The Arizona Diamondbacks’ Instagram account (@Dbacks) surpassed 100,000 followers, its biggest milestone since the creation of the account in 2012 and nearly a 100-percent increase during the last 12 months. To thank fans, the team is encouraging its Instagram followers to nominate the biggest @Dbacks fan they know for a chance to receive a follow from the team’s @Dbacks Instagram account.
This Tuesday, for St. Patrick’s Day, pitcher Patrick Corbin (@PatrickCorbin46) will take over the D-backs’ account on Instagram, sharing videos and photos throughout the course of his day.
Reaching the 100k mark on Instagram is the latest indicator of the D-backs’ growing social media presence. Since 2013, the @Dbacks Instagram account ranks among the top half of MLB teams in follower growth rate, fifth in total number of photos and videos shared and seventh in engagement (likes and comments) per fans in Major League Baseball. On Twitter, @Dbacks is poised to reach 200,000 followers early in the season, almost twice the amount of what the account had at this time last year. The account helped launch the newest Chase Field food item, the Churro Dog, causing it to trend worldwide, with thousands of mentions in a span of a few hours.
The Arizona Diamondbacks Facebook page (facebook.com/D-backs) has also doubled in likes over the past season, currently tallying more than 620,000 fans. From March 4 to March 13, the team’s posts reached 5.2 million people, with the Churro Dog, #Dbacks20thBday and others driving record engagement.
On March 12, as Will Ferrell played in a game for the D-backs during his journey around the Cactus League, several D-backs social media channels saw significant engagement. The team’s tweet about his acquisition in exchange for a D-bat Dog and a Churro Dog had more than 3,000 retweets while the team saw its highest single-day increase in Instagram followers for the year.
In just the past two weeks, the team has seen several topics trending locally on Twitter including #ChurroDog, #Dbacks20thBday, #35FieldsIn35Days and #FerrellTakesTheField.
Always looking to connect with fans on new platforms, the D-backs launched their Snapchat account last season. Fans who add ‘dbacks’ have unprecedented access to the team with behind-the-scenes photos and videos as well as personal messages from players.
