MLB Teams Slug for Social Media Homers: Battle Beyond the Diamond to Generate Revenue & Engage Fans

In the wake of Major League Baseball’s earliest ever Opening Day, fans are seeing surprising results between the bases: The defending World Champion Boston Red Sox are swooning, the Houston Astros soaring, and the usually meek AL West is feeding on the usually strong AL East. 

Graphic courtesy M

Meanwhile, on the digital diamond, where social media and brand building competition happen throughout the year, baseball’s historically most popular teams have almost insurmountable leads.

Befitting their status as MLB’s winningest team, the New York Yankees set the social media standard, ahead of the Dodgers, Cubs, Blue Jays and Red Sox.

But success on the field doesn’t necessarily equal social media success, as revealed in Cision’s ”Major League Insights Into Baseball’s Social Media Fans” (free with registration). 

The report goes around the horn, surveying the social media presence of seven MLB teams—the Sox, Yankees, Jays, St. Louis Cardinals, San Francisco Giants and both Chicago teams (Cubs and White Sox). For those keeping score at home, a larger social media following delivers more brand visibility, more fan interaction and more potential monetization opportunities.

As Pat Conroy famously said, “Baseball fans love numbers. They love to swirl them around in their mouths like Bordeaux wine.” For a sport that has long worshipped numbers, pro baseball’s social media analytics are remarkable… and relate directly to annual team revenue (at least in terms of Twitter followers).

Prolific home run hitters on the field (they could break their 2018 record of 267 home runs hit by a team), the Yankees lead the league in team revenue and Twitter followership in the U.S., Mexico, Canada and the UK, far outpacing those of the studies’ six other teams.

TEAM	TWITTER FOLLOWERS (4/15/19)	TEAM REVENUE (2018)
New York Yankees (@Yankees)	3,370,000	$619 Million (#1)
Chicago Cubs (@Cubs)	2,530,000	$457 Million (#3)
Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays)	2,240,000	$274 Million (#13)
Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers)*	2,110,000	$522 Million (#2)
Boston Red Sox (@RedSox)	2,100,000	$453 Million (#5)
San Francisco Giants (@SFGiants)	1,770,000	$445 Million (#4)
St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals)	1,200,000	$319 Million (#9T)
Chicago White Sox (@WhiteSox)	910,000	$266 Million (#14T)

* Not in Cision study (see all 2018 team valuations and revenue here).

While the standard business model in all professional sports is team owners charge premiums for on-field success and fans willingly (and at Fenway and Wrigley Parks, eagerly) pay, Cision’s report opens the bullpen for the likelihood that fans are increasingly paying a premium to help teams build their respective digital and social media branding and visibility.

TEAM	AVG TICKET PRICE (2018)
Chicago Cubs	$58.57 (#1)
Boston Red Sox	$56.97 (#2)
New York Yankees	$47.62 (#3)
Los Angeles Dodgers*	$41.13 (#5)
San Francisco Giants	$38.30 (#7)
St. Louis Cardinals	$35.54 (#10)
Chicago White Sox	$26.73 (#21)
Toronto Blue Jays	$26.07 (#23)

*Not in Cision study (Statista.com)

Beyond baseball, the report underscores the importance of knowing who and where your fans/followers are and what they’re interested in beyond the ballpark. Consider this objective data your “closer”: With it, you can pursue partnerships and implement promotions that are more likely to appeal to your fans—regardless of your brand.

MLB teams are in a digital arms race to capture, energize and 

monetize their respective fan bases.

With some tweaking, what works for MLB can work for any business: Develop “personas” around your customers. Customize your communications to those personas. Communicate and engage consistently with your customers via your digital media—not just social media.

NOTE: If you’re still not convinced of social media’s value as a customer engagement tool—especially among the 18-24 demographic, read this Pew Charitable Trust report.

Six Steps to Supercharge Your Next Annual Report (Originally published at Nonprofit Information, 3/22/19)

This article was published on 3/22/19 at Nonprofit Information.

Trouble sleeping? Read an Annual Report.

If your Annual Report is filled with corporate jargon, stock photos and confusing “Tables” and you’re tired of the same old, same old, read this article to discover six steps that can help ensure your next Annual Report resides in the “Read File” rather than the “Round File.”

Neither the IRS nor any government agency require Annual Reports. Because few hard and fast rules dictate their contents, Annual Reports offer creative communicators some editorial freedom to share the stories that define your organization.

The best Annual Report tell stories and lead readers on a multisensory, multimedia tour through your nonprofit. Professionally designed for print and online dissemination, these storytelling platforms favor photos, infographics and white space over charts and corporate doublespeak. 

This article includes links to Annual Reports (like the Cleveland Boys & Girls Club’s) that show some of these six steps in action.

Dump (or Delay) your “Letter from the CEO”.

Imagine if the Bible’s first page was a “Letter from the Creator”:

“Welcome to this Annual Report about the creation of the World. This was a very active and productive period in the rich history of our organization. I’m proud of the work of our dedicated and resilient staff, who handled many unanticipated situations…”

Instead, “In the beginning, God created the Heavens and the Earth” promises a story. Naturally inquisitive, we yearn to learn what happens next. Similarly, in the first line of The Odyssey, Homer appeals to our inquisitiveness:

SPEAK, MEMORY— Of the cunning hero, The wanderer, blown off course time and again After he plundered Troy’s sacred heights.

