For fans of the Pittsburgh Steelers, star wide receiver Mike Wallace's extended holdout over a contract dispute has been one of the most important stories of the NFL preseason. The young playmaker finally rejoined the team on Tuesday after missing a few preseason games and dozens of practices and off-season workouts.
But Wallace's first interview of the 2012 season didn't go to ESPN or the hometown Pittsburgh Post-Gazette newspaper. It didn't air on the news or land on any of a number of high-profile Steelers or NFL blogs. No, Wallace's first interview after rejoining the squad was an iPhone video Q-and-A (embedded above) with teammate James Harrison, which Harrison posted to his Facebook Timeline on Tuesday morning.
Harrison and Wallace cover an impressive amount of ground in the 46-second clip: How it feels to be back, goals for the season and Wallace's familiarity with the offense after his time away from the team. Then Harrison ends the brief interview with a pretty epic sign-off that would put most other sportscasters — aspiring or otherwise — to shame:
"That's live, right here in the Steelers locker room with James Harrison. Mike Wallace, the kid! First interview! Cut!" Harrison intones from behind the camera.
Harrison later followed up his Wallace interview with a second Q-and-A asking receiver Antonio Brown how it feels to have his running mate back.
Entertaining sign-offs aside, Wallace's interview with Harrison does reflect some of the big picture changes social and mobile technology have brought to sports media. Instead of having to face potentially hostile — or simply responsible, depending on your point of view — questions from mainstream sports media, Wallace was able to control the conversation and put his face back in front of fans on his own terms via mobile video. And Facebook provided a more than sufficient platform for publishing; Harrison has nearly 375,000 subscribers and the video post received some 2,800 Likes and 900 shares after it went up.
If Wallace struggles to return to form, he'll no doubt have little choice but to answers reporters' tough questions about possible holdout rust. But social media and PR consultants always tell athletes these days to "be their own media outlet" whenever possible. On Tuesday morning, Wallace played that piece of advice like the All-Pro he is.
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"Pretty much everyone who visits a page wants to go straight to the Wall," Weiner says. "So you have to give them a reason on the Welcome tab -- something extra, like exclusive access -- that gives them an incentive to click the Like button first."
Here, Woodley invites fans to connect by helping his Pro Bowl cause -- if they click the Like button.
"The biggest key of all is consistency," Weiner says. "It doesn't have to be five things per day or a video every single day, but it's important to get some sort of post up every day if possible. You want fans to know something is coming and be eager for what's next."
Here, Royal posts regularly and invites discussion on a variety of subjects: meal time, hard news and sports rumors.
"People really don't want to be anywhere but the Wall," Weiner says. "So it's better to just keep your Info tab short and sweet so that it doesn't distract, and since that's not really want people want anyway."
Here, Harrison's Info tab provides all the basics but doesn't compete with or distract from the main show: his Wall..
"Don't just tell me you appreciate me as a fan, show me," Weiner says. "Go direct, and make me feel appreciated with inside access and information."
Here, Harrison clues his fans into details they would normally hear through the mainstream media.
"Don't be worried about the analytics of posting on a Tuesday at 3 p.m. versus posting on a Thursday at 6 p.m.," Weiner says. "Just post when you think your audience is most likely to be excited about what you're talking about."
Weiner also counsels clients to make an extra effort to post when messages will be most meaningful for fans, instead of most convenient for the player. Here -- while he could have waited to get home and set down his bags -- Royal shares from the team plane shortly after a game, while fans' adrenaline is still pumping.
When Houston Texanas running back Ben Tate
was coming out of college, other potential draft picks got more attention from ESPN and other media outlets. But Tate actively recruited Facebook fans at his alma mater, Auburn University, and by draft day had more Likes than superstar prospects Sam Bradford and Ndamukong Suh.
Click to the next slide to see how Tate rewarded his loyal supporters on draft day.
When the draft finally happened, Tate broadcast an all-day Ustream video from his house in Maryland. Weiner says some 20,000 fans tuned into. Tate also posted a five-minute video to Facebook showing him actually get selected, and the clip was later featured by Sports on Facebook.
"Football players play with their helmets on all the time, so fans don't get to see what they're really like during games," Weiner says. "So provide opportunities for people to see who you really are and don't think you have to act a certain way. If you're humble, funny, even goofy, fans love that and it's really powerful."
Here, Smith isn't too shy to share his excitement about going up against childhood idol Randy Moss on an NFL field. He captions the self-shot photo: "Glad i kept this moss jersey from my HS days.. may have to get this thing signed when we play minnesota this yr.. LOL."
"Pretty much everyone who visits a page wants to go straight to the Wall," Weiner says. "So you have to give them a reason on the Welcome tab -- something extra, like exclusive access -- that gives them an incentive to click the Like button first."
Here, Woodley invites fans to connect by helping his Pro Bowl cause -- if they click the Like button.
"The biggest key of all is consistency," Weiner says. "It doesn't have to be five things per day or a video every single day, but it's important to get some sort of post up every day if possible. You want fans to know something is coming and be eager for what's next."
Here, Royal posts regularly and invites discussion on a variety of subjects: meal time, hard news and sports rumors.
"People really don't want to be anywhere but the Wall," Weiner says. "So it's better to just keep your Info tab short and sweet so that it doesn't distract, and since that's not really want people want anyway."
Here, Harrison's Info tab provides all the basics but doesn't compete with or distract from the main show: his Wall..
"Don't just tell me you appreciate me as a fan, show me," Weiner says. "Go direct, and make me feel appreciated with inside access and information."
Here, Harrison clues his fans into details they would normally hear through the mainstream media.
"Don't be worried about the analytics of posting on a Tuesday at 3 p.m. versus posting on a Thursday at 6 p.m.," Weiner says. "Just post when you think your audience is most likely to be excited about what you're talking about."
Weiner also counsels clients to make an extra effort to post when messages will be most meaningful for fans, instead of most convenient for the player. Here -- while he could have waited to get home and set down his bags -- Royal shares from the team plane shortly after a game, while fans' adrenaline is still pumping.
When Houston Texanas running back Ben Tate
was coming out of college, other potential draft picks got more attention from ESPN and other media outlets. But Tate actively recruited Facebook fans at his alma mater, Auburn University, and by draft day had more Likes than superstar prospects Sam Bradford and Ndamukong Suh.
Click to the next slide to see how Tate rewarded his loyal supporters on draft day.
When the draft finally happened, Tate broadcast an all-day Ustream video from his house in Maryland. Weiner says some 20,000 fans tuned into. Tate also posted a five-minute video to Facebook showing him actually get selected, and the clip was later featured by Sports on Facebook.
"Football players play with their helmets on all the time, so fans don't get to see what they're really like during games," Weiner says. "So provide opportunities for people to see who you really are and don't think you have to act a certain way. If you're humble, funny, even goofy, fans love that and it's really powerful."
Here, Smith isn't too shy to share his excitement about going up against childhood idol Randy Moss on an NFL field. He captions the self-shot photo: "Glad i kept this moss jersey from my HS days.. may have to get this thing signed when we play minnesota this yr.. LOL."
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