Please don't create a Twitter handle for Coach Fuente and duplicate what is on @VT_Football. There is no need to split our attention in two directions. I hated that there was @beamer_ball and www.beamerball.com.
Also, stop using such a young voice. Random, made up hashtags and emojis should go. I'd love to see a professional, blue collar identity online.
Forums:
DISCLAIMER: Forum topics may not have been written or edited by The Key Play staff.
Comments
My guess would be that a student is running the account.
The official VT Football account is run by Pete Moris.
Kind of. A lot of the tweets are not done by his hands.
I'm sure there are other people involved but I'm pretty sure it falls under his purview.
Well yes but he doesn't write and send out all the tweets.
I understand that, but I am pretty sure from what I have read he's in charge of the crew that does.
If you look at Pete Moris' personal account - it is the exact same format as the VT_Football account. Exact. Excessive hashtags, not well thought out, some errors, skipping lines to make sure the tweet is noticed, etc. The new format is because of Pete Moris.
Take it your not a fan of Pete Morris? Could you explain why?
I wrote a separate post below but here are more examples - on November 22, the VT FB account posted a very sweet picture of Cheryl and Frank walking off of the field arm-in-arm. With no acknowledgement of who took the photo. It was Greg Moore's photo that was taken off of his Facebook page.
On October 26, the account tweeted "Good luck to @Bruce Arians & #BirdGang on @ESPNMonday Night. Go @AZCardinals" - Virginia Tech should not be cheering for one NFL team going against another. I'm happy for the Bruce Arians shoutout - he is a Hokie, but it needs to stop there. I think that's enough from me for today.
No, I'm not a fan.
Yea that's a non issue for me
lol. Bruce Arians is the only VT alum who is an NFL head coach. Nothing wrong with supporting him and his team.
the photo attribution is another thing, that kind of thing needs to be taken care of, especially cross-platform where you can't really share/retweet in a way that automatically cites the original.
Still, not attributing photos is pretty common on twitter. Gotta understand your operating environment.
No. This is not an excuse. I'm a photographer, and 17 year old girls that I covered prom pictures for gave me more picture credit than Pete gives.
140 characters doesn't exactly lend itself towards giving credit for every detail in a comment
This is not an excuse either.
At this point, I think you're just looking for a reason to complain.
Yes and that reason is not giving proper credit for an image you don't have rights to. Why is that so hard to understand?
You really don't understand Twitter, do you?
You really don't understand photography do you?
Watermarks are a photographer's best friend if they care about receiving credit for their work. Courtesy is to credit them, especially if they ask for it, but certainly not required.
I watermark everything that goes anywhere other than my website for this reason. Some photographers don't, and that's fine. It's a preference thing. They'd rather have a nice clean photo without a watermark. The bottom line is this, some people pour their entire life into photography. To have a photo used without proper credit SUCKS. The photographer didn't intend to make any money from the photo, and had no problem with Pete using it, but he wanted credit. It's certainly not required, like you said, but you better be damn sure it's a gentlemen's rule in the profession.
Also, Pete cropped the HELL out of that photo. A watermark wasn't going to help.
The audience for @VT_Football is 16-18 year olds; you have to have a young voice.
I'm sure Coach Fuente will be more likely to handle his own twitter account than delegating it out like Coach Beamer.
Eh, I disagree here. The audience is not just recruits or potential Hokies. I'd argue that more people follow @VT_Football to stay up to date than for any other reason.
Agree with Fuente handling his own stuff.
I don't completely agree with getting rid of the younger voice however it needs to change. It seems forced and unfunny, like someone who is older trying to sound young.
But I say don't abandon the younger voice completely as twitter has a younger audience. For example I as a Philly fan follow their teams and last season the @Sixers account was on of the best in social media, quick highlights/GIFs to go with funny interactions with fans/other teams/ect. While the @phillies was just delayed score updates and outdated info. It was boring, it wasn't any information I didn't already know, and frankly it had no value as a follow.
So yes it needs to relax, be funnier and don't make up random hashtags that aren't consistent, but don't be boring. Look at last years sixers (I think the guy got promoted, it's not as good this year) or Cubs or Astros accounts. They do it right.
I'm pretty sure Fuente will use his own twitter account just like Williams does. I think the VT football twitter has done a good job. It's important that it has a younger voice since, like big daddy said, the target audience includes recruits as well as students and the rest of Hokie Nation.
