15 for ‘15

Digital Sports Marketing Trends

for 2015

@AdamDiDa ’s

More at: http://adamdida.wordpress.com

EVEN MORE MOBILE

The average iPhone user only spends 45% of his

on-device time making voice calls.

For 2020 it will be 7.6 million people on Earth and 7.8 million

smartphones (and more than 50 millions of connected devices)*.

Mobile was trend in 2014 and remains in 2015. Google has started to rank “mobile usability as relevant for optimal search results”, a fully responsive website, mobile ads, and separate content specifically for mobile website users is needed to be ‘in the vague’.

*according to PwC

Create and manage a community, start with Social Media to convert followers and Likes into afanbase. Gaming, membership, discounts or exclusive content, whatever that offers added valueto users can convince them to join.

Don’t forget to be always reachable, the ‘always on’ generation demands immediate response.Maybe your communications office has to be at different places at the same time…

Email marketing will reconquer a privileged place in marketing and communications.

SOCIAL MEDIA ADVERTISINGEven with Forrester saying “stop making Facebook the center of your relations marketing effort”, the change in their algorithm will push brands to invest more money in native advertising.

Content marketing is the new SEO. Marks will be increasingly willing to invest in mobile content,including creating short-form content that’s easily readable on mobile devices, understandingtheir audience’s mobile habits and putting more emphasis on video and visual content that’seasily consumed via mobile.

ONTENT IS KING

Storytelling is fine, but the stories brands tell must reflect real brandvalues and category realities, and meet consumers’ ‘believability’criteria, otherwise marketers will entertain rather than engage.A good story is not enough and not everybody is a good storyteller,stories and storytellers flows.Put the feet on the ground, interact with clients and consumers, actlike a journalist and find the better stories to share.

HUMANIZE YOUR BRAND

Market leaders are athletes, not brands, clubs or sponsors. People want to interact with people,that’s why Cristiano Ronaldo is more followed than Manchester United and Chelsea combined. Ifclubs, competitions, sponsors and brands spends more money in generating content, whyathletes are in the top of the mountain?

It’s easy for users to reflect in people than in brands, so humanize the brand: offer a morepersonal point of view, interact, make jokes, show the bloopers, admit errors, apologize (ifnecessary), treat your fans like people. SM stimulate to count followers just as a number, butbeyond this they are still persons.

In phones, tablets, computers or SmartTV video content is king. Wherever you see video it’s there, and will be even more predominant. Lets see some figures:

33% of table owners watch 1 hour a day of video in their devices

52% of MK professionals name video as the best ROI content

65% of video viewers watch more than 2/3 of a video

74% of Internet traffic in 2017 will be video

93% of marketers use video for online marketing, sales or communication

VIDEO IS EVERYWHERE

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Commonly those whose birth years range from the early 1980s to the early 2000s.

Selfish, self-centered, greedy, lazy, hyper connected, lonely… it’s difficult to describewhat Millennials are, and that’s why Babyboomers fail to connect with them.

Best way to do it? Being a Millennial, so if you’re not, hire one (or more) of us andconversation will flow. In addition we are gone a fight with you to change all theorganization. If you are not prepared to change paradigm just do nothing. At the end ofthe day, the future is ours so, come with us or you will stay at the cavern and slowlydying.

Lots of organizations are falling in their battle against Vine tying to protect their content, mostlyfootball leagues trying to block highlights captures of games.

Vine and Twitter are immediate and whatever legal strategy (request the platform or users toremove the content) will fail or at least, success will be delayed.

Learn how to use platforms like this for your benefit, as you have already done with otherplatforms like Youtube, it’s impossible to fight against them. The best option is to offer qualityand exclusive content that engage users. Try it. Who knows, maybe it’s another way to makemoney in the future…

INVEST IN A SOCIAL MEDIA TEAM

Without the correct people (numerous, talented, passionate…) it’s impossible to reachyour goals. Hire native users with strategic vision, curious and motivated individuals,teamworkers, arriving from unusual backgrounds (artist, mathematics, psychologist,athletes…) can bring you fresh eyes, new ideas and adapt their talents to yourogranization.

