War on another front - winning the social media battle

knapplc

knapplc

International Man of Mystery
Huskers, Riley push to stay ahead in the social media game

“They always talk about the website is your doorstep to your business,” said Mosier, Nebraska’s director of digital communications. “Well, anymore, social media is the sidewalk that leads up to your door. So that’s really how you get people into your brand.”

Consider that the @Huskers Twitter account has more than 186,000 followers. That’s the second-largest athletic department Twitter account following behind only Georgia. And if you classify @Huskers as the university’s main football account, it ranks fourth among college football accounts behind just Michigan, Alabama and LSU.

According to Mosier, the Husker athletic department's Facebook account also ranks about 13th against its peers nationally.

“I like to say we over-perform for what I would consider is our direct population base,” he said. “Now, Nebraska is a national brand. So we have a lot of followers that are not in the state. But at some point, you do kind of run up into that population barrier.”
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We may be a small state by population, but we have a huge following across the country. The Husker diaspora includes people from coast to coast, Canada to Mexico, and we have members from outside the country logging in here all the time. Twitter, Facebook, and other social media are the best ways to connect with these fans, and the Huskers are taking full advantage.

While Brian Christopherson's article (above) talks most about Kelly Mosier, Nebraska's Director of Digital Media, Randy York's (below) talks about Mosier's staff.

Young Social Media Practitioners Love Their Jobs
Andy Wenstrand, Web and Digital Media Design Specialist

As a native son of Nebraska, Wendstrand was raised in the shadows of a family that all graduated from the University of Nebraska. He often dreamed of a day when he could emerge from the locker room to the fans chanting and cheering as he gave his “all’’ to help deliver a victory. For more than a century, many members of his family were granted that very privilege of competing while wearing the Scarlet and Cream with an "N" emblazoned upon their uniform, dating all the way back to 1905 when Ralph T. Wenstrand played as a guard on Nebraska’s football team.

Ridge Barber, Digital Media Content Specialist

Barber, 24, has been a Husker enthusiast for as long as he can remember. He was born and raised in Fairbury, Neb., and yes, it is the home of the famous Fairbury hotdogs. “Growing up in Fairbury, being a Husker is ingrained into your future,” he said before admitting: “After having so many childhood ambitions, I would never have guessed I would be fortunate enough to work with such a great university, let alone a digital media department that's among the best in the nation.”

Kyle Benzion, Digital Media Video Content Specialist

A year ago at this time, Benzion was sitting in college classes in the state of Florida. “To imagine that I have come so far in less than a year would have been unrealistic,” he said. “Little did I know that I was fortunate to come to one of the best universities in the country with what I think is the absolute best social media and the best fans in college athletics.” Benzion manages all video/audio streams as well as all video content on Huskers.com. “It’s been really special to interact with the Nebraska fans,” he said. “They’re very active on social media and have a tremendously high sports IQ. Unlike any other place in the country, any video that I create or that we release, we not only get hundreds of views, but typically thousands of views.”
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Good stuff, knapplc. I love the transparency as a fan, especially one that no longer lives in Nebraska. I thought the previous staff did a good job with Twitter; this staff has done a great job.

There’s very good reason for Riley’s Twitter account to include a tweet such as: “First in home visit tonight in Denver, this is a big one for #Husker Football!” That’s what the Husker coach tweeted last month on the night he went to visit four-star defensive back Eric Lee, who is now enrolled at Nebraska.

The tweet was favorited more than 2,300 times, sure. But more importantly, Lee knew a football coach was tweeting about him to more than 80,000 people. How could a kid, how could anyone, not like that?

“You know how these 15- to 18-year-olds communicate,” said Andy Vaughn, Nebraska’s director of football and recruiting operations. “The phone is always in their hand. That’s how they operate now. That’s how they interact with the world, each other, and with us.
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That is a great point. Not only does it help keep fans in the loop ("not closing the blinds"), but it has to feel great as a player being recruited.

 
I like the effort in this area. We need every advantage we can get. This should help with recruiting and in raising revenue.

 
MichiganDad3 said:
I like the effort in this area. We need every advantage we can get. This should help with recruiting and in raising revenue.
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I like it too. It seems some guys see social media outlet as something they /have/ to use because the kids are instead of trying to use it as an advantage.

 
maybe they should post more pics of nebraska honeys..... that would help

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DaveH said:
I like it too. It seems some guys see social media outlet as something they /have/ to use because the kids are instead of trying to use it as an advantage.
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Exactly. In a lot of ways, I liked Bo, but he and his staff always seemed as if they were on social media begrudgingly rather than enthusiastically embracing it.
Hope it bodes well for future classes.

 
Yeah, parts of this staff aren't really too different. Some coaches have it, some don't.

But Ryan "The" Gunderson and Andy "I Post Pictures of Ric Flair" Vaughn, these guys are just knocking it out of the park. Very important hires and they have some great resources at their fingertips.

 
True. But I always got the impression that Bo viewed it with distrust, and that seeped over to the assistants. Probably reading too much into it, but that was the feeling I got. At least with Riley, there's no doubt that any assistant with a flair for it is free to use it.

As happy as I am with how Riley has salvaged this class - it could have easily blown up with the coaching change - I'm REALLY excited to see what they can do after they've had a year or two to form (or mend) relationships with kids, high schools, etc.

 
Definitely!

I think to an extent what everyone's always said is true. Compared to other places, it's not necessarily that easy to recruit to Nebraska. But you know what? These guys will try their hearts out. And they will make sure the Nebraska brand isn't one that says, "We know we're hard to recruit to." People are going to see that attitude, and they will KNOW that Nebraska will go anywhere, anytime. Hard to imagine that not raising the prestige of a Nebraska offer.

 
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