When you’re in social media, interactions are EVERYTHING.
Interactions, as defined by CrowdTangle and Opendorse, are likes and comments on Instagram, likes and retweets on Twitter, and reactions, comments and shares on Facebook.
And, if you’re in the digital world in collegiate athletics, like I am with the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA), you need to follow SkullSparks. For the uninitiated, SkullSparks is a company that partners with college sports brands on recruiting talent and building digital strategy and connect America’s largest network of sports creatives (That’s straight from the horse’s mouth).
Each month – and at the end of each year – SkullSparks produces a rank order of Collegiate Athletic Departments that compiled the most social media interactions for that span. Most recently, SkullSparks released its year-end chart for the 2022 calendar year.
You didn’t have to look too far to find out where the USTFCCCA would rank if it was an Athletic Department: 48th with 763.5k interactions. I nearly fell out of my chair when I scanned the list. That would put us between Colorado and Washington, which are two high-powered, Power 5 Athletic Departments.
What’s more impressive to me is that we’re able to do those kind of numbers covering just three sports: cross country, indoor track & field and outdoor track & field. Every other institution on that list has a full compilation of sports from which to add to their tally, including basketball and football.
To add to that, our 763.5k interactions were from Instagram and Twitter alone.
We must be doing something right down here in New Orleans.
Those six digits separated by a comma ate at me more than I choose to admit.
OK. I’ll admit it. That number played an expert game of Pac-Man in my head for the better part of six years.
Then I learned to stop worrying and love the process (S/o to my “War Films” class in college where we watched “Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb.” That’s why I entitled this post “Chasing Page Views or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Process”).
Let Me Explain
601,259 represented the biggest month in the history of the USTFCCCA website, as it pertained to page views. Buoyed by 95,762 users and a spike of 63,006 page views on Regional Championships Friday, November 2015 took over the top spot on the mantle from its predecessor, November 2014.
November 2015 was just my second full month on duty as Communications Assistant with the USTFCCCA. I joined the Association after a short stint at the Athens Banner-Herald as a Designer/Online Producer, where I immersed myself in SEO and other ways of driving website traffic, more so than I did before as Sports Editor at the San Marcos Daily Record.
This was a big way for me to see tangible results from my work. I crave it.
Fast Forward to November 2019
I had been directing our content plan as Communications Manager for a year and a half since my promotion in July 2018.
I wanted nothing more than to break that four-year-old record.
We took a healthy crack at it six months earlier in May 2019, and while our website had its first non-fall month with more than 500,000 page views – 534,638, to be exact – it fell woefully short. One of my biggest takeaways from those 31 days, though, was that Twitter is an exceptional tool for us: that blue bird accounted for more than 25,000 link clicks. (Find what tools work for you and play to your strengths. That goes for any industry, not just communications or digital media marketing.)
As I saw November 2019 climb the all-time chart, I pulled out all the stops: I fired out links in every other tweet; I published quick-hit articles to increase the amount of content on the website; I brainstormed new graphic ideas to capture more attention with one of my dynamo assistants Lauren Ellsworth, with whom I developed an immediate synergy over how we wanted to cover collegiate cross country and track & field. All of it had to work.
December 1 hit and I checked Google Analytics: 596,091.
My heart dropped. I felt like I failed. There was no way around it.
That record consumed me. Every single one of those 601,259 views.
The Pandemic Changed Everything
Four months later, the world screeched to a halt. Everything else didn’t matter, other than caring for each other and staying healthy during a raging pandemic.
Collegiate athletics went on hiatus for the better part of six months. That meant we had no polls or rankings to publish or sports to cover, which meant fewer visitors to our website, which meant a major hit on page views. I’m glad that we had a yearlong campaign planned to start in May, which took us through those desolate months until sports returned.
That campaign, entitled “NCAA 100: A Century of NCAA Track & Field Championships,” allowed our Communications Department to develop a closer bond as we navigated the 365-journey that challenged our patience, resolve and creativity. On a personal note, it allowed me to get back into feature writing (which I consider my bread and butter), work on becoming a better leader, and refine my tactics on social media, specifically Instagram.