Give them the budget and tools necessary, freedom and responsibility, have faith, pushtheir imagination and creativity, risk, pay them what corresponds (I don’t know how much

money is but sure is not an internship salary), offer payee free time to do ‘out of office’‘out of office’ activities, involve them in the organization, listen to their ideas… Lovethem!

Arsenal FC have more people working in their Social Media team than CNN in theirs

On Stadium APP’s

Stadiums are adopting new sponsored names and new uses toincrease the incomes. New types of stadiums with newconsumers, demands a new type of APP’s.

All clubs, brands, competitions or sponsors have their APP’s butthe facility has their own life besides the club day-to-day.Restaurants, conferences, meeting rooms, media presentations,one day events, music shows… that’s why facilities like theLevi’s Stadium, the brand new home for NFL’s San Francisco49ers, has their own APP.

Maps, parking, food & beverage, buying tickets or merchandise,view live TV or radio coverage… possibilities are enormous!

Manchester City has launched a Matchday App, speciallydesigned for those who are at Etihad Stadium watching livematch.

Marketing data

Data for marketing is more available than ever. It’s easier to understandthe cost per acquisition of a new customer and tie down marketing spendto see what’s driving profitability.

The adoption of marketing automation technology is expected to doublethis year.

CMOs report they spend 8% of their marketing budget in analytic toolsand expect to increase the level in the next 3 years.

Spending on analytics will increase a 60% in 2015.

FANTASY LEAGUES

Real Madrid fans cheering for another Neymar assist, Cityzensjumping around for a clean sheet by Courtois or tifossi fromJuventus clapping for a Totti’s goal. That’s what Fantasy Leaguesallow huge fans to do without any regret from peers.

Following the second screen and the gamification trends, fantasyleagues offers a vast range of possibilities for sponsors, clubs,leagues or brands to engage with consumers. This is growing inother sports as well.

Connect with the Millenials, offer an online/offline experience,attracts attention to all matches, improve the awareness andrecognition of players, clubs and brands, acquire a hugedatabase… is the perfect platform to engage the target peopleeverybody around sport wants to engage.

“There’s just a little more to do to have footballbecoming maybe not the No. 1 but the No. 2the No. 2 sport in the US’’

FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke

“But it’s not telegenic, doesn’t have commercialbreaks and the lion’s share of the game isplayed when it’s impossible to score. The game— as beautiful as it may be — isn’t appealingto the way Americans consume pro sports. Andwe’re used to having the top league in oursports. In soccer they don’t.”The Wall Street Journal

THE PROMISE LAND

Facts & Figures:

- The 200,000 tickets sold in the US marked the biggest contingent of fans from any country,other than the hosts.

- The ratings for the USNMT at the Brazil’14 World Cup were stellar, with 24 million watchingthe United States’ tie against Portugal and 24.5 million during the loss to Belgium. Forperspective, the NBA Finals averaged 15.5 million, last year’s World Series 14.9 million .

- MLS average attendance growth from 16.675 in 2010 to 19.100 in 2014 to surpass both theNBA and NHL. But MLS ratings are even worse than the WNBA.

“An average of 141,000 viewerstuned in to MLS telecasts, a 26%increase over last season.”The Wall Street Journal

Quora, Apple’s Ping, Foursquare or even Google+, lots of brands andorganizations was failed spending money trying to launch “the next big thing”,even gigantic Google failed more than one time with social media platforms,but his mantra can be this “try, fail & move on”.

Yes, analyzing why something has failed is important to ensure yourself not tofail again, but nowadays the time moves fast so and reasons for failure are sodiverse and unaccountable that maybe you just can’t avoid failure. Then, acceptand move on, try again.

Microsoft, Google or Facebook, one on three will not survive in next decade.Challenges for digital business are enormous, and the plasticity and ability toadapt new environments and changing paradigms is in the core of thiscompanies. Adapt yourself and you organization for a permanent movingframe, keep yourself fresh and never stop moving. Don’t be afraid to failbecause doing nothing is the best way to fail.

Thank you

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@AdamDiDa

More at: http://adamdida.wordpress.com