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In the golf world, few brands have become more synonymous with the sport than Titleist. For 70 years, the Massachusetts-based company has produced the top-selling ball in golf. Now, the brand has plans to extend its presence in the game even further.
A major part of that vision has been its social media presence, growing a community known as Team Titleist. Titleist social media coordinator Abby Liebenthal is particularly proud of how the brand has become both a leader in equipment and digital innovation for golfers all over the globe.
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During the Open Championship in Scotland, Titleist’s digital teams based in the United Kingdom and Ireland were tasked with the bulk of capturing content. Liebenthal handles distribution from the company’s headquarters for all tournaments, but you’ll most likely find her and the brand’s content team at domestic tournaments telling the story of American golf.
“With domestic tournaments, we create a ton of content,” Liebenthal said. “For the past few years, we’ve done this video series called “Whereabouts” where we go and try to meet the people of that area where the tournament is. We also do some exclusive content like featuring specific holes where some sort of milestone happened last or just give consumers an inside look at what’s going on at the event.”
For a great example of this series, look no further than what the team produced for this year’s U.S. Open in Shinnecock Hills, N.Y.
"It is G-O-L-F to the fullest, and it was finally time I see all the journeys that get each golfer to that first tee." – @shanebacon
Watch, Whereabouts: Long Island. #USOpen pic.twitter.com/Shfq2rYPjI
— Titleist (@Titleist) June 9, 2018
Liebenthal, in her third year with the brand after stints with the American Junior Golf Association and the Tiger Woods Foundation, explains the philosophy behind the series that the brand’s video team spearheads.
“It really came about because we wanted to get to know the golfers just in that area. It’s a real honor for courses to receive the U.S. Open, and for us, it’s just such a fun opportunity to get to know that place and see what’s important to them and why are they so proud to have the tournament in their area. It is really cool because I feel like it connects Titleist with the community, which is fun.”
While fans will see Titleist — and other golf brands for that matter — provide live content for an event, at the end of the day, providing in-depth coverage of tournaments is not the team’s main objective.
“We leave that up to the PGA Tour and Golf Digest to really cover the event,” Liebenthal explained. “For Titleist, we want to connect golfers to the brand through events.”
In terms of platforms, Liebenthal notes that the brand takes advantage of Twitter’s nature to provide real-time content related to events, the golf world at large, and performance of their endorsers. To take advantage of Twitter, the Titleist team relies on the CMS service of Team Infographics.
Won 1st #PGATOUR title. Broke the tournament scoring record. 1st player to win with the new TS2 driver. Punched ticket to #TheOpen. And celebrated his 25th birthday.
It’s safe to say that @Mike_kim714 had a memorable week. Behind the #JDClassic win >> https://t.co/4v2cGxWQ49 pic.twitter.com/VDRCDSqjU3
— Titleist (@Titleist) July 16, 2018
Of the brand’s partnership with the El Paso-based agency, Liebenthal said, “communicating our leadership position is just one element of our overall strategy, but it’s really important and when it comes to victories for our athletes and we were looking for something that helps us get out our leadership message in an efficient, timely, and creative manner. TI was kind of the perfect blend of all of those things.”
Thanks to Team Infographics’ easy-to-use dashboard, Titleist’s content teams all over the world can easily and quickly create graphics that are consistent and cohesive with the brand’s standards.
“It was such a great opportunity for us to partner with Team Infographics to continue that message and a cohesive look for all of our real-time marketing,” Liebenthal said. “They have inspired us to have the look and feel that it is consistent and that was really exciting for us to be able to find a partner like that.”
Meanwhile, the Facebook presence is focused on video content and driving traffic to the Titleist site. On Instagram, Titleist captures attention with beautiful photography, while also making video a priority on the platform.
“With Instagram, we are focused on video, but we want to delight people with beautiful imagery at the same time to connect people to the brand. So when you’re scrolling through your Instagram feed, we want Titleist to look like one of your friends that you had gone golfing with. We want to connect with the golfer in a way that the brand feels like your friend.”
Another noteworthy aspect of Titleist’s Instagram presence is the brand’s use of the shoppable links in certain posts.
“We want to make it easier for consumers to know how to get our product,” Liebenthal says of that practice. “With a tool like Instagram’s shoppable links, we’re able to break down another barrier just send to consumers directly to one of our products. It makes that purchase decision that much easier.”
That personal feel, on all platforms, has helped result in Titleist’s online community of supporters, Team Titleist. By focusing on growing a community as opposed to just an audience, Titleist has reaped the benefits with increased engagement across all of its web and social platforms. The brand gets creative in ways that allow members of the community to connect with each other and share their love of the game.
“On our website, people can fill out what’s in their bag and they can talk to other golfers on the discussion forum. We’re always talking to people on social as well as they’re part of Team Titleist.”
While the community grows through web and social content, Titleist also engages its most valued customers through Team Titleist events all over the country.
“We try to bridge the digital and physical experience. We’re going to Kiawah in October and we have 100 Team Titleist members coming down to play golf for a few days, meet Titleist staff members, watch a clinic, and just kind of get to know Titleist a little bit better than just as a brand.”
In recent years, the brand has engaged its community, and highlighted its products, through the use of influencer marketing. Titleist uses its extensive player roster, which includes names like Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth, and Henrik Stenson in a lot of its web content as well as in user-generated content with the golfers themselves.
"Now I can just focus on my feel and how far I want to hit the shot." See how a @VokeyWedges fitting benefitted Russell Henley's game. pic.twitter.com/5zaKJ3o3bc
— Titleist (@Titleist) July 5, 2018
“The idea of influencers is really valuable to consumers because we can say how great a product is, but it’s even better when they can hear it from a PGA tour or your friend who loves golf.”
Titleist has also turned the brand’s employees into influencers of sorts recently with the #WeAreGolfers series that highlights people behind the brand in order to strengthen Titleist’s bond with #TeamTitleist — a hashtag that has garnered 4.5 million impressions on Twitter alone.
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“Although it’s not the highest in engagement numbers, I think it still resonates with people on a more personal level,” Liebenthal said. “It helps to tell that story of how we relate to the other golfers out there, which is big for the brand. It’s fun for us to share that. The next time you tee up a Titleist ball, we want you to think ‘this means a little bit more than just me hitting a golf ball.’”
To see more of Titleist’s community-first approach to social media marketing, follow them on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook and see why golfers in America and beyond are proud to call themselves #TeamTitleist.
*Team Infographics is a proud partner of Front Office Sports
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