Los Chargers TikTok Presence
The 6th Annual Awards
- TikTok Presence
ABOUT THIS ENTRY
The Chargers TikTok page has captivated audiences beyond existing fans, garnering nearly 100 million views in 2023. With trendsetting content that transcends the NFL and highlights players personalities, we’ve successfully engaged new audiences, introducing them to Chargers football and igniting their passion for the team.
How does this represent “Excellence in Engagement”?
Given the limitations on sharing NFL game highlights on TikTok, we had to design a strategy that appealed to football fans without posting in-game content. Despite these restrictions, 2023 was our best year yet and our content from this year is a reflection of the flexibility and innovation required to have a successful TikTok page within the NFL.
Over the past few years the importance of a strong digital presence, especially with vertical videos, has skyrocketed. It was imminent for our team to capitalize on this opportunity to distinguish ourselves on TikTok and in turn we hired a full-time employee to work soley on vertical videos. This intense dedication to this format allowed us to establish ourselves as trendsetters amongst NFL teams on TikTok. As other teams began creating content similar to ours, it became evident that we were influencing the pro sports industry.
It is pertinent to note that the Chargers’ majority-women social media team offers a diverse array of voices—providing a refreshing and multifaceted perspective within the male-dominated NFL landscape. This not only showcases inclusivity but also offers unique insights and approaches that ultimately enrich our engagement with fans and break barriers of representation in sports media.
Objective
Across our social media platforms, our brand has become recognizable and an industry standard across the NFL. We’ve ranked within the top 5 in engagement year over year due to our distinctive voice that fuses team passion and playful charisma. TikTok has become our biggest opportunity to offer an exclusive window into our world, giving new and existing fans a reason to follow the journey and become part of the team.
The main goal for a sports-social page is to gain followers and convert followers into fans. However, that requires brand familiarity and loyalty. One goal we instated was posting a minimum of 8 videos per week that varied in content, execution and targeted audiences. While maintaining our brand’s voice, we hoped to share a wide variety of content at a higher frequency in order to cater to a range of different sports fans.
The initiative was not solely driven by numbers; the goal was to create an authentic connection with fans, foster engagement, and showcase the Chargers’ brand personality in a way that resonated with a digitally immersed generation. This has allowed us to expand past NFL audiences and emerge as a cultural phenomenon in the digital sphere.
Strategy & Execution
By showcasing the player’s personalities, we allow fans to recognize our players despite not ever watching a down of football. We participated in a popular trend where you ask men “how often they think about the Roman Empire?”. We were the first team in the NFL to do this and wide reciever, Mike Williams’ respose quickly became a fan-favorite in the comments. Highlighting each player’s personalities, allows us to show football players in a different light than how they are typically perceived.
People’s attention spans are shorter than ever and we knew we had to combat retaining viewership throughout the entirety of the video. We did this by creating a cliffhanger video style, such as locker room trades where a chain of events keeps the viewer intrigued to find out the end result. We took the traditional Tiny Mic formula and spun it on its head, distinguishing ourselves from other similar content. Similarly, we utilized nostalgia to increase viewership with our crocodile tooth game, trying Mexican snacks and friendship bracelets for camp videos. We found that people like reminiscing and they relate to the player’s excitement; allowing us to highlight them in a way no other team does.
Organizations
- Los Angeles Chargers
Links
Credits
Jaemin Cho
Sr. Vertical Video Coordinator, Organic Social Media
Los Angeles Chargers
Megan Julian
Director, Social Media and Content Performance
Los Angeles Chargers
Allie Raymond
Senior Manager, Social Media and Content Performance
Los Angeles Chargers
Lorren Walker
Programming Manager, Organic Social Media
Los Angeles Chargers
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.
