Social Media Follower Segments and Fan Engagement: case Finnish Ice Hockey League
Pulli, Juuso (2023)
2023
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2023060521674
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2023060521674
Tiivistelmä
The increasing role of social media in the sports industry has transformed the way how sports organizations engage with their fans. Knowing and understanding fans and segmenting them is essential for sports organizations. Having accurate data on the fans is necessary to gain engage fans effectively.
Finnish Ice Hockey League, Liiga, has commissioned the research. The research problem of the study was to identify Liiga’s social media followers and to improve fan engagement. By researching the followers, it is possible to understand and recognize better the fans and followers with the ability to segment them. The research was implemented using a quantitative research approach. Totally 1075 responses were collected from the followers of Liiga’s social media channels. After data collection, the results were analyzed and presented.
The findings showed that typical followers of Liiga’s social media channels are regularly attending Liiga games and watching Liiga via CMore. They are actively spending time on social media and following Liiga on various social media channels. They are identifying themselves strongly as Liiga fans but are considered passive followers. By analyzing the responses of all followers, the following segments and fan profiles were identified: age segments, single household segment, broadcasting segment, Liiga’s social media channels segments, content creators, fantasy hockey players, social followers, die-hard fans, and memes and humor seekers.
After collecting and analyzing the results of the different segments, suggestions to improve Liiga’s fan engagement were formed. Liiga can engage fans better on social media by producing high-quality content for different segments on different channels, communicating and interacting with fans directly through social media, encouraging fans to create and share Liiga-related content, adapting to new trends, and developing creative ways to create emotional connections with its fans.
As a conclusion of the study, understanding social media followers and analyzing data with high-quality are crucial to identify different segments to improve fan engagement on social media. Creating additional value for followers is necessary to keep them loyal and engaged. By keeping followers engaged, it is necessary to know what they want to consume, where they want to consume, and how they want to consume.
Finnish Ice Hockey League, Liiga, has commissioned the research. The research problem of the study was to identify Liiga’s social media followers and to improve fan engagement. By researching the followers, it is possible to understand and recognize better the fans and followers with the ability to segment them. The research was implemented using a quantitative research approach. Totally 1075 responses were collected from the followers of Liiga’s social media channels. After data collection, the results were analyzed and presented.
The findings showed that typical followers of Liiga’s social media channels are regularly attending Liiga games and watching Liiga via CMore. They are actively spending time on social media and following Liiga on various social media channels. They are identifying themselves strongly as Liiga fans but are considered passive followers. By analyzing the responses of all followers, the following segments and fan profiles were identified: age segments, single household segment, broadcasting segment, Liiga’s social media channels segments, content creators, fantasy hockey players, social followers, die-hard fans, and memes and humor seekers.
After collecting and analyzing the results of the different segments, suggestions to improve Liiga’s fan engagement were formed. Liiga can engage fans better on social media by producing high-quality content for different segments on different channels, communicating and interacting with fans directly through social media, encouraging fans to create and share Liiga-related content, adapting to new trends, and developing creative ways to create emotional connections with its fans.
As a conclusion of the study, understanding social media followers and analyzing data with high-quality are crucial to identify different segments to improve fan engagement on social media. Creating additional value for followers is necessary to keep them loyal and engaged. By keeping followers engaged, it is necessary to know what they want to consume, where they want to consume, and how they want to consume.