Lancashire County Cricket club handed over control of its official Snapchat account to two players during their recent pre-season tour to Dubai.
Snapchat is a recent addition to Lancashire’s digital portfolio, and they now boast 3,500 followers, which is on the rise.
Wicketkeeper Alex Davies and all-rounder Jordan Clark took over the account for a couple of days while in Dubai to help make up for the fact that the club had no media or marketing presence on the trip.
The club’s Digital Marketing Executive, James Price, said: “It was our biggest success story from social media from our pre-season tour. Because we didn’t have anyone out there getting content, I thought it was important that we did this. It gave our followers a real exclusive insight to what it’s like being a professional cricketer. In just those two weeks, we got over 500 new followers.
“I was also screenshotting some of the snaps and tweeting them from the Lancashire CCC account so it gave a quick snapshot of what was going on. There were some genuinely funny ‘snaps’ over the course of the two weeks. It is definitely something we’re going to do more as it is exactly what supporters want to see from the players.”
Handing over control of an official club account to players on tour might raise a few eyebrows, but Price explained that it was his relationship with the players and their understanding of media training that assured him it would be a success – and the risk paid off.
He added: “I’ve got a great relationship with the players here so can trust them (as it was slightly high risk if they had a beer or two!). The risk paid off massively and gave our snapchat followers the chance to see what it was like to be a professional cricket player on tour (everyone’s dream right? Well, kind of!).
“The players get briefings at the start of the season in regards to media training. It’s a pretty informal session speaking about general interview techniques and guidelines with social media, etc – normally with the younger guys in the squad. The players are definitely more media savvy now and I think they realise it’s importance, not just to the Club but also to themselves.
“You could say it was high risk, but it was definitely worth it.”
