The fan journey, or fan funnel, is often thought of as being a linear approach within sports business. This involves sports organizations leveraging their communications and social media channels to acquire audiences at the earliest phase of the funnel, before converting them into paying subscribers via an owned digital portfolio at its culmination.
While this is a common practice amongst rights holders seeking to commercialize the fan experience, the fan funnel could however be more accurately considered as a dynamic ecosystem made up of multiple moving parts, not only a golden thread which runs between fan acquisition and customer conversion.
Sports properties are taking proactive steps to improve returns on their technology investments, including a shift in their own fan-monetization strategies. Whereas over the past decade (and particularly since the Covid pandemic) there has been an uplift in direct-to-consumer (D2C) product investment, rights holders and sports entities are now turning their focus towards improving the quality of their relationships with their most-engaged fans while establishing stronger customer rapport and not only pushing for higher engagement numbers.
Among our clients, each one is taking a unique approach to their digital expansion, most of whom are also implementing a scalable custom relationship management (CRM) solution to manage the influx of user data across multiple digital touchpoints. This allows the rights holder to see changes in fan behavior in real-time using data dashboarding, opportunities to expand their portfolio based on user demands, and importantly at which stage of the fan funnel their users currently occupy.
Speaking on the audience retention and methods to retain loyal fans, N3XT Sports’ Chief Information Officer (CIO) Motasem El Bawab says: “Whether you work within the marketing team for the biggest sports league in the world, or you are part of a growing sports body, team, or competition, data management and clear data governance are imperative for bringing customers the full length of the fan funnel.
“It’s only by distinguishing those fans willing to pay to stay connected with the brand (from the ones who aren’t invested) where commercial opportunities can be recognized and executed successfully, hence why data solutions are proving so valuable within the rights holder’s arsenal.”
INTRODUCING THE FAN-MONETIZATION DATA FEEDBACK LOOP
By tailoring the user experience (UX) to the individual fan across a diverse D2C portfolio, not only are sports organizations capable of tailoring content to each of their subscriber’s interests, but they are also discovering ways to improve the D2C experiences they invest in and to increase the time users spend on their digital platforms. This approach offers room to introduce new pricing metrics based on unique customer behaviors (via the CRM), as well as to diversify one’s content offering at specific stages of the fan funnel, within an “always-on” content strategy.
As a result, sports organizations are going through an organizational transformation; from a previously business-to-business (B2B) model to a firmer business-to-customer (B2C) strategy, which requires a connected D2C portfolio focused on delivering high customer-conversion success. This can be achieved by assessing: (1) the organization’s channel matrix to identify where on the funnel it is generating the most value per fan; (2) the activations that are driving customer conversions; and (3) audience behavior so to maximize customer spend via ecommerce, ticketing, and its premium fan experiences.
Traditionally, D2C-ownership coupled with a scalable CRM solution helps inform monetizable experiences further along the fan funnel. However, an organization with an adaptable digital content offering is also able to leverage its commercial assets to inform the types of content and digital experiences that drive audience acquisition, based on its fan intelligence, and new ways to convert fans into customers. Readers can learn more about this in our upcoming Fan Engagement and Commercialization Guide 2024, which will be published soon.
Within the guide, N3XT Sports is presenting The Fan-Monetization Data Feedback Loop (see the graphic below), which demonstrates how learnings from the monetization of digital experiences via a scalable CRM solution can, in return, inform the implementation of the organization’s digital channels and overall content strategy to boost audience growth and continually convert fans into customers.
For example, using data feedback, sports organizations are: (1) leveraging their freemium video content to drive audience acquisition, as well as customer conversions, via social media and digital marketing; (2) personalizing their sponsorship and rights-holder partnerships to the organization’s ticketing and ecommerce strategies; and (3) augmenting the stadium experience by bringing fans closer to in-stadia commercial partnerships via mobile.
Whereby digital transformation is serving sports organizations in different ways, their digital maturity shouldn’t be measured solely on the breadth of their D2C portfolio, explains Hisham Shehabi, N3XT Sports’ Chief Operating Officer (COO), but its ability “to serve consumers at every stage of the fan funnel” and “to discover new opportunities to maximize the value per fan”.
“Whereas some rights holders own a diverse product portfolio, others are limited to the basic communications tools, such as social media and a weekly online newsletter,” Hisham explains. “Nevertheless, what combines them isn’t the number of digital touchpoints they own, but the frameworks in which their respective departments can leverage their D2C inventory and work together to convert fans into loyal, paying customers.”
WHAT’S N3XT?
Understanding user behavior at a granular level is key to discovering what drives fan loyalty and customer conversions. In order to maximize fan value, it’s imperative for sports organizations and rights holders to consolidate their data collection via a centralized information system which integrates every one of their digital touchpoints.
By removing data silos and optimizing dataflow, our clients are deploying digital strategies that give them an edge when analyzing their fan base, what drives commercial growth, and the behaviors that encourage fans willing to pay to stay. With the introduction of automated technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, sports properties undergoing digital transformation will find it easier to extract data from their commercial successes and inform new ideas for maximizing their D2C portfolio and converting new fans.
“Optimizing the existing technology stack is therefore a vital first step to building resilience in a customer-facing, multi-stakeholder sports business,” Hisham continues. “Digital transformation is central to this effort, just as it is to be fully equated with all its long-term and immediate benefits to the business and the steps required to achieve them.”
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.