The Heart Of The Sports Industry

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

Sports communication lies at the heart of the sports industry. Pedersen, Miloch, and Laucella (2011) define sports communication as the "process by which people in sport, in a sport setting, or through a sport endeavour share symbols as they create meaning through interaction." Sports communication underscores the relationship development between organizations, players, fans, and third parties. Ultimately, these relationships are vital to the success of each individual team. Sports organizations have multiple mediums to cultivate these relationships via Internet, television, radio, and print publications. Over time, each medium has evolved respectively. Currently, there is a more integrated approach across these mediums in sports communication.

Sports communication is a dynamic practice that encompasses many functions within the sports industry from branding, reputation management, and customer service to sales, marketing, and sponsorship. These core efforts relate back to the central task of "providing [stakeholders] with an emotional connection to understand, interpret, and identify with sports," specifically on behalf of an individual player, team or league (Rein, Kotler & Shields, 2006). Further, Rein, Kotler, and Shields (2006) offer five key objectives in effective sports communication: (1) to engage the [stakeholder’s] interest, (2) to imprint the sports brand’s identity for a longer-lasting impression, (3) to humanize the sports brand, (4) to encourage the [stakeholder] to identify with the sports brand and feel a personal connection with the participants, and (5) to place the outcomes of competition in more than just a winning context. These strategic objectives are critical in relating with stakeholders, sparking interest, continually building the fan base, and retaining the current fan base. The sports environment is filled with an overwhelming number of messages and channels. Therefore, it is essential to "differentiate the sports brand" and "connect with [stakeholders]" (Rein, Kotler & Shields, 2006). This allows for a unique, lasting impression on stakeholders to solidify their connection with the brand. This report highlights two communication theories that apply in sports communication. These theories are fundamental because of their implications when strategically communicating in the sports environment. It is important to recognize the theoretical elements of communication to effectively engage with stakeholders. The following theories will provide a basis for calculated communications efforts within sports organizations relative to various stakeholders.

Uses and Gratification Theory:

Uses and Gratification theory proposes that the public seek information and particular communications sources to fulfil a satisfaction (Katz, Blumler & Gurevitch, 1974). People need to expand their knowledge base and social engagements through specific media outlets (Katz, Blumler & Gurevitch, 1974). The theory addresses how the public utilizes the media to satisfy an internal need (Katz, Blumler & Gurevitch, 1974).

The theory is useful because it illustrates that people gravitate to sports media to satisfy needs they have. Sports entities must embrace this theory; recognizing the public is pursuing quality content that satisfies particular needs they have through strategic messaging. Sports communication entities must understand the public’s search for information, and frame their messages strategically to stand out amongst other content.

Relationship Management Theory:

Relationship Management theory establishes that managing "organizational public relationships" around similar interests will ultimately lead to a mutually beneficial interaction between involved entities (Ledingham, 2003). The theory is dependent on the benefits of both parties (Ledingham, 2003). Within sports communication, establishing effective relationships between fans, players, teams, leagues, and other entities is essential. In cultivating these relationships, each party will be better positioned to fulfil their objectives (Ledingham, 2003). Additionally, the consistent management of these networks through two-way communication complimented with significant content is critical. Both parties must continue to provide and seek meaningful information from each other otherwise the relationship will deteriorate and become ineffective.

Uses and gratification theory and relationship management theory are two theories that speak to the mind-set that sports communication professionals should embrace when building and managing two-way communication over social media channels. Uses and gratification theory gives a central framework that identifies the public’s search for information to satisfy an internal need while relationship management theory establishes maintaining mutually beneficial connections to achieve the goals of both parties. These theories will not be addressed in the remainder of this study but are important in recognizing a theoretical approach when using social media to connect with stakeholders in sports and entertainment.

Social Media:

Kaplan and Haenlin (2010) provide an excellent definition of social media: "a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological foundations of Web 2.0 and that allow the creation and exchange of User Generated Content (UGC)."

Furthermore, Kaplan and Haenlin (2010) add that all social media fall into six different categories: collaborative projects (e.g., Wikipedia), blogs, content communities (e.g., YouTube), social networking sites (e.g., Facebook), and virtual social worlds (e.g., Second Life), and virtual game worlds (e.g., World of War craft). This classification assists in understanding the uses of a given social media platform. In an effort to understand the capabilities of social media, Kietsmann, Hermkens, McCarthy, and Silvestre (2011) state that social media are comprised of mobile and web based technologies that provide interactive platforms for the public to share, create, discuss, and modify content. In addition, the scholars propose the honeycomb of social media. The honeycomb of social media includes a framework that defines social media platforms through the level of emphasis on seven functional building blocks: identity, conversations, sharing, presence, relationships, reputation, and groups (Keitsmann et. al., 2011). The honeycomb of social media analyses the experience of a given social media platform in relationship to each functional block and then identifies the implications for a firm in developing its social media strategy using that platform (Keitsmann et. al., 2011). Furthermore, an organization can utilize the honeycomb framework to establish its social media strategy by identifying its core objectives and aligning these objectives with the social media platforms that carry those characteristics.

Understanding the business functions social media can provide to an organization is essential. Li and Bernoff (2011) emphasize that with the integration of social media into existing business tasks, firms can now more efficiently listen, talk, energize, support, and embrace their audiences and their ideas. Traditional means of communications, marketing, and regular business functions such as research, marketing, sales, support, and development can now be accomplished in the social media space. In addition, Mangold and Faulds (2009) argue that effective marketing and communications are navigating away from traditional methods of advertising, and resorting to social media as a trustworthy source. Mangold and Faulds (2009) further add that there is an amplified increase in consumer conversations and a decrease in a company’s direct control over its brand’s conversation. Therefore, the scholars believe that it is critical for organizations to remain active in monitoring and participating in the social media dialogue (Mangold & Faulds, 2009).

