How ‘The Ringer’ has mastered the concept of being a ‘strategic business unit’ on Twitter

In my last post, I talked about the concept of a ‘strategic business unit,’ noted in Keith Quesenberry’s book Social Media Strategy, which means that a company’s three facets -- operations, marketing and customer service -- all use the same branding message.

I described one national, mainstream media company that stands out when it comes to having an exceptionally tight-knit ‘SBU.’ That company was The Ringer, a sports and pop culture website that uses Twitter as its primary social media vessel.

In this post, I will break down five things that The Ringer does on Twitter to push their brand. I will also talk about how these things exemplify the brand unity amongst the company’s different facets.

1. Making it ‘fun’

As I discussed in the last blog post, one of the central ideas behind The Ringer is that it takes a ‘fun’ approach to sports coverage. Their articles take a fresh, often lighthearted look at sports, which separate the brand from 99 percent of sports media, which often clings to archaic perspectives. While their ‘operations’ side certainly pushes this idea of ‘making sports fun to read about,’ The Ringer furthers this approach on Twitter.

They make jokes, post funny GIFs, and poke fun at themselves consistently through the platform. Last week, when UMBC shocked the sports world by becoming the first 16 seed to ever beat a one seed in the NCAA Tournament, they changed their Twitter name to “UMBC Fan Account” and incorporated the school’s logo into their avi. This is just who they are, and everyone knows it.

2. Incorporating their employees

One of the things that makes The Ringer unique is the way in which it markets its writers. Rarely do big-name news organizations sell the personalities of their writers like The Ringer does, as they use their personalities (which are often ‘fun’) to drive readership.

The Ringer does this through Twitter as well, as it will interact with its writers playfully to enhance the brand. They will talk trash to, poke fun at, and compliment their writers through the medium. This is another example of the connectedness between all three facets of the company’s brand.

3. Producing innovative content

As mentioned in my last post, The Ringer and Bill Simmons are known for producing content in a way that is fresh, new and creative. The Ringer, for example, has paved the way for the culture of sports podcasting. They started it, and now it seems as if every analyst for every network is required to have a podcast to keep up.

The website also uses innovative methods of storytelling, and this innovation is carried over onto the company’s Twitter page. The Ringer will consistently use videos, live YouTube shows, and other multimedia methods to display content via Twitter. While some companies are starting to do this more frequently, The Ringer has led the way.

4. Not being afraid to go viral

Most organizations seem to act as if they’re ‘afraid to go viral.’ What I mean by that is they will not post memes or other trendy topics, instead choosing to only post content. Although I’m sure that they would like to go viral in order to draw attention to their organization, they do not seem willing to post humorous, potentially viral tweets to do so. They may think that doing so would be unprofessional or ‘not by tradition.’

The Ringer, however, thinks otherwise. By posting memes and tweets that gain viral attention (even though they might not directly publicize links or content in that tweet), they draw readership and enhance their brand’s presence. As with many other concepts, The Ringer understands the importance of ‘catching fire’ via social media networks like Twitter. Once again, they’re ahead of the game.

They use this as not only a way to attract readership and publicity, but also in order to keep their brand unified. Their content deals with pop culture’s most trendy, viral topics as well, which is reflected by these posts.

5. Completing the circle

While The Ringer’s tweets clearly portray the same brand as their content, the same goes the other way around. The website’s writers also cleverly embed tweets from both the HQ account and the accounts of other Ringer writers to help tell their stories, thereby ‘completing the circle’ of branding unity.

Not only do they use social media to enhance their brand, but they use it for content as well. This shows just how consistent the mindset is between The Ringer and all of its staffers on how to portray and push the brand, in every way possible, through all available platforms. It is just another reason why The Ringer is the smartest and most effective SBU in sports media.