So you want, what, a VT Football LinkedIn page? Made up hashtags, emojis, YOUTH...that is what social media is.
Count me in with those that don't understand it either. I know it's an extremely unpopular position to take on such a youth oriented website, but to me, nothing screams YOUTH louder than social media. I get that it is wildly popular, but it's like Sponge Bob Square Pants or Dora the Explorer to some of us older folks, just not relevant or interesting. Sorry if I stepped on toes here, I fully expect a tongue lashing from some of you whippersnappers. Now, get off my lawn!
I was reluctant about Twitter for a long time. Didn't see the point of it, didn't understand the "culture" of it, whatnot. Then it struck me that most media outlets are spreading news via Twitter. It's not (simply) stupid, pointless stuff. There's a lot of it. But just about every question that's been asked on these forums in the last few days has had its answer on Twitter. Everything I knew about the coaching hire, details, media, press conference, etc. was posted on Twitter hours before the questions were being asked. Highly recommend joining, if only to follow accounts that interest you. It's much more fun to engage, of course, but you can get a ton of information in a very compact format on Twitter.
This^
Twitter can be used in two ways: A site for teenagers to post pictures and gossip, or an instant news source for literally any aspect of society. All depends on who you follow and how you choose to use it.
Exactly ^
The reason I wrote this post is because I figured that the audience for a college football team is 20-54 year olds, not teenagers. I use it to to consume as much relevant news as efficiently as possible.
This is where it gets complex. A college football Twitter account has to cater to both young athletes, who are very in-tune with social media and trends, and fans, who care mostly about information. If you look at a recruit's follow list, it's often got a ton of schools and coaches. So those accounts have to be "part of the crowd," yet stand out and connect with the recruit in a way that makes sense to him. But on the flip side, those of us who are in it for information have to not feel alienated by some unintelligible stuff that only a high schooler understands. Personally, I have no problem with VT on social media; they seem to be striking an OK balance for me.
My post was tongue in cheekism, not sarcastic, not truly serious. I do see the point of Twitter, just don't have a desire to engage in it. I spend too much time messing with e stuff as it is, don't need more. I know it isn't just kids doing Twitter, I really meant no offense, just presenting a different perspective. I'm the classic cliche, read the newspaper every day, watch the evening news every night, my books have pages and while I own a cell phone, we only use it when traveling, the rest of the time it sits turned off on the shelf. TKP and the news outlets give me all the Hokie news I need, so I guess I'm more willing to hear about it tonight or tomorrow, rather than this instant. Not anti social media, actually, just don't seem to need it.
lets see... college football programs rely on being cool in the eyes of 14-18 year olds with football talent and being cool in the eyes of 30-80 year olds with steady incomes.
1) Which one of these two groups uses twitter more? I wont even get into yik yak, whatsapp, snapchat, vine, and periscope.
2) Knowing the answer to #1, which group should the twitter account try and appeal to when it comes to posting style?
I respectfully disagree with your opinion, marketing guy.
www.beamerball.com is a commercial entity owned entirely by Frank Beamer and the twitter handle is an extension of that site so the school had no say in what was published through the site or using that twitter handle.
Copyright and Disclaimers - 2014 DGR Media, Inc., BeamerBall.com, BeamerBall.com, Inc. (Please click here for full Copyright and Disclaimer Information). BeamerBall.com is the official and exclusive website of Frank Beamer. No assets of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University are used in the production or maintenance of this website. This website is owned and operated exclusively by DGR Media, Inc. The names "BeamerBall" and "BeamerBall.com" are owned by BeamerBall.com, Inc. All video clips, information, stories, quotes, images, and logos contained within this publication and produced and published by this publication are copyrighted by DGR Media, Inc., and may not be reused, reprinted, or "cut and pasted" into any other publication or internet site without express written permission of BeamerBall.com, or DGR Media, Inc. Contact BeamerBall.com by e-mail at Webhost@BeamerBall.com.
I didn't realize that people were unaware of this.
So you want the official Twitter account of VT football to stop catering towards young people?
And you're a professional marketing guy?
Surprised it took this long for a message board to come up with a "and you call yourself a ...?"
And to be fair, it's hard to judge the direction of a strategy not knowing who their target audience is, targeting Hokie Club members vs High School recruits is going to have much different voice.
Out of curiosity, can you show us some examples of the marketing campaigns you've created and how successful they've been? I'd like to see what you'd do given the opportunity.