Once #NCAATF x The Century wrapped up, things were pretty much back to normal for us at the Association (or whatever “normal” means these days): indoor track & field went off without a hitch and everything that came along with it; the postponed NCAA DI Cross Country Championships brought a lot of eyes to that sport thanks to its return to live television; and the outdoor track & field season delivered in spades with numerous collegiate records and the promise of an incredible #ChampionshipSzn to follow.
Hey, Siri. Play Green Day.
Truth be told, I didn’t check our page views until October.
“Wake Me Up When September Ends” would be pretty apt.
Well, when I checked the numbers, I couldn’t believe my eyes.
Month
Page Views
Rank
Users
Rank
July
285.2k
No. 1
70.9k
No. 1
August
207.1k
No. 7
66.3k
No. 1
September
582.1k
No. 1
116.2k
No. 1
NOTE: Those are all ranks within each of their respective months.
Our October Symphony
Then I got curious and checked our stats for October.
My jaw dropped. I couldn’t believe my eyes.
Not only was the best October in our sights – so was 601,259.
I knew we had been churning out great content (more so than ever before) – and working like a well-oiled machine – but we weren’t doing anything different than any of those previous months. Then it hit me: the more you try to force something – especially in industries like communications, digital media or social media – the less likely it will work.
Even though I plugged daily numbers into a Google Sheet to see updated projections, I didn’t obsess over it. Instead, I focused on everything that I could control – managing workflow, delivering on social media, etc.
November 1 hit and I checked Google Analytics: 673,996.
I smiled, jotted down a quick note and got back to work.
May is typically a big month for us across the board when it comes to our social media accounts and website (After all, it is #ChampionshipSzn in collegiate track & field). Just a few years ago, I drove +27K link clicks through Twitter to help us hit our first non-fall month with +500K page views. That doesn’t happen without a dedicated action plan, though.
Here are some lessons I learned from that huge month, where we really took our Instagram engagement to the next level.
"Pilgrims" was the answer I always heard growing up – but, recently, I found that May flowers blossom into a record-breaking month on IG for @USTFCCCA.
"Pilgrims" was the answer I always heard growing up – but, recently, I found that May flowers blossom into a record-breaking month on IG for @USTFCCCA.
I want @USTFCCCA to be THE place for collegiate track & field fans to turn when they want to understand the historical significance of a moment. Anybody can post results, but we add context behind it.
(4/x)
𝗨𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗩𝗼𝗶𝗰𝗲
Ever since I saw an initial boon, I maintained the same voice throughout all of our posts that I can. If someone sees something on IG & reads the caption, I want them to know it's coming from the @USTFCCCA without seeing the account name.
(5/x)
𝗦𝘆𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗴𝘆 𝗜𝘀 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴
Our IG account would be nowhere near as successful over past 16 months w/o Lauren Ellsworth being able to bring my ideas to life after I do my best to articulate them. She has been invaluable. (Can’t find her @ any longer)
(6/x)
Originally tweeted by Tyler Mayforth (@tylermayforth) on .
It was published on Wednesday, May 18, 2021, at 1 pm CT, so it’s been live less than 72 hours as of this post and putting up those kind of numbers.
I had a strong feeling it would do well – but I had the same feeling about a bunch of others during this yearlong initiative that we’ve been doing at the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) to celebrate the near 100-year history of the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships (The first meet was held way back in 1921). I guess you can tell what happened with those others since I’m not posting about them.
One of the most important things I’ve learned as a social media manager over the years is to trust your gut (There are three other words that resonate with a social media manager quite well, too, but they aren’t fit for print). It’s virtually impossible for every single post you make to pop – unless you have a massive, engaged following – but it’s important to harness that immediate burst of creative energy and see where it takes you.
As it pertains to this most recent post about Kendall Ellis’ heroic anchor to send USC to victory in the Women’s 4×400 Relay at the 2018 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships, I knew I wanted to show, not tell. I already told the story quite well on the USTFCCCA website, so it was time to show. A picture with a caption wouldn’t do, so I found the race on YouTube, clipped the anchor leg and let the video work its magic.
The body included words and phrases like “writing” (It could have really stopped there), “producing video and/or audio content” and “social media platforms.”
All of that was up my alley and I was ready for a fresh start. I felt as if I neared the end of the line in Athens, Georgia and my itch to write, produce podcasts/videos and build a social media following again could not be ignored any longer. Plus, I had extensive experience competing in collegiate cross country and track, so it added up to be an opportunity I couldn’t let pass by.
