The Charlotte Hornets’ Wesley Robinson On Engaging Fans And Staying On Brand

1Tell us about your role as Social Media Coordinator for the Charlotte Hornets. What does a typical day look like for you?

The first way I like to start off my day is by checking every social media outlet to see what’s trending in the world.

The best way to have engaging content is to show your audience that we’re always watching certain trends and will participate if it’s appropriate for our brand. That’s a great way to connect and gain personal relationships with fans.

Then I will check the player's accounts to see if there is anything cool that we can share or highlight on our pages.

As my day goes forward, I spend a lot of time in meetings preparing or brainstorming content with other departments along with my digital team. These are great opportunities for us to work on marketing strategies around ticket sales, partnership initiatives, community events, and basketball content.

Gameday is a little different because we have incoming content to sort out from our digital staff from photos and videos of players entering the building and participating in shootaround activities.

2You started your career in sport as an interactive media intern for the Hornets in 2013. Then you worked for many organizations including NASCAR, the Harlem Globetrotters and ESPN. What did your internship teach you about the sport industry?

My internship experiences gave me an inside look at what the industry is all about. I participated in many projects and had many opportunities to test out different areas of media.

This helped me really narrow down what I wanted to do in my career.

I never felt like an intern with the Hornets or NASCAR. They gave me any and every opportunity I wanted to have full control in creating content or pitching new ideas.

I actually had a seat at the table at a very young age.

3What’s your creative process when coming up with new content for social media? How do you balance embracing your personal creativity while still embodying the established brand?

It’s definitely a great team effort.

Alongside my manager, we work closely with our video and design team to brainstorm a lot of things that come to mind in our meetings. We scale across all social platforms to see what’s trending, players we want to highlight, notable milestones, etc.

We put our lists together and pitch them to our team to see what ideas can work at a particular time in the season.

I always have to keep in mind that even though a certain idea will generate a lot of engagement, the integrity of the brand should never be put in danger or compromised.

Although it can be discouraging to have your content idea scratched, it only challenges you to dig deeper and be more creative while protecting the brand.

4Connecting with your audience is crucial! Without spilling all of your secrets, tell us about your favorite social media tricks that get your followers engaged.

Creating personal connections with fans.

I love being in contact with fans, giving inside looks, and giving away prizes.

Fans love to know that we’re always thinking about them when creating content.

We love to use these platforms to highlight some of the best fans through bobblehead collections, fan caves, drawings, jersey collections, videos from memorable moments, etc. Fans always look forward to showing us their best gear or collections.