flag was raised, and the national anthem was played. But that hasn’t stopped the USWNT from pushing forward with the interest they have raised thanks to their Olympic victory. Even as the gold was won, they were taking advantage of their online presence and thinking forward by promoting their next match back home in the States. And that is a great final lesson to be learned from the USWNT’s exemplary use of social and online media: Never be content with just achieving a goal. Enjoy it. Savor it. But always be prepared and looking ahead to the next challenge. The same can be said for anyone who wants to get the most out of their online presence. Use it to its fullest, and always keep moving forward, or someone else might beat you to that gold.
