Hats off to the San Francisco Giants baseball team. They have dipped their toes into the pond of social media marketing. The team recently held a tweetup before the game against the Colorado Rockies to promote their presence on the social media site Twitter (@sfgiants). The event, a gathering of Twitter users, started a few hours before the game and allowed select fans into Triples Alley, a special lounge not normally open to the public. A tweetup panel and guest speaker were part of pre-game activities. Even Giants pitcher @JeremyAffeldt participated. There was special reserved seating of 400 seats for tweetup participants for the game.
The fact that two special sections were sold out should attest to the growing interest in social media as a marketing tool. This was a first-time event for the ball club, and they gave plenty of incentives for their fans to show some support. There were “Follow Us” T-shirts for early birds and a portion of the proceeds went to Room To Read, a local charity.
The concept of hosting a tweetup is one of the newest forms of social media marketing that is now on the rise in popularity. The tweetup is geared at a younger crowd, something the baseball team must target if it is going to grow their fan base. Of course, winning the game probably didn’t hurt either.