Episode 51 of the DSMSports Podcast w/ Neeta Sreekanth, Associate Social Media Producer for ESPN

Best Of... Neeta Sreekanth of ESPNEpisode 51 of the Digital and Social Media

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Episode 51 of the Digital and Social Media Sports Podcast featured Neeta Sreekanth, Associate Social Media Producer with ESPN.

What follows are some snippets from the episode. Listen to the full podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, or at www.DSMSports.net

@njh287; DSMSports.net


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Neeta's career path:

Started out working as a ball kid for the Dallas Mavericks while in junior high until graduating high school → Attended Cal State Northridge, studying business management and focusing on marketing

→ While playing college basketball, she did internships with LA Sparks, LA Lakers, and did color commentary for games in college after she stopped playing (due to injury)

→ Did a senior year internship doing PR for CBS Sports television and was able to make connections there

→ After graduating, she got job doing digital marketing with the Dallas Cowboys [right after the NFL lockout had ended in 2007]



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On her time at the Cowboys

Started out with the fan marketing program and the fan club, primarily e-commerce and building a CRM of all Cowboys fans

“I started helping out different departments more on the social front before working my way into (mainly) social media.”

“When I first started (with the Cowboys), there wasn't too much focus on social media. It was seen as somewhat of a risk and someone hanging out on Facebook and Twitter all day, as opposed as an actual asset to the organization...

I can't tell you how easy it is to get engagement on that handle (compared to other teams)...”



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“[Social media] was seen more as a PR liability (at first by the Cowboys)...It was more of a traffic driver and the marketing department sure did have their hand in it. At the end of the day, they wanted to make money off the handle...

It was seen as more a sales and digital asset and eventually, to where it is now, it's basically an outlet for the organization to communicate and engage with fans.”



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On the skills she picked up while with the Cowboys

“I personally learned how to become an all-in-one digital person. I learned how to cut video, to create graphics, how to build web pages, building out a CRM database – just being an all-in-one person with the limited resources at the Cowboys made me much more well-rounded.”

She notes how these skills have helped her a lot in her role at ESPN



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“Everyone in a social media department knows we're always struggling for resources...just the ability to say I'm able to do several different things (in one person) is a big benefit.”



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On her role at ESPN

“I'm part of the sports vertical in the social production department...Our department handles the MLB, NBA, NFL, and college sports...We're each assigned a sport, my sport being the NFL as my primary. However, we all cover each of the sports that (involves) our group.”

(Neeta notes how she has helped with other sports, too)

Neeta's primary focus is with the NFL and, especially, Monday Night Football



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On what her role entails

“Content creation is the primary focus of each of us in the department...It's all on us (to create our own content)...We're basically each tasked to handle our own content creation.”



Sports PodcastKeeping content up to par for ESPN

“There's a great deal of trust here for us in our department. Each of us has access to some of the most powerful accounts in sports, so there's a lot of trust to be had. We do also have a long leash in terms of taking risks...

(We're always told) to be taking risks and taking chances. We're basically tasked to try and fail and try to do too much, which is an unbelievable problem to have.

It's really rewarding to have the support of our bosses basically telling us to take risks on a daily basis and try to push the boundaries...



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Helpful tool: Qzzr.com, free + flexible quiz-making tool



Sports PodcastOn learning ESPN's brand

“Every person hired by ESPN goes through kind of a rookie camp, which is a two-day camp that teaches you about the history of ESPN, who they are, and what they're trying to accomplish...There's also a training program for social media that goes behind the process and how it works, particularly how news is reported. At the end of the day, we're a company that p[rides ourselves on breaking news stories.

There's a protocol in terms of how you report the news. Each of us is tasked to understand how that works...

A lot of it in social media (though) is just trial and error at the end of the day.”



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The voice and brand of each of ESPN's accounts

“Our entire social production rallies around the SportsCenter account...It is the most engaging and the biggest brand in social media. We rally around them to break all of our news. We sort of follow their lead..(They) typically break the story. The story, then, is kind of acquired by the (specific sports account) and provides (details and analysis from talent)...

On the other side of the spectrum is the SportsNation account...It likes to have fun. It's probably the most fun account to collaborate on and work on because we get to come up with some of the craziest, wackiest ideas and we're able to execute it.



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“Each of the sports has sort of one talent associated with the account (i.e. Adam Schefter and NFL)...We each have sort of a talent that's associated to our brands, but we also have to make sure that the voice is not just one person, too. The SportsNation account is not just (Michelle) Beadle, it's more of a witty voice.”



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On what happens when a big news story breaks

“The newsroom is basically the heartbeat of ESPN. They're the ones constantly in touch with the talent, who are telling them what's happening. They typically are the ones who call in and report thee news and then it gets out...

There are several talent who basically have a lot of respect (like Adam Schefter) around here (that report it themselves)...Our news editors, primarily, are the ones that do a great job to make sure we know what's happening.”



