digital fan engagement – Page 4

Fan Engagement as a Culture

Sports, unlike most other industries, has the luxury of starting out from the point of loyalty with their customers/stakeholders/fans. Not even the entertainment industry has this advantage, let alone other, more mundane businesses, like manufacturing, banking, fashion, or whatever.

It is the same reason why sports fans aren’t called customers, in the first place, since they are not buying a commodity or a service. They are, instead, investing their time, energy, mindset, and sometimes, even their entire personality in their favorite team. What’s more, they’ll continue to do so even when the team’s ‘product’ is not rising to their expectations. Again, not many businesses have the luxury of continued customer loyalty when they are underperforming on the market.

The particularity in the business world should not be taken for granted, however, even if the emotional ties between fans and their respective sports teams can be generations old. Instead, it should be respected and nurtured for what it is – a culture.

This attitude and perspective towards fan engagement are where clubs can set themselves apart from the competition. Most successful sports teams understand this relationship for what it indeed is and make sure to maximize the opportunities that it provides.

The Golden State Warriors

There’s probably a no better example of a team that has understood fan engagement for what it is, than the Golden State Warriors. Not that it’s the only one, mind you, but it’s a team that managed to ‘rise from its own ashes’ because of it.

It all started back in 2010 when the team sold for a whopping $450 million. Given that they hadn’t won a championship since 1975 and it had a severe lack of facilities, that was a lot of money. But Joe Lacob was able to look beyond all that and began building the team’s culture both on and off the field.

With their campaigns like “We Believe” and “Strength in Numbers,” the Warriors have taken fan engagement to a whole new level, seeing a constant increase in attendance and a strong developing bond between the team and its fans. These are only set to increase with the team’s move to their new, state-of-the-art, and self-financed arena in 2019.

None of this would have been possible if it weren’t for the Warriors’ ability to recognize and then build their fan engagement culture around the supporters, themselves. It’s the fans that represent the foundation for any successful sports team, and the Warriors know it.

The Solution

Taking a leaf out of the Warriors’ playbook, we come to realize that a club has to build itself around its fans and the community. It can only be achieved if it is through every touch-point and direct communication.

Fanisko Engage is an online platform which creates unforgettable moments for the 21st-century fan. As supporters clamor for more connection, Fanisko’s tech platform brings them to the center of attention by offering the first ever Mixed Reality fan experience. It is combined with Augmented Reality for gamification, as well as Artificial Intelligence for personalization, thus, bringing the team and its fans together, wherever they may be.

Conclusion

In the end, it’s the fans that are the real experts of your club, and it’s only through them that a sports team can succeed. By giving them the means to stay connected and interact with your squad 24/7, you will be sure to develop a bond that can withstand anything. Fanisko Engage can get you there!

The Importance of Offline Fan Engagement

Even if fan engagement is now shifting towards the digital environment, offline fan engagement remains a powerful tool in its own right. And while fans want to stay connected with their teams over the internet, actual physical events are fun memory generators that will last a lifetime.

Over the past several years, the digital world has taken the sports industry by storm. It should not come as a surprise to anyone, as this trend is happening in every sector, not just sports. In any case, online fan engagement is becoming increasingly more widespread among sports leagues, each trying to adapt to the new trends and technologies as they appear, otherwise risking to become obsolete.

In the end, every sports club or event is looking to have sold-out stadiums, and fan engagement is the key to achieving that goal. And even if online fan engagement is on the rise, offline engagement is equally as important. In fact, both have to be used together to generate the best results possible.

Making the Fan Part of the Team

What avid sports fans want most of all is to be part of the team in one form or another. Offering them this chance is a sure way of turning a casual fan into a lifetime loyal devotee. To achieve this, however, you will need to know your audience, what are their wants and needs, and what they want from their favorite team.

Nevertheless, marketing campaigns that are generalistic and which try to ‘speak’ to everyone, may end up speaking to no one. It is why it’s important to personalize your messages and campaigns. One easy-to-do example comes from Go Ahead Eagles, a soccer team in the Dutch Eredivisie, which took its photo with the 12th man on the team, as it were.

Another example comes from Manchester United which decided to involve its fans when unveiling it’s 2016 jersey. The promo video shows actual Manchester United fans marching down the streets of the city and singing ‘Glory Glory Man United,’ all the while, showing how the club’s jersey had evolved through the years.

In-Stadium Fan Engagement

The focal point of every sport is the actual event itself. And being there in person is on every sports fan’s wish list. Making this experience even more pleasurable and memorable should, thus, be on every sports team’s mind.

