The stars of Major League Baseball have removed their team uniform and headed to the New York Mets’ home ballpark, Citi Field, to represent their league in the 2013 All-Star game this week. But prior to Thursday, you wouldn’t have known that from scrolling through the Mets’ social media sites. Aside from a profile photo or cover photo, the Mets hadn’t really been hyping up the franchise’s first All-Star game since 1964.
Was this a missed opportunity?
It could have been a great way to expand the Mets brand. There are a lot of preparations going into the week and the Mets organization has a first-hand look at all of it. But very few tweets, Facebook posts or pins showed anything related to the All-Star game. No behind-the-scenes photos, no pictures of branded baseballs or banners.
However, social media is all about your audience. Who follows and likes the Mets on social media? Mets fans. The posts cater more towards Mets fans than to baseball fans, which is how it should be.
The team launched a campaign encouraging fans to vote for David Wright as an All-Star game starter. The hashtag #VoteWrightNow was spread throughout the social media channels and even out into New York City with a David Wright big head at the Today Show.
40 minutes to go! #VoteWrightNow on http://t.co/I71Nc3vAxm pic.twitter.com/MgZvFFM08S
— New York Mets (@Mets) July 5, 2013
A “2013 All-Star Game” board has emerged on the team’s official Pinterest page, but includes just two pins. It’s clear that more content will appear next week to its Pinterest following of under 2,000 fans.
So what content will the 193,000+ Mets fans on Twitter and 600,000+ fans on Facebook see next week?
On Thursday, the All-Star game content started to flow. Three posts were released on Facebook within just minutes of each other. A countdown, a throwback Thursday from the 1964 game and a photo collage showing the transformation of Citi Field were all featured.
The Twitter account posted a photo of the Orange and Blue bats that would be used for Monday night’s Home Run Derby and the Tumblr posted a GIF aimed at getting people hyped up for the weekend.
Why wasn’t any content released before Thursday? The Mets have a season going on. It’s important to keep followers informed about the daily happenings of this team. If the accounts got over-saturated with All-Star Game posts, they’d lose the audience they care about most, Mets fans.
Orange and Blue bats never looked so good. We’re ready for the #HRDerby are you? (via @sluggernation) pic.twitter.com/veW2KZ9AJO
— New York Mets (@Mets) July 11, 2013
But since all eyes will be on the All-Star game Tuesday night, Mets fans should welcome game-related content. According to Mashable, the social media conversation during the first inning of last year’s game alone surpassed 2011’s full-game totals. If that’s any indication, this year’s game will be even more talked about, and the Mets social media channels should take advantage.