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Strategy when a big news story breaks

Using Tom Brady / DeflateGate as an example –

“The NFL Communications Department sent an email to all of us that (told of the decision about Brady) and at that point everyone had the scoop, so it is no longer a sourced story.

As soon as that email account, I grabbed all of my belongings and sprinted u[ to the news room, because the news room is able to add extra layers to the story. Rather than waiting for the story to come out on the wire or the SportsCenter team to call me, it's easier to be in the room where all the news is coming...



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“Once the story became clearer, I sprinted to the studio where they were doing the live show to get Adam Schefter and Jim Trotter and Bill Polian's take, so we can create content on the side that will supplement what's happening on TV.

It's not about driving clicks back to the site at that time because we're in the live window where the story is evolving on a minute-by-minute basis...



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“At the end of the day, we do recap it and try to drive traffic back to the site. But, typically, when a story is broken, our mobile push team will send out a push notification and they'll automatically be tracking on to the site to see what is happening.”

“In the live window, it's all about accuracy...We've tried the whole speed thing, but the focus is all about accuracy...We do want to be fast and quick (though), too.”



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Getting content and news out to each social media platform

“First is Twitter, second is Facebook, and third is Instagram...As far as the context is concerned, we leave that up to the news editors, who tell us how to properly craft what were writing...There's a way to report the news that they set the guidelines for and we just follow what they tell us.”



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On the strategic goals behind content

“It's important that, as we tweet, we're making sure we're not putting our own opinion into that tweet. Basically, just reporting what the content is to begin with...Our focus and goals in everything that we do is just engagement...while (clicks and traffic) is sort of a goal, it's so refreshing to hear that our only goal is to engage...

However, in the live window, when there is a breaking news story, it's just about making sure what we're reporting is accurate...and we're following the guidelines set forth by the company.”



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“It's really about the engagement and growth. When we look back on a weekly basis, how much did our brands grow in the social space? Those are the only two priorities that matter to us at this point.”



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The stories that drive engagement

“It's a balance of both (on and off the field)...Aside from breaking news, post game content typically does really strong, as well.”

“There is a definitely an opportunity to have some of the fun, engaging posts on the NFL account...but when you get to a point where the content is a bit 'troll-y,' I think that's when you say that is not on brand and you defer it to the SportsNation team.”



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How ESPN monetizes social media with sponsorship

“It's not part of my job to handle the sales aspect of it. We do have our department head who handles all of the sales. It's a little different on the sports vertical side because we do have the league IP in our handles...We do have to abide by who the league sponsors are because we have the IP in the accounts...



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On the SportsCenter side, they have to kind of manage who the sponsors are going to be...Everyone wants a piece of the SportsCenter account. If they really wanted to, they could have a sponsor for every single tweet that goes out, but it's more about just managing and reducing the amount of supply and increasing the price on the sponsorship deal. That would be the way I would characterize how the SportsCenter team is handling the sales side of things.”



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“Every handle has some sales element to it...Our marketing team does a good job of telling us what's going on, in terms of the sales side of it...We do have the collaboration with what the content is gong to be it and we do work ahead (with integrating sponsors)...

There are discussions going on all the time and we're never going to have something pop up last minute...It is part of our department to understand what the sales activation is going to be on the accounts.”



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Integrating sponsors into content

“It's then coming to us and saying we want to do something here, what can we do? We pitch some ideas on what we can do...you kind if pitch fa to the left and then it ends up coming comes more to the middle once you stat negotiating with the sponsor...

It's so much fun to be in on the brainstorming sessions around here...”



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On how content has changed on social media during Neeta's career

“Initially it was all about just putting out the tweet. Then we started to see that tweets with visuals had much more engagement. And now its enhancing the visuals to make the visuals really strong. Now we're trying to do as many GIFs as possible over here...

I think the landscape has shifted from where it was just put out the text and then it became about the [photo, then it became about original art, and now it's about original GIFs. I honestly don't know what's going to come next...but I do think right now we're in an era where a lot of original content has to include GIFs.”



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Why ESPN does not engage in two-way social media

“We don't engage in two-way conversation...I can't really answer as to why, other than to say we do listen to what our fans are telling us. We do monitor the mentions and see (fan opinion about content)...We see it more as a listening tool than a conversation tool.”



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On Neeta helping provide social media content for ESPN from what she sees

“The producers have an open dialogue (with us) for if we see anything. I think our company, in general, has bought into the whole social media thing. (The newsroom producers) already monitoring it all on their own...

We do help them and help them set the the for the company in terms of what is happening in the social landscape...but they do a good job on their own of monitoring (social media content coming from pro athletes)”



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Prioritizing Platforms

“I think we place a lot of importance on Facebook (in addition to Twitter) because we do have a lot of followers on Facebook. I would say we prioritize just because of the nature of being first on Twitter as a priority...

