Expanding content at The Masters: Favorite Social Moments

Tradition. Greatness. The Green Jacket. Butler Cabin. Tiger Woods. Jack Nicklaus. Azaleas. Pimento Cheese. So many words come to mind when thinking of the first PGA Tour major event of the season. While this year's comeback by Tiger Woods to win his 15th major championship IS the story, I wanted to take a few moments to highlight my favorite social media strategies and tactics coming out of the handle that is home to Augusta National.

Each year, the content team at The Masters allows fans at home to look even further behind the curtain. From tracking every single shot to catching a glimpse of Tiger's green jacket fitting inside ANGC's clubhouse, fans are brought even closer to the action - which to me, increases my affinity for the tournament.

With that said, in no particular order, are my favorite social media strategies and tactics from the 2019 Masters Tournament.

Tips on Instagram Stories.

Patron tips

There's always something new to discover at the hallowed grounds of Bobby Jones' Augusta National Golf Club and everyone who has attended the tournament has their best tips for the perfect day. Each year, the tournament shares their patron trips, but I particularly enjoyed the look and feel of this year's creative.

The use of old ticket designs, bag tags and badges as inspiration for these graphics do not go unnoticed and realize the old school vibes that so many love about the storied event.

Graphics for the platform

I know I'm preaching to the choir when I say that if you're not designing social graphics for the platform, you're doing it wrong.

I've seen fantastic use of highlights in sports like basketball and football, but the creativity in golf has come at a slower pace. The Masters content team showed that bringing more to golf highlights can be done. They produced highlights all week, but I was particularly impressed on Instagram stories, where vertical highlights showcasing scores took center stage. All of the information you would want to see was in the frame with movement that kept you watching to see the final result.

The Masters content team has always had a strong visual aesthetic that breathes the ANGC brand. They continued to find new ways to present the brand across platforms - down to the smaller details such as their Instagram story avatars.

https://www.facebook.com/TheMasters/photos/a.78421828160/10156248578333161/?type=3&theater

Vintage upgrade

When your history is as storied as The Masters, there's an incredible amount of content at your disposal. Instead of overwhelming patrons and followers with content from the past, the content team used its vintage photography with a twist. As an example, instead of using a weather delay sign, the team posted a photo from the archives (how can I get my hands on one of those throwback Tour visors?!) to complement the caption. Rather than focusing on the negative of a play delay, I'm more intrigued by the vintage fashion and nostalgia of past tournaments.

In addition to using historic photos, The Masters content team created a "Local Lore" series that quickly shared tidbits about the golf club's history and tradition. My favorite example was the 19th Hole, which shared that "Alister MacKenzie's original drawings of Augusta National include a 19th hole for settling tied matches. Intended for the land between Nos. 9 and 18, it was never built."

https://www.instagram.com/p/BwPmRmPhLlk/

Sharing is caring

Cross-promotion expands the reach and engagement of content, so I felt as a best practice, I wanted to commend The Masters content team for sharing a variety of articles from their Twitter handle that send users outside of the tournament's website.

https://twitter.com/TheMasters/status/1117213375933616131

https://twitter.com/TheMasters/status/1117214633784332288

Swipe-able stories

The Masters graphic design team had their hands full throughout the week, pushing out clean and informative pieces.

Rather than using Instagram carousel for only multiple photos, the team did a nice job with using the publishing option to tell a story. Fans had to swipe to learn more about the updates to No. 5, Magnolia, or see the results of majestic rounds at The Masters. They made you want to swipe left.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BwFNOv6Br1K/

https://www.instagram.com/p/BwM-bohhXAW/

Strategic placement

When all of the action is happening inside the ropes, it's hard not to get carried away with a barrage of highlights between players. Teams have to hold that balance of pushing out relevant content as the "second screen" and complementing the action on the broadcast.

I'm sure plenty of us can agree that Twitter is the top "second screen" for catching the action in sports, and The Masters took advantage with its recaps in three minutes and quick highlights. Most of these were hosted on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram Stories - rather than the Instagram feed - which I'm sure they saw high engagement. Rather than pushing highlight content onto fans in the Instagram feed, they looked to quick videos and beautiful photography - where it belongs.

https://twitter.com/TheMasters/status/1117515002586509312

[facebook url="https://www.facebook.com/TheMasters/videos/880574162334440/" /]

GOT

Speaking of strategic placement, one piece of content that was only published on Twitter was The Masters' "Game of Thrones" video. I think it's fair to ask that if you didn't comment about live TV on Twitter, then did it really happen?

Jess Smith perfectly described the synergy between GOT and The Masters in her tweet below:

https://twitter.com/WarJessEagle/status/1117421071282724865

Conversation about the final round of The Masters and the GOT final season premiere made for the ultimate Sunday and they certainly capitalized on it. Any solid execution doesn't happen without a plan and execution. Bravo.

For a tournament that is known for its world-class dedication to patrons' experiences, the experience online is definitely held to the same standard of excellence.