Information for this Blog was found on HubSpot and Social Media Today.
If you keep up with basketball, you have probably heard of Zion Williamson. He is an athlete with a very large frame but he can jump out of the gym. He played at Duke University for a season before being drafted #1 overall in the NBA draft. However, his fame came from videos of his high school mixtape. He was posted all over social media platforms by accounts like ESPN, Bleacher Report, and Ball is Life. This is just one instance of how sports have been majorly affected by the growth of social media over the last several years. All professional teams have social media accounts for highlights, special events, and marketing. It has also become a great way for people to find highlights of their favorite teams as well. I know personally, as my social media feed is filled with sports videos. Every time I get on my phone, sports news and highlights show up. Social media has become many people's main way of keeping up with sports. This is a gold mine for social media marketing opportunities and a great way for beginners to learn what works and what doesn't.
What is Social Media Marketing?
Social media marketing revolves around engaging with your intended audience and clientele within social media accounts. There are many opportunities to interact with customers through specific posts. Social media marketing involves the creation of content intended for use on social media platforms, with the objectives of promoting products and services, forming a sense of community with your desired audience, and directing traffic to your business. Given the continuous emergence of new features and platforms on a daily basis, the landscape of social media marketing is in a perpetual state of evolution. So perpetual in fact, there is not a right or wrong way to teach certain skills that social media marketing entails.
Information on Social Media Platforms
Facebook, which began its journey in 2004, stands as the most extensive and well-established social media platform. Over the years, it has evolved into an indispensable resource for social media marketers, providing a giant amount of advertising tools alongside avenues for organic growth and engagement for a business.
TikTok
TikTok has become the major hub for short videos in recent years. This platform experienced a surge in popularity in 2020 and continues to maintain its momentum without any apparent deceleration. TikTok is widely recognized as one of the top platforms for community connections, with marketers ranking it second only to YouTube in this regard.
Despite being a relatively young platform, having launched just 12 years ago, Instagram has made a huge impact on a global stage. It has become the go-to destination for brands seeking to share visually captivating content. Presently, users have the capability to explore brands, search their products and services, and finalize purchases without exiting the app, establishing Instagram as a formidable platform that will be challenging to surpass.
As Instagram places its emphasis on visual content, Twitter centers its attention on text-based communication. From its younger years of 140-character Tweets, the platform has evolved to incorporate additional features, such as Twitter Spaces for audio discussions, Twitter Communities for community building, and Twitter Moments, which facilitates the sharing of interesting and useful content with your followers. Twitter has recently changed its name to "X", however, as the information about this app was found before the name change, we will continue to call it Twitter for now.
More information on these social media platforms, as well as other platforms, can be found in an article called Social Media Marketing: The Ultimate Guide found on HubSpot
Marketing Sports on Social Media Platforms
In regards to sports, Twitter is the top dog for news and social media activity. As the NBA Finals kicked off earlier this year, Twitter highlighted its status as the leading platform for real-time engagement, with sports being a particularly popular topic among its users. In fact, Twitter reports a significant surge in sports-related discussions via tweets over the past two years, with a 28% increase in sports-related tweets and a 29% rise in the impressions of these tweets. This trend aligns with Twitter's core strength, providing real-time updates, which keeps many users hooked despite recent changes that have irked some. According to Twitter's CEO, Elon Musk, the platform continues to experience record-high engagement levels. Musk recently announced that Twitter reached a new milestone of 8 billion user minutes in a single day.
Twitter also emphasizes that brands that engage in discussions related to sports will more than likely achieve direct business benefits. An interesting fact: Twitter did a study and found that three out of four people said, when they see information and discussions about different products, it influences their purchasing decisions. These statistics are compelling and highlight the potential opportunities for connecting with an audience through different promotional efforts. To tap into opportunities like this, Twitter recommends using Twitter Takeover ads or utilizing Twitter Amplify to show video promotions video promotions alongside official, brand-safe content from publishers.
These strategies not only benefit Twitter but also are potential ways for businesses to find and engage with sports-focused audiences. Even without using paid promotions, you can participate in sports event discussions by incorporating relevant hashtags and joining the ongoing conversation. From a marketers standpoint, it is like an online convention for sports advertising.
42% of Twitter users are involved with sports with Facebook and Instagram following closely behind with 37%. This information is extremely important for social media marketers. Though Twitter is the leader in sports engagement on social media, Facebook and Instagram are not far behind. It is beneficial to use multiple platforms while marketing to ensure that you hit multiple target markets. Different people use different apps, including sports fans, so keeping up with sports news and accounts on all platforms will lead to more success for a social media marketer.
More information regarding social media and sports, specifically Twitter and sports, can be found here.
Sports Media and Augmented Reality
Social media platforms have also integrated different forms of augmented reality in recent years. According to a blog post from HubSpot, when the women's World Cup was on earlier this year, Snapchat released a form of augmented reality. It was exclusive content to connect with fans who supported the United States women’s national team. Using augmented reality, the user had access to a team tracker, stats that will always be up-to-date, interesting filters involving the World Cup, and more.
Snapchat has maintained a strong emphasis on AR technology, and this commitment has been extremely evident over the past few years. This investment allows users to virtually try on products before making a purchase. For a business selling sportswear, This can be very beneficial for online shopping as a customer could see how they look with an article of clothing they are interested in.
The recent introduction of exclusive content involving the World Cup not only excited existing Snapchat users but also served as a strategic move to attract soccer fans to the platform. With an upcoming official media partnership for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, Snapchat aims to draw more sports enthusiasts by offering exclusive content and virtual experiences. Through these partnerships, Snapchat has the potential to establish itself as the larger social media platform for major sporting events. Of course, Twitter will remain a top dog but it would not be surprising if Snapchatclean-cut began to compete with TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram.
For more information regarding Snapchat's usage of AR, click here.
Conclusion
Marketing through social media can be a game changer for businesses that are involved with sports. As platforms are constantly changing, so are different marketing strategies. For instance, Snapchat is not going to be the last social media platform to use augmented reality, so learning how to market using AR could be a turning point in the success of a business. As sports progress, there will always be new highlights, events, and players coming into different leagues. Keeping up with players and teams that fans support is going to make the social media marketing process easier as well. There are a lot of steps that aren't clear-cut, but social media marketing through sports is a great way to continue the learning process of this type of marketing.
Resources
Alfred, L. (2023, August 9). How Snapchat is bridging the gap between sports fans and their favorite teams. HubSpot Blog. https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/snapchat-womens-world-cup
Baker, K. (2023, September 8). Social Media Marketing: The ultimate guide. HubSpot Blog. https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/social-media-marketing
Hutchinson, A. (2023, April 17). Twitter shares tips on how marketers can tap into discussion around sports events. Social Media Today. https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/Twitter-Tips-for-Marketers-Around-Sports-Events/647885/
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