They identify nine ways that businesses use social media successfully; (1) provide networking platforms, (2) use blogs and other social media tools to engage customers, (3) use both traditional and Internet-based promotional tools to engage customers, (4) provide information, (5) be outrageous, (6) provide exclusivity, (7) design products with talking points and consumers’ desired self-images in mind, (8) support causes that are important to consumers, and (9) utilize the power of stories (Mangold and Faulds, 2009).

The scholars say that it is important for an organization to define its social media strategy and utilize these tactics to be successful in the social media environment. The evolution of mobile technology, specifically in regard to increased access to social media and mobile marketing has become crucial to business efforts. Wright, Khanfar, Harrington, and Kizer (2010) theorize that utilizing mobile technology to reach an audience is becoming more efficient than traditional methods of marketing, communication, and advertising (Wright et al., 2010). Wright et al. (2010) find that traditional methods of marketing such as television, radio, and print are capable of reaching a large population but these mediums are too general. Social media efforts, specifically through mobile technology, are becoming more valuable in reaching particular audiences and tailoring the message based on each individual consumer (Wright et al., 2010). The increase in mobile marketing and interactive marketing is expected to continue its growth (Wright et al., 2010).

Moreover, mobile technology provides an excellent medium for brands to constantly stay connected with consumers and develop "intimate relationships." Wright et al. (2010) state that "the use of smartphones, like iPhones and Blackberries, allow consumers to be connected to their favourite social media outlets 24 hours a day." Further, the academics explain that the key to effectively using these social media tools is not to appear as a marketer to the consumer but to establish a relationship with the consumer and build their trust (Wright et al., 2010). Many organizations are recognizing this trend and have added a Facebook page, Twitter account, and an iPhone application to their social media strategy.

Social Media and Sports Communication:

The use of social media by professional sports teams is increasingly rapidly. Many teams are dedicating more time and resources to operate their social media presence and to connect with stakeholders. Additionally, nearly all sports teams’ websites now integrate links to their respective pages for Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and blogs. This makes sense because brands rely heavily on a fan following, so it is essential to understand what media fans want. These digital media outlets provide efficient means for sports organizations to facilitate fan interaction and commentary of their brand due to low entry costs and large fan populations present.

Rothschild (2011) found that there is a significant rise in social media use in the sports and entertainment industry resulting in the decline of traditional marketing and communication methods. He conducted an online survey of sports and entertainment venue managers to understand their perceptions and predictions of social media in sport and entertainment facilities. Rothschild (2011) found that a strategic social media approach is becoming increasingly important in sports and entertainment venues, in addition to the need for more resources to be dedicated to these digital efforts. The results of the survey identified the following characteristics about social media usage in sports and entertainment:

• Sixty-two per cent have someone dedicated to managing social media versus 37 per cent who are without someone dedicated to managing social media.

• Eight per cent classify the venue’s use of social media as expert, 47 per cent as proficient, 34 per cent as still learning, 8 per cent as behind the curve, and 2 per cent as not using it and do not care to use.

• Fifty-seven per cent of venues have a defined social media strategy versus 47 per cent who do not have a defined social media strategy

• Fifty-two per cent reported venues experienced a revenue increase with a defined social media strategy versus 19 per cent that reported revenue increase without a defined social media strategy

The study illustrates the rise in social media while traditional methods are becoming less efficient due to cost, variety of product, and consumer resistance to advertising (Rothschild, 2011). Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube emerged as the most important platforms to monitor the conversation about their venue (Rothschild, 2011).

The primary motives for utilizing social media were to increase lead generation (65%), to monitor the conversation about their brand (51%), and in response to their competitors doing it (37%) (Rothschild, 2011). Additionally, the research identified the greatest obstacles to executing a social media strategy were not having enough staff to manage it (67%), and not enough data or analytics to develop ROI (30%) (Rothschild, 2011). As new media marketing tools will be more prevalent in the next three years, it is vital for sports and entertainment venues to become heavily involved in social media (Rothschild, 2011).

Social media have transformed sports media and its consumption. Fans, athletes, and teams now have the ability to easily connect with one another (Sanderson & Kassing, 2011). Sanderson and Kassing (2011) state that social media provide professional teams and athletes with "more control over the release of sports news in addition to increasing their self-preservation management" (Sanderson & Kassing, 2011). Sports journalists and other sports media personnel also utilize these mediums to reach audiences, but the public, professional teams and athletes now have the ability to bypass traditional media outlets through social media platforms (Sanderson & Kassing, 2011). Sanderson and Kassing (2011) assert that blogs and Twitter have revolutionized sports media by giving athletes and teams an active role in content production. Mass media outlets appear to be losing their edge in sports media due to professional athletes’ progressive engagement in social media. The integration of social media into sports communication changes the dynamic of how news and information is released. This provides opportunities for professional sports teams and professional athletes to better connect with their stakeholders.

METHODOLOGY:

This research employs a case study method that provides a holistic view of the use of social media by a EPL club. Case study is "an exploration of a bounded system or a case (or multiple cases) over time through detailed, in-depth data collection involving multiple sources of information rich in context" (Creswell, 1998 p. 61). Yin (2003) also stated that case studies can deal with complex situations where there are many variables of interest, utilize multiple sources of evidence, with data needing to converge in a triangulating fashion, and can benefit from the prior development of theoretical propositions to guide data collection and analysis. Zonabend (1992) stated that case study is done by giving special attention to completeness in observation, reconstruction, and analysis of the cases under study. Case study is done in a way that incorporates the views of the actors in the case under study. Merriam (2006) acknowledged, "by concentrating on a single phenomenon or entity (the case), the researcher aims to uncover the interaction of significant factors characteristic of the phenomenon" (p. 51).

Yin (2003, p. 37) stated a case study design should be considered when: (a) the focus of the study is to answer the "why" and "how" questions; (b) you cannot manipulate the behaviour of those involved in the study; (c) you want to cover contextual conditions because you believe they are relevant to the phenomenon under study. Based on Yin and other qualitative researchers’ criteria, the intersection of social media and the EPL meets the criteria for a case study.