HokieJeep is Whit Babcock! I KNEW HE WAS HERE SOMEWHERE!
Echoing other comments, you definitely need to play to the younger crowd on Twitter. There aren't a lot of older people on Twitter, especially not as frequently as younger people.
For example, I followed every MLB team's Twitter account because I was curious of different marketing strategies and how MLB teams interacted with fans, players, other teams, etc. I found that Virginia Tech flows well with most MLB teams, who appear to be ahead of the curve. There is less interaction with the VT_Football Twitter and MLB teams. However, as far as the use of emojis and hashtags go, VT_Football is on-par with what is going on professionally.
Our overall marketing is so much better under Whit. The difference that he's made is very visible. Tons more outreach, spreading the base and hitting multiple platforms. I used to roll my eyes anytime Weaver mentioned "our marketing experts..." because what invariably followed was just lame. Those same marketing experts were used as the excuse for not painting the field for years, missing out on inherent brand visibility for the school from broadcasts, along with numerous other "points left on the field." They were little things and obviously the program survived but I find Whit's energy and action to seize the day very refreshing. Twitter skews young and less formal, it also drives eyeballs to content. Whether that's a news story or a potential Hokie checking out our university or a recruit looking at our program. I am 38 and don't mind it a bit - I've never been evenly slightly embarrassed about anything on VT's twitterings.
Thank god you aren't the VT marketing guy
It's not the voice so much as the message. The VT Football twitter account should NOT be rooting for the Buffalo Bills - we can root for Tyrod, but they should not endorse the Bills. In addition, I'm pretty sure there are other Hokies in the NFL would could actually benefit from the publicity that Pete only piles on Tyrod. LOTS OF TYROD tweets. LOTS.
The blurry picture from last night speaks for itself. My main issue with Pete Moris is that he tweets things from his personal account that should be tweeted from the FB account - last night, he thanked the cheerleaders for greeting Fuente at the airport, only after HokiESQ did BTW, but this acknowledgement should have come from the FB account. After repeatedly answering questions to the FB account from his personal Twitter account, I told him that several of these tweets would help the general audience, he said he would stop using his personal account (in September). This lasted all of 2 days, almost forcing Twitter followers to follow him so we don't miss any info.
He brought the paragraph spacing with him from Oklahoma - you know, the tweets that take up an entire phone screen. This is not young and hip - this is a tool used by promoted tweets. I want more information and less scrolling. Very few other accounts use this. I've been researching the Memphis football Twitter - it's what you would expect of Twitter - some cuteness, personality, but to the freaking point. I don't think he is doing all of the tweets. This morning, there have been lots of normal tweets - I've liked lots of them. A student may be doing these since they are Pete's style.
This is, obviously, a very sore spot for me. Whit or Desiree Reed-Francois, who I think hired Pete, needs to get a committee together to at least gather feedback. I have lots of comments and screen captures... These are MY opinions about the message and format. I love the fact that VT Football has >72K followers while Memphis football has 4,314, of which I am one.
Really don't have much to add outside of saying I think you're spending too much time worrying about a complete non-issue.
Except it's putting your name and brand out there to hundreds of thousands of social medialites. So yeah, if the VTFB account isn't acting in a professional manner or is being somewhat embarrassing, it's a bit of an issue because that is YOUR alma mater making a bad name for itself somewhere on the internet. Whether you're on social media or not, it shouldn't make you feel proud.
Personally, the account is tiresome and lazy. Too many messages that come across as mindless or thoughtless, and too many errors. Less is more. Yes, target an audience - that's marketing. But don't throw it in my face and look dumb/careless while doing it.
Tyrod is the only NFL starting QB who is a VT alum. Taylor is also playing very well. QB is a very high profile position even compared to all-pro Safety (bam-bam) It's very wise for VT Football to remind fans, potential fans, and potential recruits of the greatness that comes from Blacksburg. Hyping a 2nd string OL (e.g. Will Montgomery) doesn't have the same impact.
and potential recruits of the greatness that comes from Blacksburg
Exactly!!!! All this is a PR move for recruits. All recruits think they are/will be NFL caliber players (most are not). By displaying the HOKIES in the NFL on Sundays via twiter and other media outlets is just to show these high school kids what has come from VT in the past. It is almost exactly the same tactic Calipari uses at Kentucky and guess what he seems to be running a pretty successful basketball program.
