Clubs all over the world are busy adopting social media as a way to communicate and interact with current as well as new fans. Where some clubs have built up own networks, most clubs today seek to utilize the leading platforms of the world such as Facebook, Twitter, Youtube etc.

Up until this point, the focus by many clubs seems to be one of adding social media as a(nother) communication channel through which a club can inform fans of news and allow fans to comment. Success is often measured in volume (e.g. number of followers on Twitter) and scanning club pages on social media networks it seems that not only are social media strategies not optimized, they also don’t seem well integrated with the rest of the fan related activities of the club.

A number of clubs, however, are taking things further. They are seeking to get to know their fans on social media platforms better, provide fans with additional engagements opportunities as well as increase the possibilities of communicating with these fans. All of this is based on a focus on using social media as an integrated approach to fan relationships rather than a stand alone “project”.

The most common and simple ways to enhance the engagement with fans are by offering incentives to fans, launch competitions with unique prizes or give fans the possibility to participate in online gaming via social media or other sites. In return, fans are often asked to provide the club with some basic information about themselves (e.g. contact information).

To clubs, the additional information gathered about their fans is vital as it enables them to not only engage with fans and develop the relationship via social media but for example also via email. It also allows them to gain further insight into their fan base, e.g. is the fan a ticket buying fan or does the fan interact with the club in other ways than via social media? In an earlier blog post, I referred to an article about the Boston Celtics, which is a good example of the above mentioned strategy.

Below, a few concrete examples of clubs that have introduced concepts or ideas to further engage with their fans.

Detroit Pistons
Detroit uses the landing page directly to give away tickets. A fan can sign up for a chance to win and is also given the opportunity to sign up for the Detroit Pistons newsletter.

Charlotte Bobcats
On the landing page the fan is encouraged to like the club and offered the opportunity to win a pair of signed Jordan 13 retro shoes. In order to do so, one has to leave contact details with the club.

FC Barcelona
The world’s biggest club on Facebook offers many different ways to get closer connected to the club right from the start when one arrives at their Facebook page. Games, tickets and membership community are just some of the offerings to fans.

There are many ways to engage with fans – in particular via social media. Key to success is to create a win-win situation – only asking fans for information or only providing fans with information will not lead to success. Fans are at the moment very excited to engage with clubs via social media, but the challenge lies with the club; how thought through is the social media approach and how well connected is it with the overall fan relationship strategy? Lots of clubs are currently not only wasting their own time and resources but also missing out on the moment of “engagement opportunity” via social media with the fan. Others are seeking to take advantage of the full potential that social media offers and embracing it as an integrated part of the club’s strategy.

The blog posts here at Loyalsticity traditionally focus on relationships (building) between fans and clubs or fans and sports. A very interesting area, however, when it comes to fan engagement is how short term events engage with fans – in particular before and after the event actually takes place? Today I had the opportunity to sit in on a session at the Global Sports Forum where Dmitry Chernyshenko (President of the Organizing Committee Sochi 2014) presented the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics Games.

The Sochi 2014 is an impressive story with new standards for facilities, volunteer engagement, sponsorship revenue and active participation in sports. An area, where Sochi 2014 is also unique, is in the way it engages with fans. Contrary to clubs and sports overall, an event such as Sochi 2014 is a short term happening (lasting approximately 2 weeks) but that doesn’t stop Sochi 2014 from reaching out and engaging with fans beyond the actual event.

Following the presentation I sat down with Dmitry to ask him some specific questions in relation to this matter.

A deliberate strategy by Sochi 2014 is to embrace new media and having defined the youth of today as the target audience for the event, this certainly seems like a good fit. As Dmitry himself puts it: “Our key target audience is youth and new media is the most powerful channel to reach the youth”. Besides communicating to people via new media Dmitry also sees great benefits in the discussions happening online. He is here not only referring to the hype about the event or positive stories but also referring to any criticism that may be expressed. “Social media is fantastic for all of this and we would rather hear what people have to say up front than to realize it afterwards”.

The recent voting by the public for the official mascots for the games is a good example of how Sochi2014 already now reaches out and engages with people– 3 years before the event! The nationwide voting in February held during a live television broadcast involved people in the event and gave everyone a chance to vote for their favorite mascot. The rest of the world could follow the event online and discuss the various candidates.

As already mentioned, Sochi 2014 is still 3 years away, but there is no doubt that the organizing committee – and Dmitry Chernyshenko himself (@DChernyshenko) – are setting new standards when it comes to Olympic Games organization and embracing new media to engange with fans.

From a CRM and fan engagement perspective, I’ll in the future take a closer look at how different events (e.g. World Championships and other big events) engage – or have engaged – with fans before, during and after the event. My question to you is; which events have been successful in this? Which have not? What does it take to be successful?

The Global Sports Forum in Barcelona is wrapping up its first day. On the official event blog updates and news have been posted which cover the event overall. Here at Loyalsticity, it is now time to take a moment and ask the question: Sport: What’s Next [from a fan relationship perspective]?

Although no presentation today specifically focused on this topic, it was clear that fans and the relationship between sports and fans as well as clubs and fans are fundamental elements to success in sports. Even when it comes to participation in sports, one of the key challenges is to drive up consumption of sports content, which will enhance enthusiasm and lead to increased participation.

Based on today’s presentations by a very impressive list of presentors, two things in particular caught my attention in relation to fan relationships:

The first one is that technology will play an even bigger role in enhancing the sport experience. The growth we are seeing at the moment in new media and engagement possibilities are just the tip of the iceberg. Furthermore, a lot of the focus these days is on the big sports and the big clubs, but technology also offers a unique opportunity for smaller sports to promote themselves, reach new audiences and engage with fans like never before. The opportunities are endless but one thing comes with it; sports, clubs, media institutions and brands will face tougher competition in the future as the fan will have more choice and also be more in control of what he/she wishes to consume.

The above mentioned trend may not come as a surprise, but based on today’s presentations it was certainly confirmed how widespread an impact technology will have on the sport experience in the future.

The second point is one that I find opens up room for discussion. The claim is that sports fans getting exposed to more content than ever including that from different clubs and different sports, could actually mean that the focus of the fan will end up being more narrow!

What is meant by that, is that the enourmous amount of content a club now brings out could “suck” the fan into only consuming the content from a particular club or a particular sport. It is already today possible to fill one’s day with for example Arsenal or FC Bayern content only. News, TV, internet, blogs, forums, social media etc are full of content about each club and some fans swap their general interest in football – or sport overall – in for interest in just one club.

In an earlier blog post I mentioned the “glocal” fan and I must admit that I don’t see the scenario mentioned above as a general one. There will definitely be some fans who will consume “everything” from and about their club, but I think the trend will be more towards that interest and thus fanship will develop from a one-club perspective to involve more clubs (or even more sports). This is not to say that a Liverpool fan will be less of a Liverpool fan, but rather that he/she is likely to also consume content from for example the Spanish league or the NBA.

Do you agree? Do you see the increased amount of content and possibilities drive the focus towards one club or will technology and increased exposure to other content increase fanships to include other clubs and sports?