Monetizing Your Team’s Social Following

If you build it, they will come. Sports teams around the world have constructed social media giants around this slogan. In order to keep up with the worlds growing digital audience, clubs across the globe need to double down on social media efforts and develop effective social strategies.

It it no longer just about the fan who buys a ticket to watch the team on game day. It’s important to encompass an array of digital interactions before, during, and after the match. This is driven by the explosion of teams’ efforts to connect with fans via social media. This is furthered by the broader movement of social media becoming the portal for fans to communicate with and access team information.  The biggest question a club should be asking is, ‘How do we develop strategies to monetize these large digital and social followings?’

Because Blinkfire Analytics sits at the intersection of sports teams, social media and fans, we’ve got an idea or two on how to change the game. As more sponsors require clubs to include clauses that tie a certain number of social media activations to a sponsorship deal, the clubs can use our data to reimagine the way to partner with brands and activate sponsorships during the match and in their social channels.

With our brand spotting technology, teams are able to identify a company’s logo on a jersey within social media even if a player is upside down in the rain. The data from these dashboards can be used to measure the activation of a sponsor’s branding campaign and develop a deeper understanding of the ROI from their rights fees investment.

Dani Carvajal Destroying Ribery (tee hee!)

Teams are already profiting by promoting ticket sales, merchandise or upcoming events, but these are elementary steps in generating actual value from your millions of social followers. The ability to measure data and build a model that incorporates the interaction of multiple media channels is the future of how brands and clubs will monetize social channels in the future. 

As we’ve told you in the past, we’re in the business of making data visual. Many of the tools on our site can help you streamline your social media strategy and drive engagement. With increased activity of your team’s feed, you gain a better understanding of supporters’ desires. We can also ensure you’re getting the biggest bang for your buck from sponsors who need to invest in that logo spreading across your growing fan base. Get started today and start driving those profit margins skyward.