Social Engagement is So Much More than a Simple ‘like’ … When Done Right – Simon Rines
January 17, 2014
That social media is becoming an increasingly important platform in the sports marketing industry is hardly news. On the one hand it gives rights holders an opportunity to communicate with their fans and on other it provides sponsors with a range of possibilities to activate their sponsorship rights. But how many clubs and sponsors have mastered the art of engaging with fans whilst at the same time increasing sponsorship ROI?
A great example of an effective integrated sponsorship campaign is Heineken’s Star Player which invites Champions League fans to predict the outcome of corners, free-kicks and penalties while also chatting with friends via social media networks. The programme has, in sponsorship terms, been a sensation and has underpinned Heineken’s Champions League activation, while simultaneously enhancing UEFA’s Champions League experience.
Whether it has actually led to an increase in sales is, of course, information that is privy to Heineken but there can be no doubt that it has enhanced the brand and it would be very surprising if it hadn’t achieved a very healthy return on investment.
Star Player, however, is the exception rather than the rule in social media and it is certainly fair to say that brands have understood the opportunities better than rights holders. The irony, of course, is that the public doesn’t follow brands in anything like the same numbers that it follows favoured sports teams or personalities. In one of the weekly numKrunch social media reports that we post on the www.imrpublications.com website, for example, Bayern Munich have just shy of 12 million followers, compared to its primary sponsor Telekom’s 84k.
However, the key to social media success is not the number of followers, but how engaging the content is. In that same report we analysed the performance of a group of clubs and their respective sponsors. In terms of performance, Qatar Airways came out on top… by some margin!
But what is meant by performance? The reports feature a unique algorithm that measures growth and engagement – such as ‘likes’ and ‘retweets’ etc, across all of the major social media channels to create its own unique performance rating. numKrunch doesn’t claim to offer the last word in social media research, this would entail qualitative analysis, but the rating does give a very useful, low cost snapshot and allows continuous performance monitoring.
The latest report on the site looks just at the leading soccer clubs in Europe and shows that Arsenal is currently outperforming its competitors (although this can change on a daily basis). It helps, of course, if the club is top of the Premiership, but its content has to be engaging to score highly.
Look at Arsenal’s Twitter feed, for example, and you will see a stream of official tweets keeping fans informed, but also asking for opinions. ‘Who will be the most important player in the second half of the season’, ‘Arsène Wenger says @Podolski10 is one of the best finishers he has ever seen. Do you agree?’. Compare this to Chelsea’s feed, which tends to be more a stream of news and links to interviews or quotes from Jose Mourinho. Arsenal do this as well, but there is more to engage the committed fans to interact with friends and start a conversation.
In terms of social media followers, Barcelona is way out in front with more than 71 million followers and 51 million ‘likes’ on Facebook. The club is listed seventh out of the ten studied in the report in terms of overall performance, but ranks number two on Facebook where it has clearly excelled in the use of social media.
In the past there had been criticism of its investment in Facebook, with some commentators saying that driving fans to the platform meant that they weren’t using the official club site and that Barca had, effectively, lost ‘ownership’ of the fans. A quick look at Barca’s Facebook page, however, shows that many posts include a link back to the website, which hosts video clips and extended stories etc. and the club reports consistent growth in its web traffic. Facebook is the platform that fans are using, so Barca has embraced it and in the process has grown both the number and quality of its relationships and web traffic.
Ultimately, of course, there needs to be a financial return on investment for all parties producing social media. Although the platforms themselves are free to use, the staff required and the content produced, cost money. For sponsors the goals are brand development in the short term and ultimately sales. In the longer term, having a substantial critical mass to engage with offers potential involvement way beyond the levels previously achieved by most sponsors.
For sports clubs the key is often considered to be fan recruitment and increased ticket and merchandise sales. However, given the major hikes in premium sponsorship rights fees in recent years, clubs shouldn’t overlook the potential of working with sponsors to help them activate those rights and spread the message. Sponsors have, as discussed, greater experience in brand building and communication and clubs have the audience. Regular posts featuring appropriate and engaging content from sponsors can enhance the social media experience for fans and help both the sponsor and the rights holder.
The lessons that we are seeing are that paying lip service to social media is a waste of time – followers simply won’t bother with an endless stream of dull, ‘official’ content. The platforms are free to use, imagination costs nothing and there are now plenty of examples to learn from. 2014 really should be the year when we stop hearing the phrase ‘we all know that we should be using social media, but we don’t know what to do’.
To view the European club report click here
Simon Rines is editor in chief at specialist sponsorship publisher, IMR Publications whose titles include the International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship and Sponsorship Today. He is author of the best-selling report, Driving Business Through Sport and a regular presenter on the international sponsorship conference circuit.
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