INFOGRAPHIC: Why Social Media Marketing is Just Like Baseball

Business and baseball have many things in common than you might initially think.

There are many ways in which to approach social media marketing - but comparing baseball is a great way to simplify it. Below is baseball game lingo in relation to social media.

ROI SUCCESS
Achieving a home run in social media marketing means reaching or surpassing the goals set with impressive metrics and conversions. For instance, reaching viral success with a pin or video is equivalent to hitting it out of the park.


IN THE OUTFIELD
The different departments and supporting staff will be there to catch any fly balls. Digital tools and resources that aid in social media marketing monitoring and measurement are also considered part of this reinforcement.

IMPLEMENTATION
This is the pivotal turning point in social media marketing, where you set yourself - and your team - up for success and step closer to the home stretch. Content creation is critical because it determines your brand voice and value. Detail will vary on each network - content should balance trending topics with brand-specific messaging.

GROWTH
Engage your social audience. This base expands upon second in that it's the promotion phase - content is designed and out there, and now you want to encourage your audience to interact with it. It includes cross-promotion between social networks and content monitoring.

PITCHING
Instead of pitching baseballs, we're pitching ideas. A little less concrete, but still impactful. This is where social media campaigns get their momentum: their velocity.

STRATEGY
Social networks profiles and goals are established and target demographics are identified. This planning period ends and you move on to second base when a content calendar is constructed.

IN THE DUGOUT
Just as a coach observes and instructs from the dugout, a community manager strategizes, and plans content while monitoring social trends.

STRIKE RULE
In baseball, strikes seem to pile upon one another until that last, pressure-filled attempt. Similarly in social media, it's a slow build-up to a marketing fail. The "3 strikes" to avoid in social media marketing are

STRIKE 1: Posting poor-quality content and /or images.

STRIKE 2: Ignoring users, fans or followers.

STRIKE 3: Not utilizing social media marketing best practices or keeping up with changes.

Source: http://blog.zogdigital.com/2013/06/24/infographic-why-social-media-marketing-is-just-like-baseball/