Community Spotlight: Tom Johnson, Head of Digital, MLL

Name: Tom Johnson

Job: Chief Digital Officer

Company: Major League Lacrosse

In 140 characters or less, tell us who you are and how you got to where you are today.

Tom Johnson, Head of Digital for MLL. I didn’t want to be a lawyer, I liked sports and I spent way too much time on the computer growing up.

What’s one trend in media or marketing that you’re buying or selling?

I’m buying dynamic segmentation and personalization. We are continuing to look for new and different ways to engage lacrosse fans.

How do you define engagement?

Engagement is getting people to move down the funnel.

What’s the project or campaign that you’re proudest of? Why?

Our recent MLL Draft generated record-breaking web traffic, search impressions and social reach around the weekend of festivities. Page views were up 913% compared to the previous year’s draft. Search traffic was up 618% and social traffic was up 24,000%.

What are you working on right now? Any exciting future plans that you’re able to share?

The MLL season starts in less than two months, so we’re getting ready creating social media and online assets for the league, teams and especially the players.

As a connected fan, what’s the most engaging piece of sports content that you have recently consumed?

As a sports fan, I have really enjoyed following Twitter Hitter from MLB. It’s a live stream of every one of a player’s at-bats.

What’s been the biggest high and low of working in sports?

In my career, the highs have included meeting my childhood heroes like Deion Sanders or Joe Montana. The low is having to bring my computer with me all the time – just ask my wife.

What’s one element of the sports industry that you’d like to see change?

I’d like to see sports content creators paid more, especially creators who work in digital publishing.

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