Truth be told, I’m not the biggest baseball fan in the world. What I am a fan of is this time of year. The post season, the playoffs, and the MLB World Series.

Tonight, in the heart of St. Louis, the Rangers and the Cardinals go head to head in Game 2. A tight matchup between two great franchises. But, all I can think about is the similarity between the effort it takes for the champion to triumph in 7 games and the effort it takes for a brand to have a successful social media plan. Here are the top three reasons to tune into the MLB series and to tune UP your social strategy in the coming months.

1. Everyone is tuned in. Though ratings have dropped this year, the World Series is still one of the top-rated broadcasts of the year, pulling in around 14% televisions in use at that time.  Can you imagine the pressure? That same pressure bears down on brands and businesses in terms of social. Almost 800 million people are active on Facebook. Around 145 million people are on Twitter. And over 6 billion people are online worldwide. Think of the expectations. What does this mean for professional baseball players? It means they better not mess up. What does this mean for brands? It means they better not mess up. It’s important to think through a strategy, work as a team, and inject meaning into every swing, plan out every run, and be ready for every pitch.
2. Stamina. I’ve heard a number of different conjectures about who will win the series. Most think there’s no question that the game will go to the last inning of game 7. This means that our favorite players are charged with being in top physical and mental shape. Why shouldn’t our social strategies be in top shape too? Think long distance with your social strategies. Be ready with a broad enough objective that no matter what the new technology is, you’re prepared to incorporate it in a holistic strategy that accomplishes a single goal.
3. All or nothing. At this point, either you win the title, or you don’t. There’s no in between. The same is true in the social world; either you get out there, be transparent and be social, or you don’t. To be successful, a brand needs to truly embrace social media and the groundswell. The old advice for companies was to just get in there and start “posting,” but that mentality wont jive today. To gain a following, you must have goals and clear cut strategies to achieve them. Otherwise, the other team wins.