I would say we kind of use Twitter as our sampling ground and we kind of what's engaging high on Twitter. We take the top 20% of what we put on Twitter and put it on Facebook. Our numbers on Facebook are extremely high, compared to Twitter.”



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Share-able Stat: 47 million, as of Spring 2015, ESPN’s Twitter accounts had 47 million unique followers[Source]

It has grown a lot since then!


http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2015/03/31/espn-digital-media-averages-19-million-u-s-fans-per-day-in-february-75-million-total/382326/


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Neeta's favorite hash tag she has used while at ESPN

#SCTop10: “It''s relevant in the live window, especially, whenever there's an amazing (play)...It's just so useful at all times.”



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The player that generates the most social media buzz and the team that gets the most engagement for ESPN

“It's an interesting question. LeBron definitely engages high for ESPN. Any time we can tie in any content back to Michael Jordan, it just goes through the roof. Michael Jordan still engages just so high. As far as teams, MLB – it's the Yankees, NBA – it's the Lakers, NFL – it's the Cowboys. Any time we hit those three teams, it's a good day.”

[Neeta also notes that, among NFL players, Peyton Manning and Tom Brady move the needle most]



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The best type of Twitter content, from Neeta's experience

“I think it's GIFs. I think GIFs, especially original GIFs are the most fun.”

[Neeta notes she especially likes when ESPN takes old-school art or video games and turns them into GIFs]



Sports PodcastThe biggest difference between doing social media for a team [like she

did in Dallas] and doing social media for a media entity like ESPN

“It has more to do with the ESPN brand, in general. Things are just not legitimate in the sports world until ESPN says it is. On the team side, you're sort of last report what's happening because you have to be abide. Typically, when the stories break, the team doesn't recognize it until it's official...We legitimize news and everything around sports. We can have the story typically 1-2 days before the team (can announce) the news.”

“On the team side, there was definitely much more of a push and a mandate to drive sales and conversions. On the ESPN side, we just get to have fun and engage with people.”



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Neeta's most memorable day or moment during her time at ESPN so far

Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals [NBA] – “On the ESPNNBA account, we did an NBA Jam Night and we had a bunch of throwback art and the entire game we were tweeting as if it was NBA Jam. It was 'kaboom,' ' boom shaka-laka,' 'he's on fiiiiire.' It was a lot of fun and definitely one of the most memorable things I've done in social media.”



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The coolest or most memorable athlete with whom Neeta has worked during her time at ESPN

“I would probably say Rob Gronkowski. He came up here for the Madden cover vote and we did a Periscope with him and I actually tried to get him to end the Periscope with him spiking the phone. But he was very nice and said no, he wouldn't break my phone...he gets a bad rap. He's a very smart, very intelligent guy. There's just a bad impression of him sometimes.”



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The coolest ESPN talent with whom Neeta has worked

“Trey Wingo, hands down. Trey Wingo is one of the coolest people I've met in life, let alone at ESPN.”



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The ESPN talent that best utilizes social media and why

“I would definitely say it's Adam Schefter. There are not many people in the NFL that follow social media that don't have push notifications (to follow his tweets)...His tweets are the most engaging for a journalist. He understands it, he's bought int it it, and he does all his news reporting from his Twitter account...he's basically the godfather of NFL journalism.”



Sports PodcastThe NFL city with the best food, in general, and the best food Neeta

has eaten in one of those cities

“The city with the best food is probably New York. I'm a huge fan of the Reuben sandwich and they've got some good stuff up there...

As far as the actual stadium is concerned...I'd say the best food I've had, as far as press box, is St. Louis. They had an omelet station there that was incredible...

I was also a fan of the Seattle stadium – they had a Starbucks in the press box...one, it was free and, two, it was delicious.” [even a barista!]



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What happens first – the Cowboys win a Super Bowl or the University of Texas wins a national title?

“That's tearing me apart. I'll honestly say that University of Texas will win a football title before (the Cowboys win a Super Bowl).”



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Neeta's social media All-Star to follow

“I'm a fan, on Twitter, of people that provides humor. Someone that kind of breaks through the clutter of what everyone else does.”

Steve Braband (@stevebraband) – “He does some funny tweets.”


http://www.twitter.com/stevebraband


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Where to find Neeta and all things ESPN, ESPN NFL, ESPN MNF on social and digital media

@NeetaSreekanth for Neeta on Twitter [great follow!] - she'll be with Monday Night Football on the road all season long

@ESPNNFL on Twitter and Facebook; @ESPNMondayNight on Twitter and Facebook


http://www.twitter.com/NeetaSreekanth

http://www.twitter.com/ESPNNFL

https://www.facebook.com/NFLonESPN

http://www.twitter.com/ESPNMondayNight%20

https://www.facebook.com/MNF


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Thanks very much to Neeta Sreekanth for sharing her experience, knowledge, and personality with us on the Digital and Social Media Sports Podcast!

For more, visit www.dsmsports.net and follow me, Neil Horowitz, on Twitter @njh287
