WORLD WRESTLING ENTERTAINMENT (WWE)

SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGYOCTOBER 2, 2016

BY: GREGORY DAVIS

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Executive Summary

• Social Media Audit

• Social Media Objectives

• Online Brand Persona & Voice

• Strategies & Tools

• Timing & Key Dates

• Social Media Roles & Responsibilities

• Social Media Policy

• Critical Response Plan

• Measurement & Reporting Results

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

• Our major social media goal for 2016 is to grow and integrate our audience. The primary focus is to increase outreach and awareness with communities outside of the professional wrestling industry while maintaining our fan bases.

SOCIAL MEDIA AUDIT

The following is an audit of WWE’s active social media presence to date as of October 2, 2016

Social Network

URL Follower Count

Average Weekly Activity

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/WWE 33,819,047 1 post per hour

Google+ https://plus.google.com/+WWE/posts 4,610,343 10 posts per day

Instagram https://Instagram.com/wwe 10.1 Million 3-5 posts per day

LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/world-wrestling-entertainment

29,097 2-3 posts per week

Twitter https://twitter.com/WWE 8,236,469 Multiple posts per hour

YouTube https://www.youtube.com/wwe 12,821,776 5 videos per day

SOCIAL MEDIA AUDIT CONT’D

• Official Website: https://www.wwe.com/

• Audience: Professional wrestling fans

• Competitors: Other professional wrestling companies

• Total Nonstop Action (TNA)

• Ring of Honor (ROH)

• New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW)

67%

33%

GENDER

Male Female

SOCIAL MEDIA OBJECTIVES

• In 2016, the focus of our social media goals is to bring more awareness to our brand by broadcasting company activities outside of professional wrestling such as our efforts with the Make-a-Wish foundation and the Susan G. Komen foundation. To do this, our goal is to increase revenue by driving traffic to our most reaching social media channels:

• Increase Instagram followers by 10,000 in 6 months

• Increase volume of visual and live content on Facebook by 30% in 6 months

• Increase WWE hashtags on Twitter by 30% in 6 months (Especially for days that we are not live broadcasting)

BREAK DOWN OF AVID WWE FAN BASE(Published in 2014)

ONLINE BRAND PERSONA & VOICE

WWE is a live, energetic and engaging experience for fans across the globe. Combining athleticism with drama, our superstars consistently deliver entertaining content 52 weeks a year to over 175 countries worldwide. All WWE material is rated PG in the effort of creating a family-friendly show for all to enjoy. With a wide range of hard-hitting punches, gymnastic-ability flips and a large variety of pyrotechnics and fireworks, WWE creates a unique experience for live audiences and viewers alike.

Adjectives that describe our brand:

• Adventurous

• Enthusiastic

• Giving

• Fearless

When interacting with our followers and supporters we are:

• Caring

• Encouraging

• Friendly

• Informative

• Motivating

On Facebook, we see an example of WWE reaching out to former superstar and documenting/supporting thecommunity interactions.

On Twitter, we see an example of WWE creatinga video poll and interacting with the fans.(Visual content is our #1 producer)

STRATEGIES & TOOLS

• Paid:

• Every Friday boost most popular organic Facebook posts for the weekend.

• Owned:

• Encourage the use of social media and WWE by using the hashtag of the city we are performing in. Examples include #WWEGainesville or #WWEOcala.

• By using the above hashtags, fans can be entered into a raffle at the event and take a picture with WWE superstars if selected.

• Earned:

• Encourage the use of WWE hashtags that support the community through all social media. Examples include #WWEGivesBack or #ConnorsCure

• Approved Tools:

• Hootsuite

• Medium

• Buffer

TIMING & KEY DATES

Holiday Dates

• New Years

• Martin Luther King Day

• Valentine’s Day

• St. Patrick’s Day

• April Fools Day

• Memorial Day

• Independence Day

• Labor Day

• Halloween

• Veteran’s Day

• Thanksgiving

• Christmas

Internal Events

• Connor’s Cure (September)

• Ring ramp logo

• Susan G. Komen month (October)

• Ring ropes are pink

Reporting Dates

• Reporting will occur once a quarter in January, April, July and October. Precise dates TBA.

SOCIAL MEDIA ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES

• Marketing Director: Michelle Wilson

• Social Media Manager: Gregory Davis

• Social Media Coordinator: Shannon Donnelly

• Supporting Social Media Team Coordinators:

• Kinnidie White (Social Ads)

• John Cena (Customer Support)

SOCIAL MEDIA POLICY

Social media is a tool that can be used to spread our message and listen to our audience’s voice. We use social media not only to promote but also to interact with our consumers and partners. As an employee and representative of the WWE you are expected to demonstrate best practices and etiquette in your use of social media by following the listed guidelines:

• Be respectful to all

• Use common sense when posting

• Be polite and sensitive to your audience

• Don’t use negative ideals or terminology towards the company, it’s employees, or it’s storylines

• Don’t mention the competition in anyway

• Ask permission before post if you are unsure

CRITICAL RESPONSE PLAN

For our response strategy, we will always have a plan of action for disruptions in our social media policies.

• (Scenario 1) When am inappropriate post is made:

• Take a screenshot of the tweet.

• Delete the tweet.

• Alert management of said tweet.

• (Scenario 2) When a WWE superstar gets in legal trouble

• Do not mention incident without approval from higher management

• If the incident is picked up by media, Michelle is the point of contact.

MEASUREMENT & REPORTING RESULTS

• Due to the lack of engagement with followers, we have decided to discontinue our Klout account

Social Network Follower Count Average Weekly Activity Engagement Rate

Facebook + 20% 250 posts 10%

Google+ + 2% 12 posts 1%

Instagram + 45% 25 posts Average interaction per post = 30,000

LinkedIn + 10% 15 posts 2%

Twitter + 15% 200 posts 10%

YouTube + 25% 30 posts 5%