Wembley Stadium in London, for instance, is known for its overhead arch. But what some don’t know about it is its interactive LED lighting system. Back in 2014, Wembley signed a six-year-long deal with EE, the country’s largest mobile network operator. Besides bringing state of the art internet connectivity, EE has also installed this LED lighting system.

With over 228 high-tech floodlights mounted on the arch, the system can produce almost limitless color combinations that react to the event’s noise, crowd reactions, and points scored.

Pre and Post Event Involvement

Sports leagues also need to engage with their fans before and after a game to keep themselves relevant and to build hype about what it’s to come. Consider FIFA’s Trophy Tours where the trophy goes all over the world to the countries that will take part in the future event.

Something similar can be observed in Champions League with its fan zone called UEFA Champions Festival. Leading up to significant events, such as the league’s final game, this is a fan-dedicated area full of events, autograph sessions, and other soccer-related activities.

Conclusion

Fan Engagement Strategies Used by the Famous Sports Clubs

When it comes to fan engagement, sports leagues need to find new and innovative ways to connect with their supporters or risk becoming obsolete. With that said, here are some strategies used by famous sports clubs in their attempt at generating more fan engagement.

Sports entertainment is a multi-billion-dollar industry that’s going through a severe disruption at the moment. Now, the entire world, be it in business or otherwise, is going through a vast transformation, facilitated in large part by new digital technologies. What some may call it the 4th Industrial Revolution; others see it as an incredible opportunity.

Turning to Mobile

Even as far back as 2014, 83% of sports fans were regularly checking their mobile phones while attending a live sporting event. As expected, this number has not shrunk over the following years, with various sports teams even taking it a step further.

The Denver Broncos of the NFL, for instance, has recently undertaken a $6 million renovation of their stadium to provide free Wi-Fi to everyone present at the event. It is by no means the only way sports leagues are addressing the issue. The Seattle Seahawks, on the other hand, have a team mobile app that provides fans with in-game stats and video, as well as the possibility to order food, drinks, and merchandise directly to their seat.

The Chennai Super Kings (CSK) of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is using Fanisko Engage, a unique one-stop fan engagement platform. It is an AI-powered, backend plugin, perfectly able to provide fans with hybrid fantasy games, personalized fees, AR and VR gaming, as well as play-by-play predictions. Fanisko can also offer sports teams behavioral analytic tools, enabling them to understand their fans better, turning them into hardcore followers, in the process.

Virtual and Augmented Reality

Digital technologies enable sports teams to develop their fan base abroad. The trend, however, means that most of these international fans will never have the possibility or opportunity to attend any of their matches. Interestingly enough, however, the CEO of English soccer team Aston Villa, Keith Wyness, has said in an interview at the Telegraph Business of Sport in 2017, that sports teams are not that far away from selling Virtual Reality season tickets.

These tickets initially will be sold to fans from other countries as a means of replicating the matchday experience without actually cannibalizing on the real ticket opportunity. If this trend continues, the expectation is that sports clubs will scale down their stadium sizes, focusing more on luxury areas and amenities.

Augmented reality (AR), is yet another area where sports leagues are turning for more fan engagement. In September 2017, the MLB has announced its new AR app called ‘At Bat.’ With it, baseball fans in the stadium can point their mobile devices at the field and receive all sorts of information such as player profiles, arm strength, catch probability, base percentage, batting averages, as well as the speed and trajectory of every single hit.

Conclusion

In short, mobility and convenience are the two main elements that drive the strategies employed by famous sports clubs to engage with their fans. The key to success in this changing environment is to pick up on trends as they form and apply new technologies for better engagement.

Common Mistakes to Avoid in Fan Engagement

Even the most successful sports clubs make some errors in how they engage, depriving them of the possibility of forming deeper and longer-lasting relationships. With that said, here are several common mistakes to avoid when trying to engage with your fans.

Fan engagement is the lifeblood of the sports industry. Nevertheless, this doesn’t exempt many sports teams or leagues from making mistakes in how they engage with their fans. Even the most successful sports clubs make some errors in how they engage, depriving them of the possibility of forming deeper and longer-lasting relationships. With that said, here are several common mistakes to avoid when trying to engage with your fans.

Generalization

The first mistake many sports clubs make is to generalize their content regardless of the often fragmented fanbase. Depending on the notoriety of the club, its fanbase can be spread out over numerous areas or even countries. Some of these sports teams present their content as if these fans were all centered in the same location and with the same interests. But while the team itself is what ties all of them together, other content may not be as relevant to everybody involved.

Arsenal FC, for instance, has a Hindi Facebook page that talks to its entire Indian fanbase in their native language and presents some other relevant content that only Indians may find engaging. Fanisko Engage is a highly-customizable fan engagement platform that can address this issue, ‘talking’ to each fan, based on their preferences.

