5 things I learned about social media from fantasy football
Fantasy Football is a big deal. I’m playing for the first time ever this year and it has been an eye-opening experience. I’m more invested than I thought (3-2 baby!), and it’s been more serious than I thought. I also realized that Fantasy Football and social media have some strong similarities. Here are five I found:
1. Strategy is everything
I joined an existing league of some friends and friends of friends, and I was amazed at just how serious the live draft was. Everyone, well almost everyone, had their strategy all worked out and ready to go before the event began, and they weren’t too keen on sharing tips or tricks that day. The time for help was done; it was to play.
Some people had computers, other tablets with specific apps, and some just used good, old-fashioned paper lists of players and their rankings. Those who had played before varied in sticking to their previous year strategy or using something completely new, but they had a plan ready.
They also had a specific strategy about which player position you should pick first. You might think a quarterback would be the best way to go, but I learned picking a running back or wide receiver can typically be a better strategy in the end.
Social media is this way. Whether you’re a professional with lots of pages or someone who is brand new to the realm, you need to have a strategy before heading into the game. You don’t want to just create social media profiles all over the place and post to them the same way. Sometimes it can be beneficial to pick a couple to focus on, depending on your goals, because each social platform is used differently and can provide you with different things. You also need to be aware of which ones are more visual, the length of posts, and more.
It’s also important to have a clear view of your goals before you start. Are you really just trying to grow your audience on social or looking to drive web traffic and sales or get emails for your list? You need to keep all this in mind as you plan.
2. Things move fast, pay attention to updates
In fantasy, you get a chance to drop, pickup and trade players during the week but you have to be paying attention. Players go on the waiver wire and, depending on your position in the waiver, you can pick them up (I’m still trying to figure this part out), or you can pick up a free agent, but you need to pay attention who is playing each week and who isn’t. After Eddie Lacy got hurt, I was checking everyday to see his condition and it was improving but I couldn’t decide whether to play him until just a few minutes before game time. It was stressful.
Social media is exactly the same way. You read something new everyday about what posts work best on which platform and which ones don’t, and sometimes this information can be conflicting. Facebook especially seems to favor a lot of different post types, depending on who you talk to. That’s why it’s important to monitor your feed and see what works best for you and your audience. You might find it matches what the experts say or maybe not. On Twitter, you decide whether to use a photo or not; on Instagram you might be debating on putting words on your photo versus just in the caption box. … There are a lot of decisions regarding social media so you’ve got to pay attention to what works.
You also have to stay on top of platform updates. Facebook makes regular changes that you need to be aware of that can affect what and how you post, your audience, ads, penalties and more.
3. Things don’t always go as you expect
This has certainly been true in Fantasy Football this year. Those who did a lot of work to get certain players, like Ray Rice or Adrian Peterson, in their draft are now scrambling for new players as both have recently been suspended due to activities off the field. You think you’ve got a player that can rack up the points and now they’re out indefinitely.
And, you can choose the best players each week but there’s no guarantee how well they will do. A couple of my players keep trading off on having great weeks but it’s usually the one I’m benching that’s doing the best, of course.
I’ve found it’s the same way with social media posts, especially on Facebook. With my healthcare posting, I find that the things I just know people are going to like, share, and comment on tend to get ignored, but the stuff I’m sure no one will find important sometimes turns into my best content. We’ve found that pictures with employees, even when they’re not really specific to anything, do really well – which is not necessarily unexpected, but it took us a while to start using them because we weren’t expecting it. So keep an eye on what’s not working and always be thinking of new posts to try. It also is a good idea to keep an eye on what’s working for your competition.
4. There can be big payoff
In our fantasy league, there is a weekly winner, with a financial incentive, and then those who make it into the playoffs and further have a chance to win even more money. This means you have to be playing the game the right way and outlast everyone until the end.
Social media, too, can have huge payoffs for your business if you can stick with it, learn from your audience, and post the best content. I’ve heard countless stories about businesses growing and continuing because of their social ranking and drawing in new customers. A bakery in Gulfport told me that they have seen their business close to triple with the use of social media in the last year – that is significant. It happens everyday and you don’t want to miss out on what social can do for you.
5. Have fun with it
Fantasy was tense at first; I was super nervous during the draft. But, as I get more comfortable each week, I find tracking the players and the points and deciding who to play and seeing them do well to be so much fun. I’m interested in new players, watching more games, and learning more about the game as I go. It’s been great so far.
Social media can be the same way. It is so much work and can be tedious on those days when you just have no idea what to post, and there are times when it’s just no fun at all. But, there are times when it can also be so much fun. When you come up with a great post idea and start seeing some likes and actually get a comment or two or even that coveted share (gasp!), you’ll find yourself getting way too excited. If you stick with it and post consistently, you can see some great results on your page and in your business and that’s when you can start having a little fun.
Also, look for fun content that goes with your overall message. Have some fun with your posts and toss in a dog photo every now and then – your audience will love it and you’ll enjoy it too.
If you need help with social media, please email me at [email protected] to discuss options for how I can help you.
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