This story is the third in a series about how marketers for sports teams and leagues around the world approach social media strategy.
The WNBA is in the midst of arguably its biggest season ever, having opened with its most-watched games in history and recently signing a new media rights deal that will reportedly bring the league $2.2 billion over 11 years.
The league isn’t just gaining momentum on TV. Its views on social platforms are also on the rise—the first week of the season had 157 million video views—and some team social media managers are looking to capitalize.
At the New York Liberty, which made it all the way to the league finals last year before falling to back-to-back champs the Las Vegas Aces and already clinched a spot in this year’s playoffs, Social Media Coordinator Charlie DeSadier’s approach to creating content for a growing fanbase hinges on relatability and versatility—posting on multiple platforms every day with everything from off-court antics to game-day coverage.
“I’m very intentional about connecting with our audience, making sure that I know who I'm engaging with, what their interests are…and making sure that I’m able to execute and give them what they’re looking for,” DeSadier told Marketing Brew. “[I’m] following trends, being immersed within culture, and making sure that I’m staying sharp on what’s going on in the world so that I’m able to tailor our content to our audience and our players.”
Here, there, everywhere
The Liberty tends to generate the most engagement on TikTok and Instagram, DeSadier said, and she likes that they’re primarily visual. She said that the Liberty’s TikTok views grew by 446% last season, although the team declined to share more specific figures.
DeSadier kept the team’s socials active during the Olympic break, during which the USA women’s basketball team won its eighth consecutive gold medal. The most engaged-with post from that period, with over 614,000 impressions, according to DeSadier, is a photo of Sabrina Ionescu with University of South Carolina Head Coach Dawn Staley.
In terms of typical game-day content, the Liberty’s social strategy isn’t just about what’s going down on the court, but “the entire game-day experience,” DeSadier said. This includes player fit checks, fan features, and posts starring boisterous Liberty mascot Ellie, an elephant known for her style, dance moves, and overall main character energy.
Personality test
Naturally, the Liberty’s players are the stars of the show on social media every day of the year, but it’s not solely about how good they are on the court; DeSadier also posts plenty of what she called “personality content,” like players showing off their handshakes, which tends to perform well among Liberty followers.
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One video of the team naming the most famous people in their phones clocked more than 4 million views, while another about the Drake vs. Kendrick Lamar beef got more than 2.5 million views. A post about the team playing “guess the tweet” saw more than a million views, all in about a month, according to the Liberty.
Another recent TikTok video, in which DeSadier asked the players if they prefer Chicago or New York pizza, racked up more than 700,000 views within the month it was posted, according to the team. Forward Kayla Thornton opted for Papa Johns over either of those iconic options, which resulted in another TikTok video that saw more than 48,000 views in a few weeks, per the team (plus a free stack of pizzas from the chain).
“It really brought in everybody,” DeSadier said. “It brought in that Chicago fan base, it brought in pizza lovers, it brought in our Liberty fan base, and it was just really fun to showcase player personalities.”
Secret sauce
DeSadier works with a team that includes two videographers and a photographer who travel with the Liberty and keep the cameras rolling. They typically try to post the content they capture immediately “to give our audience a glimpse of what our players are up to in real time,” she said.
But with athletes’ busy schedules, opportunities for social media managers to capture off-court player content can sometimes be few and far between. DeSadier said she’s able to do it in part because she’s built close relationships with the players. She added that she attends every practice, and “if it’s an intense practice, if vibes were low…I read the room” and won’t necessarily break out the camera that day.
“I think part of Charlie’s success is her relatability to the players,” Liberty Chief Brand Officer Shana Stephenson said. “They’re around the same age, and she’s just able to vibe with them in a way that is very natural and unforced.”
Liberty followers will even occasionally hear DeSadier’s voice in the social content, which Stephenson said fans have picked up on and tend to appreciate. Even in the offseason, when some teams struggle to keep social engagement up, DeSadier said Liberty fans are still loyal.
“They ride with us.” she said. “Whatever we’re putting out, they’re eating it up.”