The research questions focus on the why, and how social media is used by EPL clubs and provide a deeper understanding for their rationale and strategies.

The research also follows a theoretical approach. Data is gathered by reviewing individual EPL clubs’ online social media efforts. Furthermore, the data were analysed for apparent gaps in social media usage.

Finally, all relevant data from the literature, and observations were drawn upon and synthesized into the findings and discussion, and best practices.

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION:

Using Social Media to assist the efforts of individual EPL clubs is relatively new. Most of the clubs are still in the beginning to the middle stages of identifying the powers and capabilities of social media and are in the process of experimenting the evolving technology to reach their stakeholders more efficiently. There is a great scope for EPL clubs to strengthen and expand their social media presence thereby creating a better overall fan base experience.

While teams are striving to get better on the court as well as off the court, an analysis of the social media sphere of social media and EPL through a SWOT analysis is presented by discussing the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats faced by EPL teams using social media.

SWOT Analysis:

Strengths:

Human factor:

One of the many strengths of social media and the Premier League is the human factor. Although social media is a form of technology, there are still humans who need to manage and operate social media usage. Johnson & Yang (2009) related this to Uses and Gratifications theory, stated that social media offers the potential for both mass and interpersonal communication among people. Social media allows teams to connect with their number one customer: fans. In turn, it allows fans to connect with their favourite teams and other fans, who share a common bond (team, sport, etc.). The rationale for social media is based on a team-to-fan communication, fan-to-team communication, and fan-to-fan communication. The human factor also allows EPL teams to ‘listen’ to fans via social media. Their voices can be heard, and teams can connect with fans through these sites. Fans want their favourite teams to come out and show they care and want to connect with them.

Engagement:

In relation to the human factor, engagement is another strength of social media. Nowak, Watt, & Walther (2005) refer to online communication as hyper-personal, and social media is a form of hyper-personal online communication. The EPL and its teams do a good job of engaging with their fans via social media. Engagement can occur in many fashions, such as replying to a fan’s tweet via Twitter, responding to a fan’s post on the team’s official Facebook page, or having a poll that fans can vote on that is only available through social media. Engaging via social media builds the relationship between the team and fans. Williams & Chinn (2010) stated that relationship marketing is supported by activities and relies on planned messages to assist in the process of establishing, maintaining, and enhancing relationships. Williams & Chinn (2010) also state the goals of relationship marketing are to build long-term relationships with the organizations best customers, generating further business and ultimately profit.

The team communicates with fans to get them to buy tickets and merchandise, and does that via Facebook, engages them on Facebook, that’s the first barrier of entry and gets them engaged in (fan-to-fan social media site) to login or register so that they are in the database, email market them or call them or whatever, walk them up the ladder of someone buying retail merchandise or buying a ticket or a package, and then a season ticket.

This helps in engagement with the fans and building a relationship with them via social media, and then moving them up the ladder of becoming a fan all the way through becoming a season ticket holder. Relationship marketing allows for that, and social media is a good vehicle to accomplish goals of connecting with the fans and creating a stream of business.

Large reach:

Another strength of social media is the large market reach. With the EPL having a global audience, it is imperative for teams to connect with fans worldwide. Social media provides an outlet to do just that. Additionally, social media allows fans who live near their favourite team to connect with their favourite team, as well as draw fans in from other areas.

With the power of social media, it is possible to see that a team is reaching out to you via social media, whether you’re in the same state as the team or in another country, is powerful, and can build a bond between fan and team.

Real-time:

Another great benefit of social media is real-time information exchange. With the nature of sports being live, social media is a great way to share information instantly. The EPL as a league, as well as all the teams, do a good job of sending real-time information as it happens. Common examples includes sending game updates to Twitter during the course of a game and posting pictures from the game to Facebook while the game is still in action. As opposed to an email or website update, which isn’t as instant as social media, by the time a fan receives an email from a team regarding a player or team occasion; fans may have already received the same information via social media several hours (or even days) before. Even twitter states on their site they are a real-time information network (About Twitter, n.d.). The EPL and its teams leverage this real-time information network to connect with their fans in real-time, treating them as if they are watching the game live at the arena.

Weaknesses:

Lost in the shuffle:

One potential weakness of social media is that the space is growing rapidly, and fans may feel their voice is lost among everyone else. While social media are a place to connect with fans and teams alike, many fans may feel they aren’t being heard, and that they don’t feel different or special from other fans on social media. Pegoraro (2010) stated that with Web 1.0, users were connected through the Internet, but were still kept at arm’s length from any real interaction. With Web 2.0 (and social media emerging from it), social media directors of EPL teams need to stay connected with fans via this medium and not regress engagement. With the Premier League and its teams having a large number of combined Facebook likes and Twitter followers of any professional sports franchise worldwide, it is easy to feel like just another fan. Even the EPL team with the least number of followers has well over 100,000 combined Facebook likes and Twitter followers (as of December 31, 2011), it is easy to see why fans are not interested in supporting their favourite teams via social media.

Bad reputation:

Garnering a bad reputation is another disadvantage of using social media. The EPL nor any of its teams have earned or gotten a bad reputation through social media. Unfortunately, this can happen to anyone who uses social media, much less a sports league or team. As mentioned among strengths, real-time information being shared via social media can also be a detriment. If something negative is posted via a team’s social media site, this can spread quickly among fans and followers, as well as other social media sites. Even if the questionable information shared via social media is later deleted, likely the damage is done at that point. With EPL teams having large fan bases via social media, it is critical they are careful with all information that is posted at all times.

Excessive use:

Using too many social media tools can also be bad. Every social media director uses Facebook and Twitter for their respective teams. However, with the advent of more social media tools becoming available, social media directors have to analyse these tools and see if it would be a good fit for their team. Related to Uses and Gratifications theory, Young (1996) raised concern that excessive use of new media may leave users vulnerable to technological dependencies. Just because a EPL team is using a new social media tool does not mean other teams should use them as well. While directors use various social media sites, using too many can be detrimental to the social media strategies of teams, while using too few tools may cause lack of creativity among teams and boredom among users. Messages can become diluted, social media pages can become cluttered, and using too many platforms can be cumbersome to fans, who may stop using social media altogether to support their favourite teams.

