After rapidly expanding its user base, social media start-up LockerDome’s CEO and founder Gabe Lozano says that the company is now working to ink partnerships with TV players.
The site specializes in the pro-sports arena, helping athletes and teams connect with fans on social media by using contests, polls, quizzes and other content to boost social engagement.
That approach has obviously resonated with users, Lozano says.
"In the last 18 months we've gone from virtually nothing to around 14 million unique users a month," he explains. "We think we’ll be in the 25 million to 50 million range a year from now."
LockerDome currently works with about 1,800 publishers, including USA Today, which inked a strategic deal earlier this year with the site.
Looking forward, Lozano hopes to more directly work with broadcasters and programmers to boost the social media profile of their talent and programming.
One example would be in the second screen arena, where Lozano believes networks could use LockerDome's contests, polls, and quizzes during a live show or sporting event to boost social engagement or online audience growth.
Another promising area, he believes, could be cross promotions between networks and their announcers. Utilizing tools they now use to promote professional athletes, Lozano believes they could boost the profile of these announcers—and their programming—by running network contests, quizzes, and polls through LockerDome.
Similar tactics could be applied to cross promotions between networks and leagues.
"Our average publisher sees a 50% growth of their Twitter engagement in the first four or five months after they start working with us," he says.
