Engaging the public
W
hile many brands have started reaping the ben- efits of social media marketing, sports betting companies are still missing vital opportunities
to build brand awareness, loyalty and, crucially, drive ROI via social channels. Why? Because they do not fully understand the channel that they are operating in.
This 21st century channel needs to be seen as a two- way conversation by brands. However, there is far too much evidence in the analysis that shows brands treat- ing social media like its more primitive 20th century relatives; solely imposing its products and offers on the consumer.
MAKE IT A TWO-WAY CONVERSATION Step number 1 is to listen. Listen to what and how con-
sumers are talking about:
l Your own brand l Your competitors l Upcoming events l Past events (it is possible to analyse historical data as far back as 2008)
in fact any topic is possible. As an example, let’s look at Coral. We analysed their Twitter activity during 2014 and gathered some interesting and invaluable insights:
Over the past year, the posts on Coral’s Twitter account 5 8
achieved 5.8 billion impressions - that’s the number of potential views on their posts. When compared to the previous year, this constitutes an increase of 150 per cent in views. Conversations largely focus on football clubs, odds offered and free bets (figure 1).
But this only means something when put ito context. Let’s start by benchmarking against a couple of com- petitors.
Looking at Ladbrokes’ Twitter account over the same period reveals that they have gathered 2.8 billion impressions, representing a 262% increase when com- pared to the previous period. While lower volume than Coral, they have been growing aggressively.
Another example is Paddy Power, who have often been complimented for their social tactics and campaigns. With some controversial campaigns and a high volume of conversations about the brand, it would seem valid to argue that they are doing well on social media. However, success is only measurable when it translates into business won. Social is just another channel that marketers can leverage to reach their target audience - and the winners will be those who can convert the social conversation and activity into profit.
The next layer of context is analysing the conversation surrounding the key sports events that drive business
for sports betting organisations. Let’s look at a key and iconic British sporting event: Royal Ascot. This year, Royal Ascot’s activity on social registered over 300,000 posts on Twitter and Instagram alone, generating 3.6 billion potential impressions. That’s a lot of potential eyeballs over 5 days!
The social activity focused on multiple topics: horses, betting, hats, dresses, suits, parties, the weather and most of all enjoying a great day out with friends, family and colleagues.
This analysis demonstrates that sports betting compa- nies have a wider opportunity than simply talking about odds and bets. A sports event is much more than what happens in between the 4 lines of a football pitch or in the racing track. A sporting event is an experience and an emotional experience too (figure 2).
Sports betting companies can and should be leveraging the topics surrounding key sporting events to better engage with consumers, much like many brands have started doing, to drive better ROI on their sponsorship engagements around sports events. We have recently analysed how Heineken is getting closer to consumers by appealing to Champions League fans.
When it comes to engaging on social media there are at least two golden rules that brands must always observe:
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