Connecting Your Audience to the Sport

Guest Post: David Johnson is Commercial Director at Skylab. David has vast experience as a digital video content strategist, and as a broadcast manager for the 2004 Olympic Games, two FIFA World Cups, two UEFA Euros, and a UEFA Champions League Final. He is also an award-winning creative director/producer.

How many people walk through the doors to a sports venue each time there’s a major event, is it hundreds? Thousands? Tens of thousands, perhaps? The possibility of connecting with each  and every of them and deliver tailor made content directly to them has never been more real thanks to the continually and rapidly developing digital landscape.

No matter the size of a sporting arena, venue owners should always be looking at improving the experience that their patrons have each time they visit, while keeping in mind that they are a business and each seat filled means revenue.

Marrying the two ideals can be done with a forward-thinking mindset, by providing an engaging and socially-orientated experience for fans that they cannot achieve in the comfort of their own home, so they are encouraged to attend the venue.

As the UK looks towards mainstream m-commerce with areas increasingly adopting 4G, it will become easier to create an interaction between the customer and the venue, particularly as Wi-Fi becomes more freely available in public places. This is essential in order to create a dialogue between the customer and the venue, with the stadium providing unique information through apps which in turn encourages guests to share their views and experiences, encouraging those of similar demographics to gather together.

Through this medium, clubs have the opportunity to tailor content to their supporters, bringing them closer to the action and providing a channel for them to interact with the players. Smartphones can act as ‘proximity sensors’, reacting to a users location and triggering a personalised treatment when the device enters a particular place.

When paired with clickable, ‘buy now’ technology, apps and notifications of sporting news creates an opportunity for advertising and sponsorship activity and awareness, and provides a chance to sell products to an engaged audience before and after a live event, such as location-specific deals on restaurants or venue discounts. Not only this but it could also lead to increased sales of tickets as fans log into the app or are notified of a team win, and make impulse purchases of tickets to the next match or merchandise.

Sports clubs and associations have the ability to track the buying patterns of their customers through data mining. This can help to provide a better understanding of the popularity of products or services which is essential to strategising how to drive fans to particular events or to try out new products, particularly when people are increasingly socialising with others who associate themselves with the same brand or club.

They must therefore adapt and create an environment that draws supporters together to engross them in the culture of the sport, building loyalty. Technology ensures that fans engage on their way to an event, as they travel home and in post game events.

Clubs, venues and associations must harness the power of mobile technology not just as a retail channel but as a channel direct to the customer that can provide a richer and more personalised user experience that will keep them up to date with news, and provide exclusive content and opportunities. Engaging in the brand and accepting it as a social gateway is the way for forward-thinking clubs to maximising revenue and grow their market through their digital assets.

 

About author

Daniel McLaren
Daniel McLaren 820 posts

Dan is the Founder & CEO of Digital Sport. Can be found at sports industry events and heard every week on the Digital Sport Insider podcast. @DanielMcLaren

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