In February 2021, across the Sport for Business member organisations, engagements rose 30 per cent compared to January 2021, to just over 2.6 million in total. This significant increase was driven by Instagram which saw a 47 per cent jump in engagements compared to the previous month, from just over 1.48 million to 2.17 million on the platform. Instagram accounted for an incredible 83 per cent of all engagements across the three main platforms analysed.
With Golf Ireland now becoming the umbrella organisation for the sport in Ireland, Olytico analysed the performance of 30 members of Sport for Business in February. Collectively, they published over 5,500 posts across Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. The 5,514 posts analysed (a 2 per cent decrease on the previous month) generated 2,608,245 engagements in the form of likes, shares, comments, and retweets.
It is the third month in a row that overall activity across all three of the main platforms fell, with activity at its lowest level since June 2020. Twitter activity was down 7 per cent compared to January and Facebook posts fell 3 per cent compared to the previous month. These decreases were offset in the main however by a 21 per cent increase in activity on Instagram, which resulted in the overall increase in engagements for the month.
In the infographics below, we have ranked each of the organisations across a range of metrics on each network, including the most active, the most engaged, and the most engaging content.
It is important to note that this analysis is based on publicly available data. It does not include any analysis or insight on paid or promoted content.
February 2021 Highlights on Twitter
Over 2,800 tweets were sent by member organisations in February, down 7% from the previous month; however, this was not reflected in the number of engagements which rose slightly by 2% compared to January (196,133 to 199,913 engagements). Twitter’s 51% share of posts reflects the continued importance of the platform; and whilst this share is significant, it is the lowest for the platform since July 2020 and is reflected in a 2% decrease in the overall share of engagement (down from 10% to 8% overall).
Increased activity by Irish Rugby, Horse Racing Ireland and the GAA drove the increase in engagements across the platform in February.
With the return to action in the Guinness Six Nations, Irish Rugby was the most active account on Twitter, their 295 posts across the month represented a 70% increase on January’s 174 posts. Horse Racing Ireland was in second place (a 48% increase in activity from 190 to 282 posts) thanks to the Dublin Racing Festival and Leinster Rugby were in third with 265 posts, despite a 40% fall in activity compared to January.
The GAA (up 6% from 229 to 243 posts), Ladies Football (up 92% from 112 to 215 posts) and the Camogie Association (up 91% from 35 to 67 posts) had an excellent February thanks to the PWC All-Stars announcement, the TG4 Awards and the Volunteer and Media Awards respectively.
Athletics Ireland climbed to 9th place with 161 posts, their highest position since September 2020 largely driven by their coverage of the Irish Life Health Indoor Meet. The staging of the event at the Sport Ireland National Indoor Arena was a success in of itself, and the success continued on tracks across the globe with Irish athletes setting several personal bests and national records ahead of the European Indoor Championships.
In the engagement stakes, there was no change in the top three for the third month in a row, with the FAI (with an average of 577 engagements per post), Irish Rugby (215 per post) and Munster Rugby (92 per post) leading the way. Following their appearance on the Late Late Show, Paralympic Ireland’s average engagement per post jumped nearly 300% as they launched their #nextlevel campaign.
The FAI claimed the top spot for Twitter content engagement in February. Their post remembering the life of Liam Miller who passed away three years ago generated close to 5,000 likes as people paid their respects.
February 2021 Highlights on Facebook
Facebook activity fell for the third month in a row and decreased from January with a relatively small 3% reduction in posts (from 1,755 to 1,701). However, in stark contrast to January’s 43% increase in engagements, February saw a dramatic 30% decrease in Facebook engagements (from 332,729 down to 232,394) the only platform to see a decrease.
It was all change at the top of the Facebook activity charts with the GAA regaining its top spot with 214 posts (an 11% increase on January’s figures), Athletics Ireland in 2nd place re-entered the top three for the first time since August with 162 posts and pipping last month’s top account Leinster Rugby into third (161 posts). Ladies Gaelic Football (with 141 posts) and Horse Racing Ireland (98 posts) rose into 4th and 6th place respectively.
