increasing engagement a case study: opta twitter€¦ · antonio valencia (man utd). pass [square]...
TRANSCRIPT
Simon Banoub
Increasing engagement
A case study:Opta Twitter
A bit about Opta
Our Twitter strategy
The tactics we useThe tactics we use
Results and examples
Lessons learned
Prologue/Preamble/Something that dawned on me:
Everyone thinks they have the cutest toddler
So with that in mind....
Throw In. Antonio Valencia (Man Utd).Pass [square] [from x/y to x/y]. Darren Fletcher (Man Utd) to Anderson (Man
Utd)Pass [through ball] [forward] [key pass] [from x/y to x/y] Anderson (Man Utd)
to Dimitar Berbatov (Man Utd)Good skill. Take-on [successful]. Dimitar Berbatov (Man Utd)
Tackle [unsuccessful]. James Collins (West Ham)Pass [square] [from x/y to x/y]. Assist. Dimitar Berbatov (Man Utd)
to Cristiano Ronaldo (Man Utd)to Cristiano Ronaldo (Man Utd)Goal [right footed] [shot] [sliding] [3 yards] [into:bottom right of goal]
Cristiano Ronaldo (Man Utd)Shirt number of scorer. 7
Latest score (2-0) Minute of goal (54th minute)
Over 2,000 actions in every football game in every top league in Europe. Also Rugby Union, Rugby League and Cricket.
Who buys this stuff?
Bookmakers Broadcasters
Brands and sponsorsBrands and sponsorsPrint, online and mobile publishers
Professional clubs
Our marketing challenges
1) A small number of key decision makers
2) Long contracts
and a techie-hassle to change suppliers
3) increasingly commoditised products
data is data, right?
4) small marketing budget
whinge, whinge, whinge
BUT a database of loads of great content
And we know what’s interesting
Why Twitter was a good choice
Our content works beautifully in the format –quirky, regular, highly shareable
A lot of the influencers in our target market use it heavily – and it allows us to chat with them. A lot.
With their permissionWith their permission
We can talk directly to fans, and build our brand in the mind of the end users
It’s cheap
opta
Buyers and
Wow, our
customers
think Opta
content adds
real valueBuyers and influencers
Fans (customers of
our customers)
Wow, Opta
content is
great.
How we approached it
1) we created a set of
individual
characters
Introducing:
The Opta Twitter Family
The daddy:
Opta Joe@optajoe
Tweets about:Tweets about:English football
The little brother:
Opta Jim@optajim
Tweets about:English cricket, rugby and tennis
The exotic foreign cousins:
Opta Jose@optajose
Tweets about:Spanish football
The exotic foreign cousins:
Opta Juan@optajose
Tweets about:Spanish “other sports”
The exotic foreign cousins:
Opta Paulo@optapaulo
Tweets about:Tweets about:Italian football
The exotic foreign cousins:
Opta Jean@optajean
Tweets about:French football
The exotic foreign cousins:
Opta Joao@optajoao
Tweets about:Portuguese football
The exotic foreign cousins:
Opta Jack@optajack
Tweets about:American soccer
(yes, I know....football)
And the Godfather:
Opta Suit@optasuit
Tweets about:Corporate Opta info and news
2) we developed a
unique and
consistent
style
Each and every tweet:
Number →
Fact →Summary word
@OptaJoe:
86.8
Jack Wilshere has completed 86.8% of his passes in the Premier League
this season.Prodigy.
Or:
9
West Ham have won their last 9 FA Cup matches against lower league
teams.Bullies.
Or:
11
In the Premier League this season, Wayne Rooney has conceded 11
fouls, been fouled 11 times and been caught offside 11 times.
Legs.
The parodies - @OptaJoke:
155
The average number of miles Man Utd fans have travelled for today’s
Manchester Derby.M25.
Largely loved but...
8,197
Tweets by @OptaJoe, all probably with an annoying closing 1 word
statement.Unfollow.
3) we are, or try to be, highly responsive
Mark Bright (BBC Sport Presenter)
@optajoe can you confirm that Wigan have not won in London for 17 apps?
@markbrighty That is correct. Wigan are @markbrighty That is correct. Wigan are without a win in their last 17 league trips to London. Homely.
4) we are selective with who and why we ReTweet
5) we do quizzes
@OptaJoe:
Name the player who has scored the most braces in the Premier League without ever having scored a hat-trick.Quiz.
@OptaJean:
Name the 7 players who have scored in a final for Arsenal under Arsene Wenger.Quiz.
6) we do request slots
@OptaJoe:
2pm.The next 60 minutes is REQUEST HOUR. We will answer as many questions from our followers as possible, so tweet your pleasure.
Slave.
Over 500 requests in the hour
Managed to answer 67
Slave.
How it has worked
60,000
10,000
3,000
10,000
1,000
Firstly, the numbers
1,000
5,000
7,000
2,000
2,000
2,000
But it’s not just about the quantity
A selection of industry followers:
A few examples
BBC Sport
The Guardian Football Weekly Podcast
What we’ve learned
1 - Tweet what you promise:
Consistency is key
Meet the expectations I have
when I click “follow”
Segment by type of interest
I’ll forgive the occasional tweet about what you had for
breakfast (if I expected it)
2 – Be human
Answer questions
Listen to what people are saying
and stick your nose inand stick your nose in
Encourage staff to use personal accounts
to come in “via the side door”
3 – Be regular
Try not to let people forget that they are following you
But, conversely, don’t tweet But, conversely, don’t tweet
for the sake of it
4 – Reflected glory can be nice
Selective re-tweeting can help align your brand
with others as you see fit
Or, sssh, take (a bit of) credit for other Or, sssh, take (a bit of) credit for other
people’s content
If you don’t have your own content,
you can be a helpful digital signpost
(people like helpful people)
4 – Share. Don’t Sell.
Twitter will never be a direct response sales tool for
us:
If it isn’t for you – don’t force it, it can still be useful
For us, it contributes at each stage of the buying
process
Thankyou