While you don’t need to write like Homer (nor, alas, is your Annual Report likely to rank among history’s great literature), your first sentence can spark readers’ curiosity and promise them a journey through a year in the life of your organization. Pledge that trip and guide them through it in the ensuing pages.

While the opening sentence will be different for every organization’s Annual Report, it should at least convey a measurable and meaningful achievement that the readers’ support helped make possible:

“Last year, . Discover how your support helped transform our organization.”

Bonus: A concise first sentence helps you storyboard the rest of the report’s content.

PRO TIP: If your CEO insists on a “Letter from the CEO”, suggest placing it later in the report, where real estate is more plentiful. “Your letter can be longer if we put it a little later in the report, boss!” is a compelling offer to a wordy leader.

Use Infographics.

Three words to ban in your next Annual Report: “See Table #__”. Instead, use infographics, short quotes, and brief explanations to communicate the impact of donor dollars. Dropping numbers into a program like Infogram lets you format them in unique ways and supports the story you’re telling.

Free programs (for basic functionality) like Infogram, Canva and Pixlr can supercharge the visual appeal of your numbers and other graphics. Complement your infographics with two-three sentence captions so readers understand how the numbers relate to the story you’re telling.

PRO TIP: “Package” your most impactful infographics by offering readers more explanatory content online (Step Four).

Pass on Passive Voice.

Mistakes were made when passive voice was used in your Annual Report.

Passive voice kills active storytelling.

The voice in which you write influences the tone of what you write. Too much passive voice makes your writing seem dull and listless. Active voice makes sentences shorter, clearer and more direct.

PRO TIP: Don’t rely on grammar check features to save you from the perils of passive voice. Programs such as Microsoft Word don’t recognize all instances of passive voice.

PRO TIP: Allocate some funds for a meticulous proofreader to review the final proposed draft.

Make It Digitally Interactive & Accessible.

Three ways to maximize the visibility and appeal of your Annual Report:

1. Share excess content online.


2. Post interactive graphics online (Infogram’s upgraded platform makes this easy).


3. Make it mobile friendly.

If you have too much content and not enough physical pages (or if you just need to cut print costs), use your print version to direct readers online where they can engage with “the rest of the story” (a la Paul Harvey). With a little planning, you’ve already posted the extra content on your digital and social media.

Girls Who Code offers a great example of an online-friendly and interactive Annual Report. Mouseover some of their graphics and you’ll journey deeper into the heart of their story.

Given the vast percentage of people who access information via smartphone, you’d be wise to make your Annual Report mobile-friendly. That doesn’t mean “our Annual Report is available online via .pdf.” In the very least, format the copy and condense the graphics so they load quickly.

PRO TIP: Use your nonprofit’s digital and social media to “tease” the contents of your Annual Report in the days or weeks before you publish the print version.

Repurpose Content.

Use the contents of your Annual Report to fill in gaps in your social media and/or digital editorial calendars: Repurpose infographics, photos, quotes, and testimonials. Include links to the Annual Report.

Highlight in your Annual Report a “storycap” or two that includes a link to a video where readers can discover the rest of the story. The storycap is just a photo and two or three sentences that pique readers’ curiosity.

PRO TIP: Beta test this in your next e-newsletter. Include a storycap with a link to a longer (60-90 second) video. Track the CTR and views/likes of the video.

Inspire Action.

Following these steps sets the stage for your grand finale: The Ask. Whether in print or online, your Annual Report must ask readers to continue investing in your organization. Don’t ask and you don’t get.

With that in mind, your printed report should include a donation envelope or perforated postage paid pledge card. Your digital report should feature links to your organization’s donation page, social media, and e-newsletter subscription form.

Without investing significant time, talent and treasure, applying some of the tips above can transform your next Annual Report from pillow to page-turner.

A Super Bowl 53 Carol

‘Twas the moment before kickoff, and in all New England junctions, nothing was moving, not even at Dunkins.

Homes full of hope and cheer

Welcomed guests from far and near;

Wearing Patriots blue

Bringing chips, dips and beer.

With wings and guacamole aplenty

the craft beer cold,

My spot on the couch secure,

Heather’s #12 jersey sans fold.

All through New England a similar scene,

Settling in for the championship game:

Pregame hype finally ended,

the prognostications extended.

Super Bowl fifty three was set to be played—

The teams in their finest uniforms arrayed.

Frozen for a moment in time,

A football tableau sublime.

On one sideline stood leader Tom Brady,

Beside familiar faces—Gronk, Edelman, the McCourty twins

Even dour Belichick in his hoodie

Seeking the sixth of Super Bowl wins. 

And we in our waiting,

scornfully dismissed the hating.

For we knew without a doubt—

As long as time remained in the contest,

Our Patriots would give their best.

Though you may hate the GOAT,

And think the Patriots cheaters,

Watch as the game advances

How the future Hall of Famer seizes his chances.

Like the game, this doggerel has no fix,

So Happy Super Bowl to all,

And to all a good number six.