Diluting the Fan Experience

Somewhat similar to the point above, some teams and leagues focus too much time and energy with separate products and promotions that ‘dilute’ the overall fan experience. While in and of itself, this activity isn’t a bad thing, doing it too much, however, will take away from the overall fan engagement. Known as the Pareto principle, or more commonly known as the 80-20 rule, it implies that just 20% of causes drives 80% of results. This principle is found everywhere in nature, finance, and even in personal relationships.

When applied in fan engagement, the Pareto principle implies that only about 20% of a team’s followers are diehard fans, but they are the ones that drive 80% of the revenue. And while these fans spend up to six times more money than their casual counterparts, bombarding them with too many promotions may have the adverse effect. Fanisko Engage can separate raving fans from the rest and target each of them with the relevant content for higher engagement and revenue generation.

Connecting but Not Interacting with Fans

Plenty of clubs spend much of their resources and energy connecting with their fanbase. Video content, for instance, is gaining a lot of ground in the marketing world and it’s shown to generate a high ROI. Nevertheless, when it comes to engagement, fan interaction is a definite must. In fact, 81% of marketing specialists agree that interactive content such as polls, quizzes, or all sorts of interactive games can better grab and retain attention than video content. Likewise, interactive content is better able at converting visitors.

Conclusion

All in all, proper fan engagement revolves around one’s ability to understand the fans, their wants, and needs, as well as the place they reside. It is to provide them with the most relevant and engaging content possible. Luckily, however, Fanisko Engage is a platform that can quickly achieve this.

By making use of its back-end analytics, every team can connect and interact with their fan base like never before, providing them with all sorts of interactive content like Mixed and Augmented Reality for gamification, and Artificial Intelligence for personalization. All of these are sure to allow your fans to stay connected 24/7, and helps you avoid the many mistakes other clubs are making when trying to engage with their fans.

How Fan Analytics Plays a Key Role in Promoting Fan Engagement?

It is safe to say that humanity would not have reached very far if everything was left to chance and speculation. All marketing and other business strategies, in general, function the way they do because they make use of hard data and statistics. Understanding one’s fans, their habits and behaviors, their likes and dislikes, is the only sure way to drive better and more efficient engagement. Fan engagement analytics is not only useful for enhancing the live game experience and even increase the overall fan base, but it can also help in increasing sponsor partnerships.

The NFL is even taking it a step further. Back in 2015, it partnered up with SAP, an enterprise software company so as to bring high-quality, relevant analytics to their fans. Avid sports fans have always been analytically-oriented, using all sorts of data and other statistical information at their disposal in an attempt at predicting the outcome of various games or seasons.

With this partnership, the NFL is now providing their fans with relevant information for driving more fan engagement. Unsurprisingly, it works. Though technically, that is not fan analytics, per se, it, nevertheless, proves the point of just how useful andcrucial hard data really is – and in the least expected ways, no less.

Fan Engagement and Fan Analytics

Fan-based analytics can be gathered from many sources such as social media, the internet, the stadium, or all sorts of other channels of communication. By putting all this information together, sports teams can better understand how their fans interact with the sport and with the club’s brand. With having this detailed information, decision-makers can devise better strategies that are specifically tailored to fit their objectives and can cater to their fan base exactly how and when they want to.

Trends can also be predicted better, which, in turn, results in higher ticket sales, higher TV ratings, and more profitable sponsorships. In short, fan data is a cumulation of the fans’ overall feelings and expectations in regards to the team’s performance. The key is to know how to access that information and put it to good use.

But as useful as fan analytics is, its main downside is that it’s somewhat hard to get. As fragmented as sports co ntent is nowadays – spread over social media, broadcast TV, stadium attendance, and so on – it can become quite a challenge to get all the necessary data in time.

Enter Fanisko Engage

Fanisko Engage is, as its name would suggest, an all-encompassing fan engagement platform. In short, it is an app that individual teams or leagues can use to attract and entertain their fan base with all sorts of content that they would otherwise find spread out all over the internet. Be it short videos, behind the scenes moments, highlights, fantasy sports, or VR/AR gaming, this platform has it all. With it, fans can keep themselves updated on the team’s progress without having to shift from Facebook to Twitter to Instagram and TV. Everything exists, conveniently, on this platform.

Asfar as the teams are concerned, this is excellent news since they can better connect and interact with their fans without having to look for them all over the web. What’s more, this platform provides analytics services. It gathers and presents data and metrics regarding performance, activity on the platform, fan behavioral insights, and predictive analytics.

Conclusion

Sports clubs will, thus, have the chance to understand their followers better and drive better fan engagement in the process. Information, after all, is power.

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