House of Highlights Instagram
The 6th Annual Awards
- Instagram Presence
ABOUT THIS ENTRY
This submission is for your consideration to select House of Highlights (HoH) as a finalist in the category for Instagram Presence at the Hashtag Sports Awards. The House of Highlights Instagram account is the leading sports media page, being the first U.S. sport media page EVER to surpass 50 million followers, delivering the best in sports and youth culture.
How does this represent “Excellence in Engagement”?
The fastest-growing sports media account on Instagram isn’t something House of Highlights brags about just because it sounds nice; but, simply because it’s true. Being the first sports media account to surpass 50 million followers is a testament to the excellence in engagement the acccount has with its audience alone. In addition to its industry-leading follower base on the app, House of Highlights drove more engagements per IG post than ANY U.S sports media brand. The company has the numbers to back it up with over 349,000 engagements per post last year which was higher than the next closest competitor in Sportscenter, whose 323,000 engagements per post represent more than 25,000 engagements per post fewer than HoH. Whether it's catching up on the highlights from the game last night or sharing the latest insane clip that has recently gone viral, House of Highlights welcomes the next generation of sports fans to consume sports and youth culture in an authentic way with a unique voice that they can’t get anywhere else.
Objective
Throughout the years, House of Highlights has maintained a lasting presence on Instagram that has positioned itself as a leading sport media brand on the platform. Since joining Instagram, HoH has utilized the video feature to upload NBA highlights and moments with a unique voice in each caption that makes followers feel like they are watching each clip with their friends in a group chat. From these beginnings to where the company is now, HoH has continued to grow its presence in an effort to achieve the objective of being the primary destination for Gen-Z sport fans to capture everything they need to see in sports and youth culture. Throughout the years, HoH has continued to make it a goal to invest into creating content that is accessible, relatable and communal. When it comes to Instagram specifically, HoH has truly honed into the communal aspect of its goals to build an account that is welcoming to all and allows fans to be a part of and participate in the shared content. By allowing fans to participate in the content they see on HoH IG, other metrics such as engagements, views and follower growth become positive beneficiaries.
Strategy & Execution
On Instagram, House of Highlights has to be aware of features and trends that impact its audience, as in the case of the content packaging with IG reels and carousel posts. Some of the most exciting moments from NBA games come in the waning seconds of action when, due to the vertical video format on Instagram, the suspense from the game is lost when the game clock is cropped out. However, the HoH social team shrewedly added a graphic overlay that keeps the scoreboard and game clock in frame so viewers can stay locked in and feel the intensity of each buzzer-beater that ramps up engagement on the account. In addition to NBA content, HoH has utilized user-generated content to celebrate youth culture on the account and opted to bring in strategic additions like text overlays and carousel screenshots used to not just grab fans attention but keep it. When it comes to carousel posts on Instagram, HoH has gone all in on finding the best screenshots or cover images for each post that offers each viewer a tease of what the video will contain with compelling text and stills that motivate fans to scroll to see more.
Organizations
- Bleacher Report
- House of Highlights
Links
Credits
Caroline Jastremski
Director, House of Highlights Programming
House of Highlights
Aaron Siegal
Manager, House of Highlights Brand Strategy
House of Highlights
BJ Coker
Social Programmer I
House of Highlights
Brennan Kuebler
Social Programmer II
House of Highlights
Christian Ortiz
Social Programmer
House of Highlights
Dylan Burd
Social Programmer I
House of Highlights
Garrett Yurisko
Social Programmer II
House of Highlights
Joshua Singh
Senior Content Strategist
House of Highlights
Nathan Pechar
Social Programmer I
House of Highlights
Ariese Bernard
Manager, House of Highlights Social Programming
House of Highlights
Chris Beltran
House of Highlights Sales Programmer
House of Highlights
Celebrate in NYC
Join us for the 6th Annual Hashtag Sports Awards™ on the evening of June 6, 2024 as we celebrate finalists and reveal the winners of this year's awards live during the show.