Without Hokies in the NFL on Sundays, VT Twitter would be pretty quiet with just recap articles from the game the day before. No practice coverage, no play by plays, just crickets. And if we had a Thursday night game or worse, a loss, then there's nothing good on Sunday at all. Tyrod, Kam, even the Fullers, Royal, and Vick doing things on Sunday helps VT, but only if attention is drawn to the fact that they are Hokies and they got it started here.
There is no problem with promoting former VT players in the NFL. It should definitely be encouraged. The issue is the amount of Tyrod tweets there are. We don't need to know every time he ties his shoes.
I know some of it is personal preference (all of the carriage returns, using the briefcase emoji in lieu of a lunch pail, etc. - not a fan, but whatever.), but there are times where some basic fact checking is missed. On a number of occasions, the account @tagged the wrong account (a few times for Duke FB as well as ESPN CFB). It posted the really blurry photo of Fuente arriving last night. They promoted Tyrod & the Bills, but quoted the "RT if you want the Patriots to win" tweet. The pre-scheduled Happy Birthday tweet for Holland Fisher.
By themselves, all forgivable, but together, this is an issue. There just seems to be very little oversight and the account ends up looking amateurish.
Sure, errors are made, but in a world of 140 characters, errors are accepted and looked past frequently. To harp on the things that bother you personally, such as errors on a RT, extra lines, emojis, and hashtags, is to overlook the change that has occurred in our social media presence and that change has actually given us a presence. Many of the folks who originally managed our online presence are still working with Pete, but we hired him to increase our visibility and our reach. The dozens of folks who are upset with how things are run are outweighed by the thousands who appreciate the exposure and presence.
Hey now Will was the starter until he got hurt, give the man some credit.
As another marketing person, I think youre 110% wrong on this. The target audience of those accounts arent 40-50+ year old alumni.
I'm not a "marketing guy", my background is in software engineering, but I have had success using social media to market TKP's content. Correct me if I am wrong, but there are multiple target audiences. A few off the top of my head:
A. Media: A news event happens and Virginia Tech releases information via Twitter.
B. Potential Boosters: Convert social media exposure to Hokie Club donors, season ticket holders, etc...
C. Recruits: I think this is less important than everyone is making it out to be. More recruits follow the coaches recruiting them, Beamer Ball, than Tech's athletic department feed.
D. Etc..., There are more.
Point being, there are multiple stakeholders and audiences the accunt needs to appeal to.
Maybe I'm completely wrong here but I took from what he said to mean that the target audience isn't exclusively 40-50+ alumni. So it's a valid point. You're spot on, though. Definitely multiple target audiences.
^spot on. Joe makes a valid point but I guess at the end of the day, you have to wonder who becomes more "important" with those messages. I think social media is an incredible tool to engage a fan base but a majority of who will truly interact with these types of accounts are going to be in the <35 age range
Listen to this man. He has actual success with ALL-CAPS all the time.
Your opinion is bad and you should feel bad.
Wow, this thread seems like the biggest overreaction to a non-issue ever.
WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON HERE.
"Therefore, since brevity is the soul of wit,
And tediousness the limbs and outward flourishes,
I will be brief: your noble son is mad:
Mad call I it; for, to define true madness,
What is't but to be nothing else but mad?
But let that go.
More matter, with less art."
-William Shakespeare, "Hamlet"
"Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more: it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing."
-William Shakespeare, "Macbeth"
Too much culture; didn't read
You said wit, we dont do wit around here, its all Whit in Blacksburg these days....and who is this Shakespeare guy anyways.
Does that make you the Hoops Whiz?
a cool new solution that some places are taking up. -> If your job requires you to post on social media you will not have a personal account period.
that would solve a ton of opinionated posts and probably clean up the laziness/clutter.
2 cents!
I thought this was going to be about the interview video on the Hokiesports.com site. Cause that could use some help. Not sure what there is to do for like the first 10 mins...
As a 23 year old Marketing graduate, your view is really out of touch with what is taught in marketing these days. With all due respect you should read up a little bit on social media marketing, it's a completely different beast than traditional marketing with a complete different set of rules. I think VT is doing a pretty good job on the social marketing front.
I'm sure that most followers of the VT Twitter account (and VT recruiting targets) don't give a duck pond full of goose crap what color "collar" the account maintainer is trying to flaunt. It needs to be relatable.. And your approach to marketing the university brand, especially on social media, is dated and laughable.
Edit: #HotFire #RealTalk