ESPN shows value of social media

Flipping through channels Sunday night, it became apparent exactly how far social media has come and how far traditional media has gone to embrace it.
It has become fairly routine for television networks, newspaper writers and columnists and teams to tweet and offer to take tweets during games. The fact that ESPN promoted the fact that viewers could tweet about the Giants-Dodgers baseball game airing on ESPN2 was really not a shock.
However, a quick flip over to the Women's Final Four on ESPN showed that the all sports network has taken social media to a new level.
Added to the on-air commentator list was a Social Media Analyst. She threw out several questions and fielded thousands of tweets about everything from which team was the biggest disappointment in the tournament to how cool or uncool the throwback floor in Indianapolis' Conseco Fieldhouse was.
Now having a Social Media Analyst or Coordinator is nothing new for many businesses. Actually putting that person on air from the site of an event shows a commitment we have not seen before.
How does this relate to marketing?
Plain and simple - it's another audience to reach.
Those same people that are tweeting are probably watching the game as well. But if you're a marketer that wants to reach a certain audience - it can be much more targeted if you're paying to reach the tweeters as opposed to buying a commercial that reaches the entire television audience.
This philosophy can work on smaller levels as well for local newspapers, radio and television stations. It's a new and very targeted way to reach an audience that may be coveted by a certain business.
These audiences will continue to grow. We need to look for ways to take advantage of them.

Marty Valania has been involved with digital marketing for over 10 years. Please email suggestions or ideas to martyvalania@gmail.com.