With the 2018 Major League Baseball season looming, Under Armour was looking for help managing and enhancing their social media accounts for UA Baseball (Twitter and Instagram).
UA had just launched a line of baseball gloves to expand their presence in the sport, which includes batting gloves, apparel, footwear, and a deep roster of MLB players featuring superstar Bryce Harper. Due to our experience working with their UA Lacrosse division (social media management, digital and print campaigns, animations), Under Armour called on The Martin Group one week before the season to jump in and help run the accounts.
Our team immediately set out to understand the UA Baseball voice and target audience (males 18 and under), while compiling copy and graphics, tracking their endorsed players and working with MLB to collect video and photo assets of top performers.
Through both timely content based on athlete performance, the resulting strategy also effectively mixed in promotional posts for footwear, gloves, and apparel.
From April to July 2018, impressions on @UABaseball’s Twitter and Instagram handles increased 40% (3.72M in July) and engagements went up 24% (207K in July). Between April and December 2018, @UABaseball gained 37K new followers (6% growth), and live coverage of the MLB Home Run Derby and All-Star Game earned @UABaseball 740K impressions in two days across Twitter and Instagram.
Late in 2018, Under Armour also asked The Martin Group to manage existing UA Football accounts (covering NFL, college and high school), and in January 2019, to take over UA Golf accounts.