KAWO, a social media management tool that helps businesses repurpose and automate existing social media content onto Chinese channels like Weibo and WeChat, has officially launched a specialized page targeting the sports industry to deliver Chinese social media to their clients.

Although the sports market in China is taking off, with particular growth in sport leagues like the NFL and UFC, since key social media channels like Facebook and Twitter are blocked, it’s difficult for athletes, teams, leagues, and agencies around the world to tap into the huge spending power of Chinese sports fans and maximize exposure to commercial opportunities.

Founded by Australian entrepreneur Andrew Collins, the Shanghai-based social media agency gives brands digital access to over 600 million people by automatically pulling their existing Facebook and Twitter content onto a central dashboard, where moderators translate and then push it via KAWO directly on a brand’s Chinese social network accounts.

Benefits include;

• Transparency: A single dashboard gives brands complete control and an overview of all their networks, as well as athletes, teams, or leagues.
• Exclusive Sports Insight: Includes case studies, resources, and materials to sell social media with a punch.
• Protection: The system is supported by KAWO Protect, a system with a blend of automated flagging and experienced human moderation, that screens potentially sensitive content for the Chinese market.
• Competitor Intelligence: Keep track of competitive fan accounts, engagement, trending posts and measure your performance against theirs.

The International Federation of Volleyball (FIVB) is an association who have been one of the first to use the new platform;

“Thanks to KAWO, Chinese fans can connect with us on social media, and the FIVB is well on its way to achieving its social media mission to be the sport’s official commentator, form relationships with fans, influence behavior and engage an audience to bring the spectacular sport of volleyball to China.”

With brands, teams, associations and athletes all looking at ways in which they can access most easily this huge sports market, this could be a step in the right direction for some. It is an unknown market to many but the recognition at the top end of it’s importance means that agencies such as KAWO are positioning themselves in the right place and at the right time.

They are already being used by the likes of Manchester United, International Table Tennis Federation, Liverpool FC and Mercedes AMG.