Ryann DonahueSeptember 29th, 2016

§ 3. Executive Summary

§ 4-7. Social Media Audit§ a. Social Media Assessment

§ b. Audience§ c. Competitors

§ 8-9. Social Media Objectives

§ 10-11. Online Brand Persona and Voice

§ 12. Strategies and Tools

§ 13. Timing and Key Dates

§ 14. Social Media Roles and Responsibilities

§ 15. Social Media Policy

§ 16. Critical Response Plan

§ 17-19. Measurement and Reporting Results

§ Our social media goals for the 2016-2017 season include growing our fan-base through online communities. The primary focus will be increasing fan engagement and awareness to increase ticket sales and app downloads.

§ We aim to increase followers, increase ticket sales and reward fans for engagementby:

§ 1. pursuing contests

§ 2. incorporating new technology

§ 3. increasing interactivity with fans

§ Website Traffic Sources Assessment:

§ Monthly average: March 2015-September 2015

Source Volume Percentage of OverallTraffic

Conversion Rate

Twitter 200, 000 25% 5%

Facebook 250, 000 33% 7.6%

Instagram 150, 000 16% 3.2%

§ The following is an audit of the Tampa Bay Lightning’s current social media status.§ Social Media Assessment:

§ Facebook currently has the highest engagement rate per post. Twitter also has high engagement rates, but because there are so many Twitter updates daily, the engagement rate per post is lower.

Social Network URL Follower Count Average Weekly Activity

Average Engagement Rate

Twitter Twitter.com/TBLightning

449, 000 180 posts per week

8%

Facebook Facebook.com/lightningnhl

528, 146 58 posts per week 10%

Instagram Instagram.com/tblightning

317, 000 9 posts per week 5%

§ Audience Demographics Assessment:

§ The majority of social media followers are in the 18 - 30 and 31 – 40 groups, but fans follow team progress at all ages, particularly on Facebook.

Age Distribution

Gender Distribution

Primary Social Network

Secondary Social Network

Primary Need Secondary Need

40% 18 – 3030% 31 – 4020% 41 – 5510% 56 - 80

65% Male35% Female

65% Male35% Female60%Facebook25% Twitter10% Instagram

65% Male35% Female35% Twitter25%Instagra-m30% Facebook

Dedicatedfans who track the team’s progress.

Sports fans generally curious about the Lightning’s season.

§ Competitor Assessment

The assessment above analyzes three competitors geographically closest to the Lightning. Insider information and team updates drive their content. Competitors’ followers also enjoy personal interactions to increase engagement. The competition has room to improve on quality visuals and more frequent posting.§

Competitor Name Social Media Profile Strengths Weaknesses

The Florida Panthers FB: The Florida Panthers Informational event pages promote games and drive traffic to their website. Some distinctvisuals and infographics.

Very minimal postingwith little “inside look” material. Content is mostly links to articles on their website. Little interaction with audience.

Carolina Hurricanes FB: Carolina Hurricanes Behind-the-scenes looks at private practices and team events. Interaction with audience by answering questions. Ticket Rep Chat on sidebar.

Posts only a couple oftimes per day and many links to informational articles.

Nashville Predators FB: Nashville Predators Holds contests with fans to foster engagement. Interacts with fans by answering questions frequently. Uses Facebook for in-game updates as most teams use Twitter.

Many status updates with no visuals. Little behind-the-scenes coverage. Possibly too much play-by-play that is accessible elsewhere, such as twitter or live broadcast.

§ During the 2016-2017 season, our goals are to grow the Lightning fan-base by increasing app downloads, traffic to our website and ticket sales. To achieve these goals, we will devote more resources to visuals and new technology such as Facebook Live and 360-Video.

§ Specific goals include:

§ 1. Increasing Instagram followers by 3,000 in six months

§ 2. Increasing ticket purchases from Facebook and Twitter by 20% in six months

§ 3. Increasing volume of 360-video on Facebook by 10% in six months

§ KPIs:

§ 1. Number of Instagram followers

§ 2. Number of ticket purchases through Facebook and Twitter

§ 3. Number of monthly 360-video posts on Facebook

Adjectives that describe our brand: When interacting with customers we are:

Passionate Friendly

Bold Supportive

Fun Informative

Caring Relatable

Trendy Quirky

Innovative Professional

In the midst of in-game statistics and updates, we aim to be relatable and incorporate some comic relief.

Paid: Earned: Owned:

Game preview posts including enticing visuals, infographics and ticket links will be sponsored on Facebook and Twitter before big games once a month.

