By Katie Oxenford
The Hoffman Agency, San Jose
The Super Bowl is one of social media’s favorite sporting events. And love ’em or hate ’em, the Seahawks are scoring points left and right.
Seahawks do not only take the prize for having the loudest fans in the stadium, but also online. According to a recent report, Seahawks fans are more vocal, express positive sentiment about their team more often and use team-specific hashtags on a more regular basis.
We decided to check it out ourselves to see what moves the Seahawks are pulling to beat the Broncos in our 2014 Super Bowl “Social Media Smack Down.”
1) Fans Invited to “Tap In”
The Hawks created a new landing page on the team’s website to unite fans around the world, allowing them to “tap in” and demonstrate their team support.
2) Team Playoff Hashtags
The Seahawks are maximizing social media by encouraging fans to join the conversation by using the hashtags #TappedIn, #GoHawks, #LOUDER, #WeAre12 and #BingHawks.
3) Voice of the 12th Man
To bring support to playoff games, the Seahawks created a voice for their fan base called “The 12th Man.” The official hashtag is #SPIRITOF12. Fans can tag their tweets and photos to show up on The 12th Man’s tag board.
4) Celebrity Love
The Seahawks have no shortage of celebrity endorsements from Seattle natives like Joel McHale and Macklemore. This was retweet gold for fans, helping to spread the Seahawks love across social media.
5) Brand that Resonates
Fans rally around teams to be part of something bigger than themselves. The Seahawks get this, and share out content that is extremely community-focused, likeable and share-worthy.
Just check out this cute dog in fan gear. This post alone had 14,400 likes!
They also do an excellent job of exhibiting their human side by showcasing the charities in which they’re involved.
All-in-all, the Seahawks take a holistic approach to social media – one that prompts fan interaction and helps solidify the Seahawks’ brand.
So how does your favorite NFL team fare in the “Social Media Super Bowl”?
Well done, Seahawks. #GoHawks