Leinster Rugby (a decrease of 41%), Cricket Ireland (a decrease of 60%) and Ulster Rugby (a decrease of 34%) were the only accounts in the top ten to decrease their output in February – showing how integral live sport and fixtures are for this platform in driving engagements.
Paralympics Ireland increased their Facebook activity by over 300% to 21 posts, their Late Late Show post was their most engaged with content, shared on 29 occasions. Volleyball Ireland increased their output by 54% to 20 posts with their ‘Virtual Volley’ sessions aimed at 11–18-year-olds providing the catalyst.
Irish Rugby retained the top spot for Facebook engagements for the fourth month in a row, the Six Nations responsible for a 41% increase in engagement (from an average of 683 to 964 engagements per post). The FAI climbed from fifth to second place with a 64% increase in average engagements per post (177 to 291). The FAI’s support of James McClean in the wake of online abuse directed at the player generated the most engagements for the account and highlights the depressing trend in recent weeks and months of players and pundits across a number of sports receiving threats and abuse on social media platforms.
Connacht Rugby complete three months in third place (an average of 285 engagements per post) closely followed by Ulster Rugby (257) and Leinster Rugby (210)
Special mentions to Cycling Ireland (up 23% from an average of 57 engagements per post up to 70) and Gymnastics Ireland who more than doubled their engagements per post from 21 to 47 during February thanks largely to the launch of their online Dance Funk Challenge and Fitness Workouts.
Perhaps unsurprisingly it was Irish Rugby’s full-time post after the 48-10 victory against Italy in Rome that took the award for most engaged with Facebook content in February, generating over 4,100 reactions, and 540+ comments and shares.
February 2021 Highlights on Instagram
Instagram saw a 21% increase in posts compared to January, up from 808 to 979 posts and a subsequent 47% increase in engagements from 1.48 million to 2,175, 938 – the platform’s highest figures since November last year. The platform’s share of overall posts increased 4% to 18% and saw its share of engagement rise 9% to 83%, the highest share for both metrics in the past 12 months.
Irish Rugby topped the activity charts with 176 posts (up 76% on January), followed by Leinster Rugby with 94 and Munster Rugby with 90.
The big movers were Athletics Ireland, up to fourth place with 88 posts, and the Ladies Gaelic Football Association in fifth with 79 posts celebrating the success of the season at the TG4 Awards. Lidl’s excellent #SeriousSupport campaign proved to be the account’s most engaged with content, the video has been viewed on more than 6,000 occasions to date generating close to 2,000 interactions (likes and comments).
View this post on Instagram
Irish Rugby completed an excellent month, retaining their top place in the Instagram engagement charts, with an average of 7,364 engagements per post (up 44% on January). This is the highest average engagement figure since August and more than 2,500 higher on average than the FAI in second place, who are themselves up 65% on the previous month with 4,796 average engagements per post.
These two accounts alone account for the overall rise in engagements on the platform for the month. Munster complete the top three with an average of 2,566 engagements per post – their ‘Welcome Back Joey Carberry’ post delighting Munster and Ireland rugby fans and proving to be their most popular with over 12,800 interactions.
View this post on Instagram
Ireland Lacrosse saw their average engagements per post rise 18% to 223 and Special Olympics Ireland saw an impressive 53% increase in their average engagements thanks to their virtual competitions.
The top Instagram post for February illustrates that rugby still is a game for all shapes and sizes as Irish Rugby celebrated debuts for Leinster’s Ryan Baird and Munster’s Craig Casey against Italy. The post with the new caps generated close to 30,000 interactions, and for context this was 8,000 more than the top post for January.
If you would like to be part of the Sport for Business community and be added to the list, email us today and let’s see what is possible. If you would like a more detailed analysis of your social media activity, contact stephen@olytico.com
Sport for Business Partners