Surprise three Twitter users discussing hockey in Florida with two free tickets to a regular season Lightning game.

Encourage Instagram posts with the #TBLightning hashtag. Offer fan feature stories to those who post photos with the most passion and interest. Advertise the fan feature on the jumbotron at home games as well as social media.

Tools:HootsuiteTweetdeckCanvaPhotoshop

Subscribtions:PhotoshopHootsuite

§ On non-game days, social media messages will be posted on Facebook two times per day, on Twitter five times per day and on Instagram once per day. Schedules will be adjusted according to breaking news and injury updates.

§ Because Lightning tickets and apparel often become gift items and attending Lightning events can require time off from work, we will focus on these holidays:

§ Christmas

§ New Year’s Eve§ Posts providing details on apparel, tickets and sales will be boosted on Facebook and

Twitter before these holidays.

§ Internal Dates:

§ Team anniversarySocial media contests will be run rewarding fans with apparel, tickets and a behind-

the-scenes look at our organization.

§ Digital Media Manager: Andrew DeWitt

§ Digital Media Assistant: Jeff Odom

§ Social Media Coordinator: Kinsey Janke

§ Digital Marketing Manager: Patrick Abts

§ Our organization understands that social media is a pervasive in the personal and professional lives of our employees. Because social media profiles are generally public, we require that our employees represent our brand well, especially if the company name appears on their profile.

§ Employees should:§ Communicate politely with all§ Be helpful to customers§ Remain respectful of the competition§ Not participate in online fights or post about illegal activity§ Ask Social Media Coordinator Kinsey Janke if they have questions

The Lightning take their social media portrayal seriously. Be warned that violations of this social media policy may result in termination.

Scenario 1 Scenario 2

Personal Tweet accidentally posted to @TBLightning account

Inappropriate broadcaster comment

Action Plan:1. Screenshot Tweet2. Delete Tweet3. Contact Social Media Coordinator Kinsey

Janke (If unavailable, contact Digital Marketing Manager Patrick Abts)

4. Devise apology message and explanation to be approved by Patrick Abts and delivered as soon as possible. (Message dependent upon incident specifics)

Action Plan:1. Contact Social Media Coordinator Kinsey

Janke and send apology on Facebook and Twitter

2. Post video of broadcaster apologizing 3. Pass on responsibility to HR for possible

disciplinary actionPre-Approved Messaging:Twitter: “We apologize for the inappropriate comments made during our broadcast tonight. His/Her views do not reflect those of our organization. “For Facebook, add: “The situation is being handled internally.”

§ Quantitative KPIs

§ Reporting Period: 6 months

§ Data as of April 28th, 2017

§ Social Network DataSocial Network URL Follower Count Average Weekly

ActivityEngagement Rate

Twitter Twitter.com/TBLightning

453, 000+.9% growth

185+2.8% increase

9%

Facebook Facebook.com/lightningnhl

535, 000+1.3% growth

63+8.6% increase

11%

Instagram Instagram.com/tblightning

322, 000+1.6% growth

12+33% increase

7%

§ Website Sources Traffic Assessment:

Source Volume Percentage of Overall Traffic

Conversion Rate

Twitter 220, 000+10% increase

27% 7.2%

Facebook 277, 000+10.8% increase

37% 9%

Instagram 182, 000+21.3% increase

18% 4.4%

§ Our Instagram following increased by 4,000, surpassing our goal. Instagram contests improved fan engagement and should be continued.

§ Ticket purchases made through Facebook and Twitter only increased by 16%, meaning more resources need to be devoted to this objective in order to reach our increase goals. Perhaps increasing paid ticket advertising should be increased to once every two weeks instead of once a month.

§ The volume of 360-video posts on Facebook increased by 14%, surpassing our goal. Embracing this new Facebook feature elevated engagement and was well-received by fans.

§ Qualitative KPIs:

§ Sentiment Analysis

§ An analysis of the interactions on 300 Facebook posts, 300 Instagram posts and 300 Tweets revealed:§ The audience enjoys interviews and reactions from players. Most positive sentiment

revolves around behind-the-scenes interaction with the team. Many fans checked in at games on Facebook and geotagged Amalie Arena on Instagram, expressing an abundance of positive sentiment

§ Most negative sentiment is related to team performance in games, not fan satisfaction with team marketing or social media interactions.

§ Continue Instagram feature story contest

§ Increase sponsored posts on Twitter and Facebook to once every two weeks

§ Consider creating a system to reward loyal participants of the #LightningStrikesTwitter contest