Katie Gillen, Atlanta United FC: The Competitive World of Sports Social Media - a podcast by Brian Clapp - Work in Sports

Careers in sports social media require skills outside of content creation, it takes strategic thinking, research, planning and more. Katie Gillen, Atlanta United FC's Manager of Social Media and Analytics joins us on the podcast to explain.  Hi everybody, I’m Brian Clapp Director of Content for WorkinSports.com and this is the Work in Sports podcast.There tends to be very blurry lines in the sports industry.In some industries jobs are like silo’s – you work in a very specific function doing a very specific thing… do not venture over here, that is not your world. Stay in your lane, enjoy your silo. You push the paper from point A to point B…don’t even make eye contact with point C.Of course I’m being a little dramatic but, I know people who have this existence…it usually requires a cubicle, just to remind you that you have to stay in your space, and not play elsewhere.In sports, the lines are a little blurrier.Sports sales is a whole lot of marketing. Marketing involves a lot of social media. Social Media involves a lot of content creation. Content creation includes a lot of graphic design.We can play this game all day long.One of my early career bosses, Sandy Malcolm, used to tell me all the time, you have to be versatile. You can’t just be a good writer, you have to know how to run a camera, edit video, ask good questions and more and more and more.This formula is constantly changing.To be a scout, well now you have to know analytics… that wasn’t the case 10 years ago.To be a storyteller you have to know Instagram, also not the case a decade ago.As they say, the goal posts keep moving.Careers in sports are blended….and often require both right and left brain.Take sports social media for example. You think it’s a right brain career choice, all creative and abstract, spontaneous and artistic. Sure, that’s part of it. But not all of it.A huge component of successful social media is in the left brain activities… like setting strategy, planning, data mining, analytics and projections.This weeks guest, Katie Gillen from Atlanta United FC – she’s the manager of social media AND analytics…which to many of you may sound like an impossible combination of left and right brain, but for her, is the perfect mix of both.And Katie's daily reality points out a truth you should write on your wall or inscribe in your notebook – don’t pigeonhole yourself.You can’t be just one thing, you can’t be just a creative type…you have to be tactical and able to get things done. You can’t be just a data person, you have to be able to translate that into action and into a format your audience, whether that’s a fan base or a sponsor or a group sales target…is ready and excited to consume.This interview ahead isn’t just a “let’s talk about how fun it is to work in social media!” Sure that’s part of it, but there are challenges ahead, challenges that you need to face if you want to work with a major professional sports team in any role.In social media you must be able to complete the cycle --  from over-arching strategy, to concept, to planning, to execution, to evaluation, to adjustments, to data collection, to learning and applying, to next challenge.Any part of this cycle that you avoid, or can’t complete, means you have a weakness that can be or must be filled by someone else.   Wouldn’t you rather be able to contribute to the whole process?Today’s guest Katie Gillen sure can. As the Manager of Social Media and Analytics for Atlanta United FC, the University of Florida grad has been up to the challenge of the whole cycle, and that’s one of the many reasons she’s a rock star…listen in, and you’ll find out the rest of the reasons real soon.Sports Social Media Questions for Katie Gillen,

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