This happened one year ago today. I had just returned to my apartment after a long day at work and fired up my computer because I knew better things were out there.
Cover letters are my arch nemesis, but something about that one flowed from my fingers. Yet I waited two days to send it to make sure it was exactly how I wanted.
To say things moved fast after I sent my application would be an understatement.
The following day I received a response and within a week they interviewed me for the position.
Not long after that, they offered me the job when I was on my way to Atlanta for the CONCACAF Gold Cup semifinal match between the U.S. and Jamaica.
I don’t know if they were desperate to hire someone or that my resume truly stood out among the other qualified candidates, but regardless, the offer was made.
I mulled on it for a while, debated the pros and cons and ultimately — like I stated before — it was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up. I accepted the position to join the USTFCCCA staff and put the wheels in motion to move to New Orleans.
The NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field Championships ended just a few hours before and my coworker and I were wrapping up some work for the USTFCCCA inside the press box at the Birmingham CrossPlex (a fine facility, if I must say).
I looked down at the track and asked him, “How fast do you think I could run a 60?”
“Right now,” he asked.
“Yes,” I responded. “Just like this. Minimal stretching. Wearing what I’m wearing.”
“Nine seconds.”
Gauntlet thrown. Challenge accepted.
Less than 10 minutes later, I crouched at the starting line.
When I got to the NCAA Indoor Championships, I recalled it was my first time at an indoor track & field meet since my final race as a Delaware Blue Hen in 2007.
I never ran a straight-up 60 in my life, so it was going to be an adventure.
On your marks… Go!
I shot out of the blocks and sprinted down Lane 5.
I heard the faint whistle of the air as I hit my top speed and crossed the finish line.
“What did I run?”
“What do you think you ran?”
Before I could answer, a media member ambled out of the press box.
“I had him at 8.55. What did you get?”
“8.76.”
“That sounds right. I started my watch right after he started.”
Let me put my blazing speed in perspective for those uninitiated.
If I ran in the men’s 60-meter final, I would have finished dead-last by 1.43 seconds. I mean I would have finished behind Tulsa’s Bryce Robinson, who came in eighth in an eight-man field.
TCU’s Ronnie Baker won the 60 in 6.47, which was the third fastest time ever recorded by a collegian indoors.
I guess you could say that went 0-60 real quick slow.
Here are a few other thoughts from my weekend in Birmingham, Alabama.
Indoor track & field meets always seemed to crawl by when I competed in them, probably because there were so many heats. That wasn’t the case this weekend. I don’t think I had a chance to catch my breath — or run back up to the press box — between finals on Saturday.
I thought our coverage was tremendous, which carried over from the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships in November. I churned out some good content, which you can read here, here, here and here.
Ever since I got out of newspapers and began working for the USTFCCCA in August of 2015, I had to figure out a new way to quantify my impact as an employee.
In newspapers, particularly during my time as a page designer at the Athens Banner-Herald, I relied on certain benchmarks like how the elements on my pages accentuated the stories, the physical layout and things of that nature. From the first page I designed in Athens to the final one in August of 2015, I felt I made progress.
Now that I’m in more of a public relations/marketing role, my focus has changed. No longer am I creating something that I can hold or see on a newsstand. Everything I put out now ends up on our website; so with that, I began focusing on page views.
No matter the medium, page views are driven by the quality of content and I knew with my journalism background that quality content wouldn’t be a problem.
And the numbers prove just that.
Since August of 2015, page views have increased quite a bit on the USTFCCCA website. I could almost call it a coincidence, but I know we’re doing great work.
If you look at the graphic I made for the featured image, the red bars signify the numbers from 2014. The green bars are what we’ve done with me on the staff.
Both September and October saw 23-percent increases over the previous year. Then in November, we shattered single-day and monthly page view records. And while December’s numbers dropped, the NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships were held in December last year, so that accounts for many of those lost hits — and even knowing that, those numbers aren’t bad in a down month.
From here on out, my goal is for those numbers to continue to trend upward and to grow our reach on Facebook and Twitter. I already started doing great things on Facebook with our “Facebook Feature Friday” series (more on that another time) and Twitter has been strong, but I would like to see it as strong during track season as it is during cross country season.