Time factor:

Time constraints can also be a weakness via social media. With the space growing rapidly, a significant amount of time (and sometimes resources) need to be dedicated to social media.

Although most digital marketing directors of teams state they manage social media, they also had other duties to attend to within the organization. Most handle other digital media duties, such as websites, customer relationship management (CRM), and email marketing, among other tasks. Although several teams have dedicated social media staff, these individuals are also responsible for other duties. Some may feel the need to spend more time implementing, managing, and evaluating social media strategies. With social media being readily available to fans, they may expect more from their favourite teams in terms of information and up-to-the-second updates. With that comes more time spent on social media, which can become a time-consuming process. Although not asked about how much time is dedicated to social media management, it can be assumed a significant amount of time focuses on it.

Opportunities:

New platforms:

One of the opportunities for social media usage among EPL teams is using new social media tools. This tie in with Uses and Gratifications theory, with consumers of media using specific, selected channels to satisfy needs and achieve gratifications (Clavio & Kian, 2010). Additionally, in regards to Uses and Gratifications theory, people today must be more selective than in the past to select a medium that meets their needs because they have more media choices (Ruggiero, 2000).

As discussed in the Weaknesses section, social media directors of EPL teams have to be cautious not to use too many social media sites. There is no right or wrong number of platforms that can be used; social media directors of EPL teams must find a balance that works for them. Each director must assess their social media strategies to ensure they are maximizing social media properly, while using new social media sites appropriately. Some teams are experimenting with other social media tools, as this provides directors new avenues in which to use these platforms to connect.

New content:

Providing creative content is another opportunity for EPL teams using social media. While it is great that the League and its teams use social media, it can sometimes feel that the same content is being shared repeatedly. It is fantastic that most teams provide updates on their games live as they happen; however, just providing updates without any real engagement or connection can lose its lustre. Kaplan & Haenlein (2010) speak to this: ‘Find out what they (users) would like to hear; what they would like to talk about; what they might find interesting, enjoyable, and valuable. Then, develop and post content that fit those expectations’. As one of the pioneers of sports leagues using social media, the EPL and its teams can benefit from providing fresh information that will keep fans wanting to come back for more. As social media continues to grow, more ideas will be generated and used across the league. Providing interesting content will prove to be a great opportunity as social media expands in the future.

Combining the spaces:

Merging the virtual and physical worlds is another opportunity for the EPL and its teams. While social media is communication that happens online, it is important to take engagement offline, by offering some type of reward or meeting. A few sports teams have done this by bringing in fans that follow the team via Twitter or having a meet up at the stadium before the game that involves the team’s Facebook fans, among other ways. While communicating online is a fast, easy way for a team to talk to its fans, expanding that relationship into the real world is crucial. Also, while it has only been done by a couple of teams, allowing social media users to meet the team’s players provides an added incentive. Teams want fans to attend games in person, so it would be beneficial for teams to orchestrate meetings among social media users before or during the game, or even at a nearby restaurant. EPL teams should ‘go online to go offline’ and really embrace the physical connection among fans. This will allow fans to make friends with other fans, provide for professional networking opportunities, and collaborate on future projects, all because of the power of social media.

The voice:

Having users become the "voice" via social media is another opportunity that can be leveraged. EPL teams post information via social media sites, and while it may be seen as just another post to some fans, others may feel the need to spread the news. Tying in to Uses and Gratifications theory, Katz et al (1973) states the audience is conceived of as active, and from this point of view, the approach simply represents an attempt to explain something of the way in which individuals use communications to satisfy their needs and to achieve their goals, and to do so by simply asking them. Additionally, Katz et al (1973) refers to one of the aims of Uses and

Gratifications theory was to treat audience requirements as intervening variables in the study of traditional communication effects. After all, being a fan of a team is naturally inherent to sports; this means that fans are advocates for information you share. When a tweet goes out on Twitter or a post goes out on Facebook, fans are more than happy to share that information with their friends and followers via social media. In essence, they extend the voice of the team to others. Additionally, these fans can encourage further dialog by talking with their friends, followers, and other fans regarding their favourite teams. This can create a chain reaction among other fans, and non-stop banter regarding their favourite teams occurs, all through one post via social media. EPL teams should leverage the power of the fan more to make sure they feel connected and a part of the team.

Threats:

Other leagues and teams:

The first imminent threat of social media and the EPL are other professional sports leagues, such as the LaLiga, Serie A, National Football League (NFL), National Hockey League (NHL), Major League Baseball (MLB), Major League Soccer (MLS), and virtually every other professional sports league that utilizes social media. Just like competition on the field of play, these leagues compete with each other in the front office too. Social media is no different. Each league is trying to gain a competitive advantage in who will be the first use a new social media site, which uses social media ‘best,’ etc. Within the EPL, each team can be viewed as a threat to each other as well. Teams are always trying to be the first team to use a social media platform or method, in which other teams may copy. Additionally, each team may try to steal ideas, strategies, or plans away from another team and pass them off as their own. This can be referred to as mimetic behaviour, which happens when an organization is not sure how to behave under uncertain or risky situations. In order to find the best solutions, organizations usually mimic what other competitors do once competitors were perceived to be successful (Berrett & Slack, 1999).

While most of the social media directors of EPL teams know each other (at least in a professional manner), they are all trying to compete with each other for how social media is used.

Whether directors want to provide better engagement, be the first to use a specific platform, or have the most number of friends and followers, there is a sense of competition among the directors. In essence, social media can be seen as friendly competition among the teams, although each team is trying to gain their edge over the other teams.

Too much information:

Oversharing or teams using too much social media can also be a threat. While social media can be easy to share information, it can be just as easy to overshare or post too much information.

