With notable Irish success at the Olympics and Paralympics to enjoy, and over 9,000 posts analysed, generating close to 2.7 million engagements, August’s report is a celebration of the positive developments seen across Irish sport.

Olytico analysed the performance of 32 members of Sport for Business in August. Collectively, they published 9,411 posts across Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram generating 2,699,509 engagements in the form of likes, shares, comments, and retweets. Both numbers are down on July but one third and 50 per cent ahead of where we were 12 months ago, and indeed in 2019.

There were 5,120 posts on Twitter, versus 3,500 in 2020, and it is a similar story across the other platforms.

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. When % figures are used (unless otherwise stated), they refer to the previous month’s figures.

 

August 2021 Highlights on Twitter

 

 

Over 5,000 tweets were sent by member organisations in August, an 18% decrease on the previous month (from 6,239 to 5,120) which led to a 23% decrease in engagements for the platform (from 497,659 to 381,437).

The decrease in activity on the platform can be explained via the absence of the five main Rugby accounts from the top ten; traditional drivers of volume and content, the quiet off-season period has directly led to the overall decrease. For context, it is the first time since Olytico have been providing the analysis, that a rugby account has not been in the top ten for the Twitter activity charts.

The Ladies Football account topped the activity charts with 789 posts, with the GAA in second and Cycling Ireland in third.

It is the first time Cycling Ireland have entered the top 3 (their previous best being 10th in April 2021), and this is thanks to their updates on the #paracycling from Tokyo and the U23 European Track Championships. Lara Gillespie’s silver medal from the track championships provided Cycling Ireland with their most engaged with content for August.

Special mentions to Vision Sports Ireland (49, +206 per cent) in 23rd,  their highest placing to date, as they launched their new rugby programme for future coaches and volunteers in conjunction with the IRFU; and the Camogie Association (166, +148 per cent), their most liked tweet for August featuring Cork’s semi-final win over reigning champions Kilkenny.

 

 

In the engagement table, Team Ireland, thanks to the team’s performances in Tokyo, topped the podium for the first time with an average of 409 engagements per post and they were joined by the FAI and Paralympics Ireland in second and third respectively.

The FAI’s most engaged with tweet announced equal pay for the men’s and women’s teams ahead of their World Cup qualifiers, and Paralympics Ireland’s top tweet celebrated Ellen Keane’s gold medal in the SB8 100 Breaststroke.

Gymnastics Ireland in 5th rose to their highest ever position, surpassing their 8th place in April 2021 as they marked Rhys McClenaghan’s 7th place in Tokyo.

The most engaged with Twitter content for August came from Team Ireland, celebrating Kellie Harrington’s Olympic gold medal, the tweet generating over 14,000 public engagements. Harrington’s Olympic journey dominated the top four tweets for Team Ireland during this time

 

August 2021 Highlights on Facebook

 

 

Facebook activity decreased 14 per cent in August (from 3,194 to 2,756 posts), and the platform saw a subsequent 24 per cent decrease in engagements (from 836,519 to 636,021); however, and for context, the 630,000+ engagement total for August 2021 is still the second-highest ever for the platform.

For the second month in a row, the GAA with 290 posts topped the activity charts and they were joined in the top three by Horse Sport Ireland (+19 per cent, 224) and Basketball Ireland (+23 per cent, 214) who both equalled their highest ever placings.

Horse Sport Ireland’s previous highest output came in March 2020 (177 posts) and August 2021’s content was driven by updates from Tokyo, with their top post celebrating the qualification of three Irish riders for the Olympic Show Jumping Final.

 

As they celebrated the launch of their new brand, Basketball Ireland had a number of reasons to celebrate on the court, as they kept fans up to date with all the action from the FIBA European Challengers.

Olympic accounts dominated the top three in the engagement stakes as Gymnastics Ireland (average of 1,595 engagements per post) held off Team Ireland (1,176) and Paralympics Ireland (941).

Swim Ireland in 6th  (+13 per cent, 311) finished in their highest ever position, their top content being an interview with Ellen Keane reflecting on her gold medal swim; and following their loss to Mayo, Dublin GAA (+50 per cent, 282) thanked their group of players for six years of success.

Pentathlon Ireland (+150 per cent, 83) celebrated Natalya Coyle’s start to the Olympics and Golf Ireland (+43 per cent, 32) congratulated Leona Maguire on becoming the first player from Ireland to compete in the Solheim Cup.

It was the Paralympics Ireland account that provided the most engaged with post on the platform throughout August. Their post looking forward to the Paralympics and featuring Ellen Keane generated an incredible 46,000+ reactions

 

 

August 2021 Highlights on Instagram

 

 

Instagram saw a 5 per cent decrease in posts (1,614 to 1,535) and a subsequent 35 per cent decrease in engagements from July’s record-breaking month (2,605,452 to 1,682,052).

Basketball Ireland finished the month on top of the Instagram activity standings (+38 per cent, 198) as they celebrated winning the FIBA European Championship for Small Countries, after a 97-66 victory over Malta (link).

Paralympics Ireland finished in second (+578 per cent, 156) and Cricket Ireland finished in third (-4 per cent, 99).

Cycling Ireland in fifth (+116 per cent, 93) completed an impressive month on social as Katie-George Dunlevy and Eve McCrystal claimed Paralympic Silver in the B 3000m Individual Pursuit .

For the second month in a row, the GAA topped the overall engagement charts (av. of 6,493 engagements per post, +1 per cent) keeping the FAI in 2nd (3,985, -30 per cent) and Dublin GAA in 3rd (3,404, +70 per cent).

The most engaged with Instagram post for July came from the GAA as Mayo beat Dublin in the GAA All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Semi-Final . Diarmuid O’Connor’s hard work to set up Kevin McLoughlin to score for Mayo generated over 25,000 interactions in the form of likes and comments.

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Following on from the reaction to our recent follow up on the Indeed campaign with Olympics Ireland we would like to feature another campaign over the coming weeks.  Would you like that to be yours? Get in touch with rob@sportforbusiness.com and lets have a chat.

 

 

 

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

 

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