Sports Fans: From Followers To Customers
What is the task of a sports club website? Make the user get up from the couch, close the laptop and come to the stands. At the same time, he took his wife and children with him. So that they come to support the team in the corporate colors of the club, with paraphernalia. And after the match, they returned to the site to review their favorite moments once again, find out the players’ statistics, and place bets on the next game. And so in a circle.
The site of a sports club is a mechanism for monetizing a show. It takes a bit of magic to make this mechanism work. For example, be able to create unique content from non-unique data.
A sports site should take into account the interests of a wide range of users. In the stands, they look similar, but on the site, they often pursue different goals. Four main types can be distinguished.
Visual: wants to watch photos, likes video highlights. Media content is important to him.
Star Fan: Cheers for a specific player and wants to know everything about him.
An experienced fan: has been a fan of the club for a long time, likes to study club statistics, individual player statistics.
Gambling: uses data to place bets. Meticulously examines the statistics in the period, compares the current season. The last one verifies the results of different clubs with each other, makes predictions.
It is important for the club’s management and sponsors that the site is part of the loyalty program. That increases the involvement of fans in the life of the club. Engaged fans buy more merchandise and attend matches more often. But engagement only happens if the club is working with the information needs of each segment.
Another important point is the integrity of the site and brand at the communication level. Emotionally, value-wise, and visually, the site should be part of the sports brand identity.
How to make fans to visit your website more often
Content
A sports site only lives when the press service generates a lot of content. If the content is interesting, it will delay the user. Due to the content, we can show the fans the life of the club outside the playing field, something that often falls out of sight. For example, the players of HC Avangard with their mascot regularly go to schools, orphanages, sign autographs, play with children. From this, you can make vivid publications for the site.
Not just text
There is a standard set: news, photos, videos. But for the entertainment and retention of the fan, we usually recommend using online services.
1. Sweepstakes, where users make predictions on the score. Moreover, the user can compare his rate with the rates of other fans and compete with them, that is, sports mechanics are involved in the sweepstakes. There are many matches, fans place bets over again. That constantly brings them back to the site. The club awards the most accurate “wang” with prizes or meetings with players.
2. Fan Map, which shows the location of fans around the world. After all, interest in the club extends far beyond the region where it is based. When, for example, a top player from the Czech Republic comes to the club, the Czech Republic begins to follow it, too.
3. Tests and voting. They involve a visitor and can serve as the basis for new content in the future.
4. Video conferencing. It makes the team closer to the readers, allowing them to learn something interesting for themselves. Viewers leave questions for the coach and players on the site in advance.
5. Text online broadcasts of the match, which are conducted by a press officer. Allows users to feel the game even in the absence of video broadcast.
The level of service that a particular sports club can offer to its customers is most evident when providing additional services, such as: informing about upcoming events, targeted merchandise store offers, co-branding loyalty programs, uniform identifiers on all club resources, gamification within the community, and much more.
In a modern club, the central communication system is the CRM system, all other systems serve as data sources, through integration with which a single information space is created. As part of the creation of such an information space, the following automated complexes are most often connected to the CRM system:
- Accounting systems;
- Ticket systems;
- Websites;
- Fans’ accounts;
- Online stores;
- Loyalty programs;
- Access systems (turnstiles, parking lots);
- Electronic document management systems;
- Security service systems;
- Peripheral equipment (photo/video cameras, printers, scanners, devices for printing plastic cards, etc.).
An important decision at the initial stage of automation of a sports club is a decision on choosing a platform for the successful implementation of all tasks. It should be noted that when choosing a platform, it is necessary to be guided by a horizon of at least 5 years.
Important criteria for choosing a platform can be:
- Vendor investments in the platform;
- Availability of certified integrators on the market;
- Availability of ready-made industry solutions for sports clubs;
- Availability of specialists in the labor market;
- Success stories of system implementations in sports clubs.
The site of a sports club is a large and multifactorial mechanism for monetizing a show. The club needs to “infect” the user with the energy of the brand in an amicable way, to share with him the unique emotions experienced by the fans. And then bring him to the match, keep his interest in the life of the club through media materials, news, fan zone with tests and sweepstakes and then draw his attention to the next matches — through mailings and subscriptions to matches. And bring him to the match again and so on in a circle, from season to season.