There is no set number on many times a social media director of a EPL team should post information via social media; however, social media directors should be cognizant of how much and what type of content they are posting to the team’s social media sites. Fans generally are tolerant of receiving game updates via social media throughout the course of a game, and more so if the game is close towards the end of the contest. However, fans generally do not appreciate play-by-play via social media; this can cause fans and followers to get annoyed, and ultimately cause the fan to unfollow or unlike the team’s social media pages.

Longevity:

Although social media has significance today, people getting burned out or viewing social media as a fad is another threat the EPL and its teams can face. Katz et al (1973) state that media compete with other sources of need satisfaction. While social media might fill the needs of consumers, it is not guaranteed to do so in the future. In 2011, social media was growing exponentially by the day. While growth may somewhat start to level off in 2012, social media is still very much part of society. People may get bored of using social media platforms; others may not see the value in it. This is something the EPL and its teams need to consider. Utilizing social media in proper manners while keeping users engaged is critical to avoid them from significant reducing their usage or leaving social media sites altogether. Social media may be seen as a fad by some because it’s the new thing. And with any fad, the buzz will slowly go away. The important thing for the EPL and its teams to recognize is that in order to avoid this, they must make social media part of their communications, sales, and marketing plans.

Too business-focused:

Over commercialization of social media is another threat that can arise. The EPL and its teams properly leverage social media with users, encouraging dialog and engagement between the two. However, if a user feels the team is using social media strictly for soliciting fans to purchase tickets or other items, they will soon sour on using social media. The EPL and its teams want to generate revenue and produce ROI (return on investment) via social media; however, that is a fine line the league and its teams must not cross. Push too much towards monetization and fans may feel they are being used. The EPL and its teams must put forth a concerted effort not to make social media strictly a monetary game. Katz et al (1973) state in the mass communication process, much initiative in linking need gratification and media choice lies with the audience member. After all, consumers want to have a conversation, not always be marketed to, and they will find another means of communication if they become dissatisfied.

The SWOT analysis and findings will address the elements of social media efforts of EPL clubs namely Social Media Platforms, Social Media Strategy, Social Media Campaigns, Offline Presence, In arena Presence, Content, Connecting with fans outside the arena, Metrics and ROI and EPL’s Social Media Guidelines and Issues.

Social Media Platforms:

The English Premier League, arguably the world’s most popular sports organization uses a variety of platforms to generate explosive growth off the pitch in the realm of social media. But they are often criticized for their out of date approach to social media when compared to the youthful and creative tactics used by other sports leagues such as NFL, NBA etc. The rise of social media is being observed in the last couple of years and clubs are now investing in it.

Many clubs have expanded their social media strategies across various platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, Youtube,FourSquare,Google+, Flickr, LinkedIn, blogs etc. So Far, the league has a stronger presence on Facebook than on Twitter. Liverpool, became the first premier league team to promote itself using Pinterest. Pinterest is a inventive and creative way to use that will help the team engage with its fans. The club stocked boards with historic photos, fan gear, memorabilia, old uniforms etc. Pinterest is one of the new ways sports teams around the world are seeking to leverage social media.

Manchester City has recently partnered with Foursquare. This helps fans to check into the Etihad Stadium and take advantage of club offers on hospitality and Merchandising. It also provides fans with exclusive content that they wouldn’t have received otherwise. The club has already attracted over 16,000 followers. This helps Manchester City to build a more meaningful and rewarding relationship with their fans. Manchester City also launched a YouTube partnership in which fans’ can be integrated with their social media experiences. Other platforms such as Twitter and Facebook are used for a lot of purposes. For instance, Queens Park Rangers owner Tony Fernandes uses Twitter to ask fans which players they wanted the club to acquire, and midfielder Joey Barton used promoted tweets to apologize to fans for being thrown out of a match.

Though Twitter is one of the main battlegrounds, evaluating how clubs have performed by simply looking at the number of followers isn’t the fairest way to analyse their performance. People tend to follow teams online just because they support them and not because their social media policy is good.

The use of various Social Media Platforms by the top clubs in the Premier League is explained in the following charts (analyticsseo, Feb 2013)

Facebook Use by Premier League Clubs:

Facebook is clearly a useful channel that allows clubs to engage with their Fanbases. It was interesting to compare not only the number of likes a club received but also the rate at which they accumulated these fans since the start of their FB page.

Figure 1: Stadium Capacity of Clubs correlated with their Facebook Usage

The chart tells you the following:

The top four clubs of the league (Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal) have a much bigger following than other clubs.

The reach of Facebook would indicate that these clubs do indeed have a global fan base.

The clubs can fill their respective stadiums many times over with just their Facebook fan bases. For Example, Manchester United can fill their stadium, Old Trafford 412 time over.

Some Exceptions such as Wigan, Norwich, Sunderland and Reading produced low single digit ratios. These clubs shouldn’t be keen on expanding their stadiums unless they have a significant loyal and a localised fan base.

Some smaller clubs such as Stoke City were quicker than big clubs in recognizing the online potential and setting up an official Facebook page. But, still Stoke only picked up 38 likes a day while bigger clubs such as Arsenal picked up 6,394 likes a day and Manchester United picked up 24,786 per day. So Manchester United's relative lethargy in setting up an official page was more than compensated by the rate at which they gathered fans, once the page was up and running.

Twitter Use:

Some clubs such as Manchester United have their only official presence on Twitter via their press office. This shows that these clubs aren’t that bothered to engage with their fans using this method. The clubs’ using Twitter can be classified into the following heads

Early Adopters: Manchester City and Everton

Frantic Tweeters: Reading, Norwich and Manchester City

Following their Fans: Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester City appeared to be the only clubs interested in following their Twitter accounts.

All the clubs picked up fans at a significant rate after opening their official account. Some smaller clubs such as Sunderland, Norwich and Reading have a bigger following on Twitter than on Facebook.

