Insights from Beatriz Indurain
Whereas sports properties have traditionally tailored their marketing efforts around major events and gamedays, the proliferation of direct-to-consumer (D2C) media is advocating an “always-on” mindset, whereby rights holders invest in a year-round digital content strategy to generate fan loyalty. While this approach keeps the brand front-of-mind amongst its fan base, it also helps to nurture stronger customer relationships by maintaining fan-engagement levels between events.
Speaking on the subject in light of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, N3XT Sports VP of Growth Beatriz Indurain says that International Federations (IF), for example, should be tapping different content formats to drive engagement pre, during, and post-event. Meanwhile, governing bodies will also benefit from optimizing content distribution via their social media channels across every phase of the fan-marketing funnel to maximize their audience retention.
“Social media integration into the fan funnel is a fundamental step for IFs and other sports organizations to take when aligning their social and digital strategies,” Bea says. “As sports compete for consumer attention at a time when fans are demanding digital sports experiences, the combination of a diverse digital product portfolio and an optimized social media presence creates a welcome mix of content designed to engage users.”
For example, IFs are taking this approach throughout the Olympic and Paralympic cycle, with several N3XT Sports clients working harder pre- and post-Paris 2024 to acquire and retain new fans, while some are boosting their social following via a tailored paid-media strategy. Among our client base, United World Wrestling (UWW) experienced exponential growth via its digital and social media channels through the Paris 2024 Olympics, including a 125 percent increase between the social media follower growth experienced during the Paris 2024 and Tokyo 2020 iterations, respectively.
N3XT Sports has supported UWW at every stage of its digitalization, including the development of a commercial strategy designed to optimize audience acquisition and fan value via its UWW+ over-the-top (OTT) streaming product during its major championships, while also servicing its bespoke social media strategy. Highlighted in N3XT Sports’ Olympic Digital Transformation Report 2023, Gordon Templeman, UWW’s Director of Commercial Operations and Communications, says that, while UWW has aimed to “diversify by investing in our own digital platforms”, the federation’s digital transformation “allows us to work seamlessly as an organization, and to capitalize on our digital capabilities”.
OLYMPIC FEDERATIONS WITH HIGHER PRE-PARIS 2024 SOCIAL ACTIVITY DEMONSTRATE STRONGER AUDIENCE ENGAGEMENT BEFORE AND DURING GAMES
This is a critical period for federations which are augmenting and commercializing their D2C portfolio. Sports bodies which have invested time and resources in their fan-marketing funnel will have the best chance for doing this effectively, having already implemented a customer relationship management (CRM) solution and data strategy that builds on fan intelligence generated during the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
According to research carried out ahead of our upcoming Fan Engagement & Commercialization Guide 2024, which outlines the importance of adopting CRM expansion and fan-funnel optimization to generate fan loyalty, Olympic IFs which showcased higher social media activity in the three months leading up to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games also demonstrated stronger social engagement before and during the global spectacle compared to those which didn’t.
Although the data does not represent all social media activity, and only organic growth, it does highlight the power of owning an “always-on” mindset for driving maximum engagement during major events. By comparison, Olympic IFs with the lowest pre-Games social media activity also demonstrated lower social media growth, on average, with several recording fewer than one million total engagements in the build-up and during the event.
“While many IFs drive up their content creation in time for the Olympics, momentum can – and is – easily lost when organizations reduce their social activity before or after the event, at a time when they should be looking to increase engagement so as to retain and monetize new subscribers,” Bea continues. “Though the sports industry is not the only sector prone to this trend, there are several steps which sports organizations can be taking to maximize their use of social media.”
WHAT’S N3XT?
Major events are important milestones for sports organizations to nurture fan loyalty and audience engagement. However, it is not enough for them to drive up their digital and social activity in and around their competitions, and then go silent in the months after. Our clients are implementing an “always-on” content strategy across their entire digital portfolio, including their social media channels, designed to attract new fans into their digital ecosystem and help keep users engaged off-competition too.
As a result, sports properties inside and outside the Olympic Movement are exploring ways to expand and diversify their fan funnel to grow their audience, including how their social media strategy is integrated within their wider “channel matrix”. In order to augment their various content formats, user data is key to defining the platforms their audience is most active on and increasing engagement by tailoring content to each channel.
“One of the standout learnings from working with our Olympic clients is their desire for building digital communities using optimized processes,” Bea explains. “For most, this has required taking a fresh approach to an old idea, whereby their existing technological ecosystems have been reimagined in a way that centralizes the collection of first-party fan and stakeholder data and serves their digital and social channels to drive audience growth and fan retention.”
Our team at N3XT Sports works tirelessly to develop and implement data and digital transformation strategies across a multitude of sports properties at federation level, competition level, and club level. To find out more about how N3XT Sports can serve your organization, fill out the form below, and we’ll be in touch. Our goal is to drive the digitalization of the sports industry and our clients.