Week 2 part B: Business research
D Bats Batting cages
https://dbat.net/index.php/cages - main company page
https://www.dbattemecula.com/ - local company page
D bats is a batting cage facility that provides batting cages for all ages and the three major baseball/softball types. the machines have a large range of speeds for baseball, they have different speeds for fastpitch softball, and have cages for slow pitch softball as well. D bats is a franchise on the international market with them located all over the United States and also in China.
The Temecula California location has there website which has links for both their Facebook and Instagram pages. If you follow their links to the pages you will find that neither social media platforms have been posted on since July, with that being said they are active recently during this COVID pandemic. The majority of posts are about events and camps coming up. They also post closures and information on the COVID along with pictures and videos here and there.
Facebook the last post was: July 13, 2020. There are 1549 people following this page.
Instagram the last post was: July 6, 2020. There are 1129 people following this page.
The company uses both pages about the same amount and are posting whatever they post on one page on the other page. There does not seem to be much communication on the posts for either page and when a follower posts on the page there haven't been many comments back from the company unless they are messaging people offline and on a private message. But there are very few comments on the posts anyway, so making an assumption in this matter is not possible.
Competitive Edge Batting Cages
https://competitiveedgebattingcages.com/
Competitive Edge is a smaller facility with two cages and one location. Do not take them as any less popular than D bats franchise. As I have been to both locations for myself and my son and found that competitive edge stays busy and have to book further in advance than D bats. D bats have a lot of cages and I have been there only once where it was packed and there was a weight. With the smaller more intimate setting and more hands-on than at d bats.
With social media, for Facebook and Instagram both of the last posts for this company were in July as well. The majority of the posts on both platforms for this company has been about the pandemic and the way they are operating during these times. They also post discounts, they have also posting trying to get feedback from customers and how things are going with the new management along with reopening during these times.
Facebook the last post was: July 17,2020. There are 1127 people following this page.
Instagram the last post was: July 17, 2020. There are 88 people following this page.
The company is using both pages about the same even though Instagram doesn't have anywhere close to the followers that the Facebook page. The posts on Instagram have also only been from October 2019. They also only have 6 posts on Instagram. I like how this company has made sure to engage back on their Facebook post.
5 Tool Hitting Center
5 Tool is a little larger than Competitive edge and smaller than D Bats, it is a local batting cage. It has one location in Carlsbad California. This batting cage facility has a lot of positives about it; some of the big ones are coach/athlete clinics, hit Trax batting cage, and there is also a training field that is indoor. Here you come into a well laid out set of batting cages with a great pro shop that you can buy almost anything you could want for the sport. Now the web page does not have links or many details on it due to COVID, the social media pages they use are easy to find on the apps.
Facebook the last post was: December 8, 2017. There are 41 people following the page.
Instagram the last post was: November 4, 2019. There are 747 people following the page.
The companies presence on social media is very weak and not much to be excited about. They don't post much often and there is nothing of us on the social media pages. I do know that this guy used to have clinics and things posted on his web page often prior to COVID hitting society. but the facility was lowkey and sorta had the regulars that were in there working on their craft and they would bring their friend but not much outside the regulars. But the clinics and the way they ran the operation is something I did enjoy sending my son too.
Hit Trax Batting Cages
Now Hit Trax is a different beast, It is a mobile batting cage and can be bought and put up almost anywhere. But they have them in select Dicks Sporting Goods, making it helpful to Dicks and its system being sold and used. I have even seen places where they have set up the Hit Trax cage and softball tourneys across the United States. Hit Trax is found on three platforms unlike my previous 3 and is the only one this far on Twitter. The big thing with this company is it has all the technology to help you transform your swing for the best. It takes all your information from each swing and helps develop you and find all the things you need for increased batting.
Facebook the last post was: June 18, 2020. There are 4307 people following the page.
Instagram the last post was: September 5, 2020. There are 9514 people following the page.
Twitter the last post was: September 1, 2020. There are 8119 people following the page.
These posts on these pages are a lot of videos about their product and the league and tournament they have yearly for Hit Trax. It is amazing how engaged Hit Trax is on the social media side of things. I have not been to a Hit Trax in the dicks sporting goods, but planning on figuring out what it is all about. The presence on social media is good and if other businesses followed their presence on social media they could bring in great amounts of business.
Big Fly Athletics
https://www.bigflyathletics.com/
Big fly is more than just batting cages based on research, it is also a traveling baseball club. It has cages for rentals and lessons but it also has several traveling ball teams on different age groups. From my findings, Big fly does not have links on their page as I could find.
Facebook the last post was: July 24, 2020. There are 1229 people following the page.
Instagram the last post was: July 24, 2020. There are 1234 people following the page.
On these platforms, they post almost the exact same thing on both pages. The page posts are videos, pictures, upcoming events, and Hit Trax images. The company will bring lots of interest through there pages, there are not many comments to respond to. This business is something worth looking into further.
Final Thoughts
When it comes to these businesses and how they utilize social media I have learned a lot. I found there are effective ways to use social media and also not a good presence on social media. I believe if you as a business owner you must utilize social media and only have social media that someone will keep updated. It is clear if you are not going to stay on top of it then you shouldn't use them. no presence is better than having an outdated and post not up to date. With that being said Making sure you are effective with responding and posting to people and their concerns. Do not let negative or positive comments go unanswered or responded to because customers want to get feedback from companies when they post.
Hi Chase,
ReplyDeleteI found it so interesting that on the first brand you researched their was a local company page and a main company page. I think it is very important to see that this brand is upscaling!
Oh wow! I didn't know there was such a market for batting cages and services associated! A travelling baseball club?! So cool. Great work here.
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