Google+/ YouTube Use:

The Premier League clubs use Google+’s hangout technology, a multi way video chat technology which allows up to 10 participants at once to allow the fans interact with the club during the match day. They are tied up with YouTube and each session will be streamed live on the clubs’ Google+ and YouTube channels allowing the clubs’ supporters to watch it for free. Fans from all over the world can interact with their favourite players like never before and can ask questions. The use of Google+ and YouTube by various clubs are as shown below

Figure 2: Usage of Google+ by clubs

Initiatives such as Google+ are positive for football fans as it shows how much the clubs cares for their fans and how they allow their fans to open up and engage with their players in a very personal and direct manner.

The number of followers in Twitter and the number of Facebook likes of the clubs in Premier League are as shown below (Mar, 2013)

Social Media Strategy:

Many EPL clubs have identified their own strategy and objectives in utilizing social media. Most organizations use social media primarily as a branding and marketing tool to easily reach their fans. The growing digital space has become valuable in developing a community for fans, and promoting online and offline fan engagement.

Additionally, Premier League teams are looking to utilize social media as a customer relationship management tool. EPL organizations have found that digital platforms can efficiently provide customer service and handle questions, concerns, problems, and related issues.

Finally, EPL teams are attempting to monetize their daily functions via social media.

Ultimately, every organization strives to drive stakeholders to its website to increase ticket sales, merchandise sales, and sponsorship deals. The ability for social media to directly connect with audiences provides the opportunity for Premier League organizations to directly impact the bottom line.

Another important component of EPL team’s social media strategy is the magnitude of a given team’s brand and their level of success. EPL clubs with major brand recognition and elite players garner a greater digital following. Therefore, these teams can focus less on encouraging fans to engage with their social media channels but rather provide tools and initiatives to creatively influence the online conversation, and further concentrate on the monetization of their efforts. Additionally, EPL clubs with recent winning success are likely to receive positive engagement in higher frequency.

When a given EPL club is losing, the organization does not want it’s presence on social media channels to be a losing brand. Therefore, teams must adjust the online messaging and conversation accordingly based on the success of the team. These aspects are critical to keep in mind as EPL clubs implement social media strategy.

Content:

Most EPL teams stress that the most important aspect of a social media presence is the content; there must be quality content. For this study, we can define quality content in the social media realm to be authentic, exclusive information in varying forms, whether it be text, pictures, video, or anything else, that is posted with appropriate length and frequency, and gives value to stakeholders. Social media is cluttered with content. Therefore quality content allows for a given team’s message to stand out from all other visible content on social media feeds. It is vital that EPL club’s social media platforms provide value to their audience. Quality content that is exclusive in nature is necessary. This exclusive content includes information that highlights the proximity to the team, behind the scenes information, and player contact; information that they cannot get elsewhere. EPL clubs have found success in providing quality content by integrating their social media tools. For example, many teams are utilizing the social media platforms YouTube and Instagram to post videos and pictures, respectively, through their Twitter and Facebook accounts. This integration of tools provides varying content to fans which further increases engagement and interaction.

Social Media Campaigns:

Many teams have found success in developing social media campaigns around specific thematic content. Posts typically do not have a long life span; therefore connecting each post to an overarching campaign can strengthen its effectiveness and better promote the EPL team’s brand. Twitter is especially useful in developing hash tag campaigns around a season-long hash tag or using game-night hash tags. Twitter has created the #TwitterLeagueTable to show some of the greatest uses of Twitter by Premier League clubs, players and fans. Manchester City tops the table when it comes to the #TwitterLeagueTable. The table is based on metrics such as follower numbers for team and player accounts, use of official team hash tags, and how much fans interact with the content shared by the teams. Recently, Manchester City signed up its captain Vincent Kompany, to Twitter and urged its supporters to send him inspirational messages ahead of the derby with the hash tag #followthecaptain. Kompany chose the most inspirational and the person who posted it got the prize of Kompany’s match day shirt and armband along with an autographed poster of his tweet. Birmingham City FC became one of the first sports team to be an early adopter of Twitter’s new 6 second video sharing app – Vine. Vine has presented clubs with an excellent opportunity to capture the highlights of a football club – whether that is the day to day routine of a football club, a match day experience or the signing of a new player.

Manchester City also ramped up its use of YouTube as a medium to reach fans all around the world. The club strike a deal with YouTube that allowed managing ads on its new channel. Their first video uploaded on the channel, of Samir Nasri attracted more than half a million views in three days. The club also rolled out an innovative campaign named TunnelCam on YouTube. It was a short, simple but incredibly effective way of engaging content throughout the year.

Other Clubs recognise this effectiveness of campaigns in social media and strive to make full use of it. Chelsea used Twitter in a tactical way to promote their 2012/13 kit launch and trend globally using the #CFCkit hash tag. Chelsea sent out 1250 tweets that month. By engaging with their followers through the hashtag, Chelsea managed to generate a real buzz about their merchandise.

An example of a high level brand awareness campaign was the one conducted by Turkish Airlines in collaboration with Manchester United. The campaign was called Fans United and made an effort to engage Manchester United’s legion of loyal fans. Turkish Airlines held a contest in the form of a Facebook trivia App, choosing 19 lucky fans from around the world for a trip to Manchester’s Old Trafford for the first home match of the 2012 season against Fulham. Turkish Airlines has been a sponsor of Manchester United since 2010. During the four month engagement Turkish Airlines was able to engage with the club’s 29 million Facebook fans. According to Manchester United, the campaign generated over 322 million impressions across channels and Turkish Airlines generated an additional 190 thousand Facebook fans.

Another fantastic campaign was by Everton named #BlueCrimbo campaign. The aim of the campaign was to involve fans from the start. Keeping it as interactive as possible, it was decided that the conversation would be driven by content and this would keep it alive for some time.

Blue Crimbo was an evolution of previous campaigns rather than a completely new one. The campaign included e commerce, ticketing and social media in one place. The team created a virtual map of the city Liverpool which turns more and more blue every time a fan does his bit on the bluecrimbo page.

