Sam Laird of Mashable on the Digital and Social Media Sports Podcast, episode 4

Best Of...Sam Laird on theDigital and Social Media Sports

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Reporter for Mashable Sam Laird, who covers a lot of stories in sports in social media, was a fantastic guest on episode 4 of the DSMSports Podcast.

What follows are some snippets from the interview. Hear the full episode on DSMSports.net or download it on from iTunes Store podcasts

Enjoy...

@njh287DSMSports.net


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“As cool as it is to post something [on social media] and have it get millions of likes and go viral, eventually you have to go to your bosses and show them it is (affecting) the bottom line...”



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On an early memory of a social media and sports revelatory moment:

“Ndamakong Suh apologized for some dirty hit on Facebook and it was [novel]...now you just kind of expect digital and social to play this huge role in sports.”



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“Teams are always looking for more and more ways to engage with fans and build loyalty...as more and more people flock to these [emerging social media] services, (you have to be there).”



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“[Teams] and brands don't really have a choice anymore. It's just amazing you can converse with fans in ways that were never ever possible.”



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“Sports is uniquely positioned to connect with people online because sports incites so much passion and obsession with people and they're always hungry for content...the appetite is infinite.”



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On how he finds content to share and cover:

“I just hang out trolling Twitter, trolling websites, seeing what jumps out at me...and I will also see what people I follow are tweeting about...If I see a story is interesting to enough interesting people, it's a good story to cover. It's what in the conversation....”



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“A lot of sports stories can have that emotional appeal that goes beyond sports...”



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“Teams and front offices are becoming more comfortable with [social media]...it's become less of a news bulletin and more of a conversation.”



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“I think things [in social media] are more crystallized than they were a year or so ago. Facebook and Twitter are well-established among teams, Instagram is now a big deal, teams are figuring out who wants to use Pinterest...”



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“If you can just do a really good job and do something creative and really engage fans and make being a fan of this team more cool using social media, I think that is worth more than you can put a financial figure on.”



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“If you're amazing on social media and that builds more loyalty among fans and a stronger connection to the team and that makes a fan buy tickets to a few more games or more gear that is probably not going to a show up in a way you can present to your boss, but it provides tangible value to the team.”



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“It's hard to prove social media's effect on the bottom line, but I do think if you're doing something to improve the fan experience, you're doing something good for sure.”



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“As much as you want to [use social media to] build this general positivity around the team, you definitely also want to find as many concrete uses and measurables from that engagement as you can, and data is a big part of it.”



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“Some people that don't spend their day in front of social media, don't realize the value of the content and engagement...some are more open to it than others.”



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This episode's shareable stat [per Kristi Dosh, ESPN]:

80% of sports apparel is purchased by women, but

only 20% of those purchases are for women.



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“When everything is already happening on Twitter, it's hard to get people away from that, especially casual fans who aren't looking for the next [new, big] thing.”



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“I have to remind myself not everyone is in the same mindset as me looking for the newest sports network or app. A lot of fans aren't interested in what's new or coming down the pipeline.”



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Favorite recent social media and sports fail:

Falcons WR Roddy White calling a Twitter follower of his a 'disrespectful little peasant.' “It was funny to me, but probably not something you want to be saying to your fans.”



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Some of the big names Sam has talked to in his role at Mashable:

Mike Tyson, Floyd Mayweather, Roy Hibbert, The Rock...”Stan Lee was really cool, too. He's like 90, but has more energy than I do.”



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On the next big social network for sports to utilize:

Google Plus mainly due to the Hangout feature because that sort of live video hangout session is something no other networks offer.



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Sam's top teams in social media and sports:

Giants and Warriors; They're constantly pushing out new content and are creative in how they do it.



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Sam:

Kobe Bryant: Partly because he kind of sat out social media for a while and recently started up at the Olympics last summer with some diary-like Facebook posts and then joined Twitter after that. He's really good at being raw and candid without revealing too much or being inappropriate and being very honest with how he feels about things.



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Sponsorship activity that stood out in social media and sports:

NCAA Basketball Tournament / Twitter March Madness highlights in real-time for fans. “It's a really easy way to deliver more value within Twitter and it's easy to integrate sponsorship.”



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Favorite social media and sports hash tag tale:

The San Francisco Giants' #RallyEnchilada hash tag, which developed organically when fans on Twitter learned streaking pitcher Ryan Vogelsong was being fueled by a meal of enchiladas prior to his starts.



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Social Media All-Star to follow:

Bill Voth, ex-sports anchor, now does social media with company Spiracle Media, posts a lot of insights on social media, sports, technology

Follow him @billvoth



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Where to find Sam Laird online:

Read his work on Mashable.com Follow on Twitter @mashable, @samcmlaird



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Where to find Sam Laird online:

Read his work on Mashable.com Follow on Twitter @mashable, @samcmlaird



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Thanks so much to Sam Laird for joining the Digital & Social Media

Sports podcast!

For more info on the podcast, check out DSMSports.net and follow me @njh287



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