Sports fans can show their commitment to their favorite teams through various ways like attending games, following the team on social media platforms, or subscriptions to TV and other digital products.
Nowadays, fans expect higher levels of team engagement to motivate their team participation in seasonal challenges and tournaments. The display of sports fan culture can also be spread through word-of-mouth when consumer-to-consumer initiate acts within a sports community to benefit the team.
For these reasons, sports consultants and marketers have derived a four key engagement formula to an effective team fan base. The structure manages on-site and off-site interactions on non-match and match day agendas.
On match days
- On-site: Enhancement of live experience
- Off-site: Connecting the fans to the live-action
Non-match days
- On-site: Host fans
- Off-site: Connect fans
Using Video Content to Appeal to Fans
The current generation of sports fans is connected to digital platforms that share team social content and general statistics of the club. Fans are looking for engaging and unique content from players and coaching staff.
Video content is an effective way for teams and sports brands to relay messages and information to their fanbase. Videos create excitement that surrounds upcoming or ongoing popular events. Fans are become informed about product launches, TV sponsorships and other related news.
Short videos have a higher share rate than still images or text, which explains why sports marketers prefer video content.
Ideas of video content can include skits of team drills during training sessions, ten best moments of the team season, player interviews, live streams, No deposit bonus casinos, competition announcements, fanbases opinions and testimonials, products and services, etc.
When creating video content, you can experiment with different lengths, formats, and sizes to discover what works for your support base.
Research and Follow the Fans
Fans are usually decisive in their teams, sports journals, and media channels. Fans may have varying channels to purchase team products and services.
However, studies show that those with strong loyalties hang out on specific social media outlets, express their identity and consume the same content.
Research means following the data to discover the places your fans are hanging out and how to interact with them. It's not enough that teams have social media presence on major digital platforms like TikTok and Instagram for video content.
Even though industry data shows that these platforms carry the highest fanbase, explore all avenues to find out more about your team's fanbase.
Engaging the Fans—Quizzes, Competitions, and Polls
A social media fan base aims to become social. Creating content that inspires a reaction from your fanbase should be the aim. Whenever you have an opportunity, always make your posts stand out and be shareable.
Building a fan engagement is easy, and you can achieve it by asking fans to vote, comment, or create competitions and quizzes. Rewarding the winners can also be an incentive that encourages fan participation.
Today, AI is bridging the gap between physical experiences and social media. There are more immersive forms of content sharing.
For example, football clubs collaborate with global leagues like the UEFA champions league to host live streams, pre-and post-match video content on YouTube and other social media channels. This creates a digital space that attracts a worldwide fanbase as fans react to live events.
Brand Partnership
To grow more connections and encourage fan engagement, a team needs to make brand connections. Teams should target reputable companies that fans can readily identify with. For example, if your favorite team partners with sports giants like Nike, Adidas, and Reebok, the team can enjoy a global audience outreach.
Brand partnerships offer the team the chance to interact with fans they wouldn't otherwise have access to. Brand sentiment also encourages product and service engagement. For example, if a football club changes its Shirt sponsors, fans want to don the new shirt design for the coming season.
Club Interaction
Teams are installing Wi-Fi in home stadiums to encourage fan engagement. The younger generation of fans is about taking selfies and updating their live experiences to their followers.
The introduction of Wi-Fi to stadiums also encourages the use of club developed apps. Here, fans can log in and interact on their mobile devices in the club's digital space. The team that handles club social pages should follow the trends keenly.
The idea is to be one step ahead. Instead of following trends, they should lead the fan and club interactions. History shows that publicly owned teams have a stronger and loyal following than privately owned clubs.
But having an effective digital marketing team can challenge this notion.
Mass Watching
Fans have the team in common, and their loyalties are always inclined towards the club's welfare. Mass watching is an interactive way of teams bonding with their fan base from wherever they are. Many people have smart TV's and can access live matches, but it's not as exciting as watching a game on the streets with a group of fans.
Organized mass watching can bring together fans at a particular venue for a live big screen TV broadcast whenever teams travel for away games. The idea is popular for national teams during major sporting events like the World cup, Olympics, and pay-per-view boxing events.
Franchise Star Players
Top teams in all major sporting events compete to win more fans within the country and at a global level. Buying star players that enjoy huge social media followings may make teams digital fan base buzz with excitement and interaction.
For example, When Mo Salah completed his transfer from AS Roma to Liverpool FC, fans from Egypt joined the official Liverpool Facebook page. The comments increased, and there was a need to create an Arabic page for the new fanbase.
Conclusion
A team needs to have loyal fans and an interactive fanbase. The fans should follow club progress and welfare as they happen. Information on ticket sales and merchandise should be readily available to increase revenue for the club.
A successful fan engagement can lead to TV rights and sponsorship deals that generate revenue for the club. However, the ultimate way to inspire fan engagement is displaying the team's success on the pitch where it matters most.