Fans can help the city turn blue in any one of the six different ways

Tweeting a message containing #BlueCrimbo

Buying match tickets online

Shopping Online

Uploading a picture

Opening a new window on the club online advent calendar

Filling their stocking

Overall, the campaign was a success bringing together different elements of the business into a single, simple campaign.

Offline and In Arena Presence:

Embracing these social media campaigns online is vital but many teams emphasize that it is equally important to incorporate social media and related campaigns in offline efforts as well. It is also important in advertising their social media channels in stadium. Fulham advertised the clubs social media presence when the players were interviewed and televised. Advertising boards are the beginning of raising awareness. Some clubs are even thinking of improving stadium Wi-Fi. Football clubs often have huge communities of Social Media and they have a wonderful platform to advertise for free in their own stadiums. They should be focussing on synchronizing their offline and online social media messages. Sometimes, pitch advertising is even done on the side lines at European Football Stadiums. One suggestion is that the club’s twitter handles can be finely cut into the side line grass to leverage its assets to promote their social presence to the fullest.

Connecting with Fans outside the Arena:

Social media enables fans to interact with EPL organizations when not in attendance of games. Twitter and Facebook are very popular, in addition to live chats and live video streaming. When fans are watching a Premier League game on television, EPL teams want them posting and tweeting about the game to broadly promote the brand and reach fan’s individual networks. Additionally, some Premier League teams have a live chat platform that provides as a conversational tool for fans during games. The live chat tool is effective in gathering fans in a common digital location, informing them of frequent game updates, and generating discussion around the team. Furthermore, the growth of "second screen" applications and "social TV" gives fans the opportunity to engage more interactively with EPL teams over mobile devices while watching television.

Broadcaster Sky has added a new football second screen experience the ‘Football Match Centre’ to its iPad app to support Sky Sports’ coverage of the new Barclays Premier League season.

All game content – including analysis and player information is housed in the new area within the Sky Sports iPad app, available free to Sky Sports customers. The Football Match Centre accompanies Premier League matches broadcast on Sky Sports. The Match Centre includes in-depth player stats including full squad listings, team line-ups, formations and profiles along with appearance stats and fantasy football points. It also includes match-day stats such as the number of shots on and off-target, yellow and red cards and passing success rates. In terms of social media the Football Match Centre includes a curated Twitter feed with aggregated fan commentary.

Ultimately, every EPL team should operate each platform recognizing fans may not be in attendance of a game in order to further encourage them to engage with the team as a casual fan, a brand ambassador, or ticket and merchandise consumer.

Tracking, Measurement and ROI:

With numerous social media initiatives in place, many EPL teams are still struggling to put a dollar value on the return on investment (ROI) for these efforts. However, there are many online tools to track and measure social media. The most common of these tools that teams are utilizing include Facebook Insights, Twitter Dashboard Analytics via Tweetdeck or Hootsuite, Bit.ly link tracking, Foursquare Analytics, and some have developed their own internal document. Many teams are expressing interest in partnering with Radian6, a social media monitoring business dedicated to assisting brands in measuring, analysing, and reporting their social media to better engage with their fans. These tools are providing EPL teams with insights on fan engagement and interaction over their social media channels. Also, teams are able to measure links that lead to ticket sales or merchandise sales. Premier League teams can identify more specific components of their efforts such as best times of day to post, trending topics, influential fans, and popular content. Most importantly, EPL teams can analyse all of the incoming data and then adjust their social media tactics accordingly. Most teams embrace a number of these tools but are still working to get their social media strategy down to a science so that they can develop consistent numbers for most efficient fan engagement and return on investment.

Premier League Social Media Issues:

Many teams understand that there are still limitations to the overall effectiveness of social media in the EPL. Social media is relatively new and continually evolving. It is evident that there has been difficulty monitoring the existing platforms and keeping up with new platforms. Effectively maintaining a social media presence across multiple channels is a major overtaking and requires a great deal of resources at this level. Minimal staffing dedicated to social media is one example of limited resources that has affected efforts of most teams. Most teams have between two and six employees dedicated to social media. Many of these professionals are also responsible for other key tasks within the organization such as public relations, marketing, and website management/editing.

The guidelines set out clear directions to players on the use of social media. The guidelines focus on a number of areas including the benefits of using social media to engage with supporters, understanding the potential audience of social media sites like Twitter and Facebook and recognising that it is possible to commit offences online via social media.

Some teams can’t stand the fact that their fans are criticizing their performance that might reduce the morale of the team and the players and might also lead to lawsuits.

English Premier League Teams also fail to respond to their followers tweets. Despite increased activity from teams, many teams fail to understand the true application of football social media – to engage with fans.

Data from UK Company – EngagementIndex which measured brands responding to their customers. Using Twitter monitoring, the company recorded the number of ignored tweets sent from customers to brands and it was apparent that clubs were ignoring thousands of tweets sent to official club accounts every day.

Figure 3: Ignored Tweets by various clubs

As the graph above shows the ratio of ignored to replied to tweets is massive, with Chelsea (15,341 @chelsea tweets ignored), Arsenal (8,066 @arsenal tweets ignored) and Manchester City (7,488 @mcfc tweets ignored) the biggest culprits. However, it should be remembered that these 3 clubs do command a global following and therefore the sheer volume of tweets sent to them will be considerably larger than the average EPL club.

Apart from these issues, there can also be internal problems such as 1) concerns about security, (2) senior management apathy, (3) fear of using unproven technologies and (4) fear of a negative impact on productivity.

