November is traditionally a strong month on social media for the Sports for Business member organisations, usually driven by the interest around and performance of the Men’s National rugby team in the Autumn Nations Series. November 2022 proved to be no different, and whilst the 8,133 posts was an 18 percent decrease on October, these posts resulted in over 4.4 million engagements (+59 percent).

A similar pattern of a reduction in activity but a significant lift in engagement was evident in 2021.  The number of engagements in 2020 was 2.98 million, and the year before, the last pre-covid was 2.2 million.

This increase in engagements was fuelled by outstanding performances on Instagram, and with a number of sporting successes to celebrate including Rhys McClenaghan’s World Championship win,  strong performances from the Men’s and Women’s cricket teams, the Men’s Hockey team, a clean sweep for the Irish Men’s Rugby team along with two World Player of the Year Awards it’s not hard to see why.

It is also worth noting that the most active accounts on Twitter and Facebook were the Ladies Football and Ladies Gaelic Football accounts respectively; and with the Ladies Gaelic Football account also in second for Instagram output, the demand for, and delivery of content for Irish Women’s sport is one of the key takeaways and positive trends for 2022.

In the infographics and commentary below, we have ranked each of the organisations across a range of metrics on each network, including the most active, the most engaged with, and the most engaging content as well as engagements per 1,000 followers.

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.

 

November 2022 Highlights on Twitter

 

 

Activity on Twitter fell during November, with 4,325 tweets a 22 percent decrease on October. Engagements on the platform increased by one per cent to 386,182.

Activity from seven out of the top ten accounts fell in November, with only the Ladies Football account, Irish Rugby and Ireland’s Women’s Cricket seeing an increase in output.

The Ladies Football account topped the activity charts, their 468 posts a 29 percent increase on October as they crowned Niamh McLaughlin of Donegal the TG4 Senior Player’s Player of the Year (link).

 


In second, the SSE Airtricity League (298, -51 percent) saw Derry City lift the Extra.ie FAI Cup for the sixth time in their history, and in third Irish Rugby (282, +75%) celebrated the Men’s victory over the Springboks.

Special mentions to the Irish Women’s Cricket account (258, +706 percent) as they toured Pakistan, making history in the process with their first overseas series victory.

 


Gymnastics Ireland (65, +132 percent) celebrated Rhys McClenaghan winning Gold on the pommel horse at the 2022 World Gymnastics Championships in Liverpool and IWA-Sport congratulated medallists Stephen Bradley and Ella Sherlock.

Cricket Ireland topped the engagement charts with an average of 422 engagements per tweet, up 69 percent on the previous month as they became the first team to take more than one Men’s T20 World Cup hat-trick.

 


In second, Irish Rugby (410, +183 percent) celebrated a double as Josh van der Flier was crowned World Rugby Men’s XV Player of the Year and Terry Kennedy as the World Rugby Men’s 7s Player of the Year. In third, the FAI (192, -58 percent) thanked sponsor Aviva for their part in surprising Emmie on the Late Late Toy Show by providing a trip to Australia for the Women’s World Cup next year.

 


Munster Rugby (119, +78 percent) claimed victory over a South African Select XV at Páirc Uí Chaoimh, the Women’s National League (73, +103 percent) announced the introduction of professional contracts for players from the 2023 season  and Hockey Ireland (13, +63 percent) reported on success for the Men’s team in South Africa.

A successful month for the Cricket Ireland accounts as Ireland Women’s cricket topped the ‘average engagements per 1,000 followers’ metrics with an average of 1,255 engagements, a whopping 760 percent increase on their previous month’s output, and based on public engagements Cricket Ireland provided the top content for November as they thanked fans for their support during the Men’s T20 World Cup.

 

November 2022 Highlights on Facebook

 

 

Facebook activity fell 12 percent from the previous month to 2,582 posts, however, engagements rose by three percent to 841,850.

The Ladies Gaelic Football account topped the activity charts for the first time since July with 365 posts, a 27 percent increase on October’s output. Their top content for the month featured Donaghmoyne’s Caitriona McConnell and her incredible weekend which included getting married and winning an All-Ireland Semi-Final the next day.

 


In second, Athletics Ireland (166, +98 percent) crowned Ciara Mageean as Athlete of the Year and in third, Leinster (159, -19 percent) celebrated Josh van der Flier’s World Rugby accolade.

Special mention to Badminton Ireland (114, +68 percent) as their U13 Irish Team finished second in the Team Event at the Swedish Youth Games and took silver medals.

Irish Rugby topped the engagement charts with an average of 3,768 engagements per post, a 279 percent increase on the previous month. Cricket Ireland (1,965, +109 percent) followed in second and the Northern Ireland National Team (650, -14 percent) took third.

The BKT URC (443, +58 percent) congratulated Hollie Davidson as she was appointed to referee the Rugby World Cup 2021 Final, and in the process became the first female match official to take charge of both Rugby World Cup 7s & XVs Finals.


Triathlon Ireland (113, +88 percent) celebrated three golds for their Age Group Athletes at the Abu Dhabi World Championships, and Camogie (97, +169 percent) announced the 2022 PwC Camogie All-Stars.

With an average of 1,235 engagements per 1,000 followers, and an increase of over 1000 percent on October, Gymnastics Ireland topped this metric, with Badminton Ireland (603) and the League of Ireland (558) in second and third, respectively.

Top Facebook content for November came from Cricket Ireland, a post from the Women’s tour to Pakistan generated over 100,000 engagements and illustrates the huge interest in Cricket on the sub-continent.

 

November 2022 Highlights on Instagram

 

 

Instagram activity fell 15 percent compared to October to 1,226 posts; however, 31 of the Sport for Business member organisations increased their average engagements per post in November which resulted in an overall 102 percent increase in engagements to 3.175 million.

For the fifth month in a row, the League of Ireland topped the activity charts, however their 149 posts were a 56 percent decrease on October’s output, with their top post coming from the FAI Cup Final (link).

 

 

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A post shared by League of Ireland (@leagueofireland)


The Ladies Gaelic Football Association in second (112, +40 percent) announced their TG4 LGFA All-Stars Team which featured 6 players from Meath, 5 from Kerry, 2 from Mayo and 1 each from Armagh and Donegal. In third, Irish Rugby (91, +133 percent) celebrated Conor Murray’s 100th cap.

Special mentions to Team Ireland (11, +57 percent) as they congratulated Rhys McClenaghan on his World Championship win.

Irish Rugby retained their top spot in the Instagram engagement table with an average of 10,923 engagements per post, a 190% increase on the previous month. The FAI (3,855, -9 percent) finished in second, and in third Dublin GAA (3,137, +73 percent) launched their new jersey.

The League of Ireland topped the ‘Average Engagements per 1,000 followers’ table with 3,067, a 21 percent decrease on their performance last month. Athletics Ireland (2,614, +227 percent) finished in second, with Irish Rugby (2,111, +459 percent) in third.

 

The top Instagram content for November came from the IRFU as they celebrated Josh van der Flier’s World Rugby Player of the Year award. The post has generated close to 41,000 public engagements to date.

 

 

November 2022 Engagement Per 1,000 Followers

 

 

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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