Case Study – The Usage of Social Media in the UK by Arsenal:

Arsenal FC is 20,000 ‘likes’ more from 13 million Facebook fans, and has more than 2 million Twitter followers, with 2,182,542. Even in a culture that seems to have soccer ingrained into the lifestyle, social media plays an important role. Arsenal encourages fan participation through Twitter takeovers, in which Arsenal players take to twitter to answer questions posted by fans. The takeovers always generate lots of interesting and fun questions and help to provide a nice insight into what makes the players do off the pitch. Importantly, the players enjoy doing it, too. To ask questions, fans use a dedicated hash tag. The Arsenal Media Group even films the takeovers so that fans that missed them, or don’t have a Twitter account, can watch online at Arsenal Player, the Club’s online video channel.

Social media also stretches to the international fan base, helping interact with fans who can’t necessarily come enjoy a game and Arsenal is focussing on Asian territories and building a community there. There are Arsenal fans in China, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, and other Asian countries that use social media to interact with the team. To connect with those fans, Arsenal uses QQ Weibo, a popular social networking site in Asia. Since it launched in summer 2012, nearly 1 million fans have followed Arsenal’s Weibo page.

Last year’s Arsenal game against Manchester United coincided with Chinese New Year, so the club encouraged Chinese supporters to follow their Weibo page and post messages of support that was then broadcast on the electronic advertising boards during the game. The last two years, Arsenal has organized preseason tours to Asia. In the summer of 2013, the Club will visit Indonesia.

At Arsenal, social media is used as an information-gathering tool, building the customer relationship management (CRM) system so that the team can create packages that are customized to the interests of specific fans. The CRM system lets the team know how the fans like to interact. They also look at customer feedback and are open to new ideas and suggestions on how to better utilize social media.

Arsenal also uses Social Media to welcome new signings of players. The latest addition to Arsenal’s frontline last month was highly rated French striker Olivier Giroud, so to welcome the signing (and capitalise on social media), the North London team launched a #WelcomeOlivier Twitter competition. Using the #WelcomeOlivier hash tag, Arsenal’s competition was very simple – tweet a welcome message to the new striker and potentially win a signed shirt from Olivier. However, the competition didn’t end there; the winning tweets also were placed onto a series of JPGs to be used as desktop wallpapers featuring Giroud in the Arsenal jersey.

Arsenal sees social media chiefly as a set of tools for adding value to the fan experience.  Be it via leveraging the unique access to the club, creating an interface between fans and players or sourcing fan generated content to add a social layer to club activities, Arsenal uses Social Media Channels as a means to engage with specific fan groups on the platforms of their choice.

Currently they lead the Premiership in terms of Twitter followers and rank a very respectable 3rd worldwide. The Gooners (Arsenal’s members) showed that social media doesn’t need to be complicated or at all time consuming. By encouraging fans to tweet on their hash tag, they were raising awareness of both the transfer and their own social media activity. Secondly, they used User Generated Content (the tweets) to integrate it into their own content, thereby creating a stronger sense of affinity between brand and fan. Thirdly, they raised awareness for their Fan zone area of the website and drove web traffic there.

The future plans of Arsenal is to constantly evaluate the landscape and look to connect fans wherever they’re active ,something that will be reflected in a likely expansion onto new platforms in the coming months.

The club has plans of introducing location-based marketing to target fans with relevant partner offers on their mobiles when they were in the vicinity of the stadium.

The club is also looking to brands such as Tesco Club card, Amazon and Sky TV as the benchmark for its customer relationship management, rather than other football clubs. It is aiming to become the "Tesco Club card" of the English Premier League’s fan membership schemes as it prepares to place its new CRM system as the engine of its marketing activity.

The club is working to redefine what it calls a member and reduce the barriers to entry to join its scheme. Currently fans must pay a minimum of £33 annually to become a member, which gives them priority ticketing, access to Arsenal’s online video player and a welcome pack at the lowest tier. The club is looking forward to allow people to become members for a lower price, offering different levels of information and contact.

Arsenal is a great example for clubs of all sizes into how they can very quickly utilise social media in order to engage with their fans and promote their offline activity.

RECOMMENDATIONS AND BEST PRACTICES:

Based on reviewing relevant literature and analysing EPL team’s online social media efforts, the following best practices were established.

These best practices are drawn from the similarities and differences in the usage of social media by EPL teams. The best practices also take into account the common challenges and drawbacks of current social media use in the Premier League. This should be used to establish a plan of social media usage for EPL teams in their strategy and tactics

One key lesson is that Social Media must be a form of entertainment, and not just a corporate marketing brand. Football Clubs should let go off their traditional marketing plans and sales promotions and provide data to entertain fans – Datatainment. Prior to matches, they should show a build-up trailer to the game and use platforms such as YouTube to show snippets of highlights of past games, or talk about key players and unite the fans behind emotive team support using hash tags on Twitter.

The greatest ingredient of social media is that it literally connects with people together and transcends all barriers of location and language. The teams should focus on possibilities of tapping the network of talented and eager fans. Instead of making the website editor write the match report, a fan can be asked to write one. Fans should be given space in the team by using fan videos form the stands, promoting fan written articles and using platforms such as Twitter to talk and listen to the fans.

The teams should set up a LinkedIn channel along with their new Facebook and Twitter pages. Though LinkedIn is less social than Facebook and Twitter, it shouldn’t be ignored altogether. There are unofficial groups and communities set up and moderated by fans to connect with each other. The clubs can start a business network in LinkedIn that exploits the bond between the fans in a more formal way. The members of the group can network with each other, listen to keynote speakers, and do business with likeminded fans.

Quality Content should be given. The content a team provides over social media should give fans value and make following the team worthwhile. The content could include text, pictures, video, links, news articles, incentives, trivia, polls, free giveaways, tickets, merchandise, team website, and access to other social media channels. The content should also be exclusive. The information and visuals provided over these channels should be unique such as behind the scenes footage or highlights of close proximity to the team. Additionally, within the content, there must be a call to action. Simply posting news or links will not be effective but creating a reaction will lead to likes, comments, retweets, tweets, and discussion about the brand.

Incorporate social media offline: The goal of a EPL team from a marketing perspective is to have their fans consistently talking about your brand. Therefore, wherever your brand is