In October 2019, the 29 organisations analysed as part of the monthly Sport for Business / Olytico analysis, all members of Sport for Business, published over 7,300 social media posts across Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, a decrease of 3% on September.

In addition, the 7,362 posts analysed generated almost 2.8 million engagements in the form of likes, shares, comments and retweets – maintaining the strong average engagement per post set in September.

In October last year, we were measuring only 21 organisations who produced 5,700 posts but only 830,000 engagements.  Those figures alone, on a pro-rata basis, indicate just how much additional engagement there is 12 months on in this world of social media.

Looking at the GAA as a marker, it’s level of activity was up substantially across all three of the main social media channels.  The number of Facebook posts was up 40 per cent, the number of tweets up 10 per cent and the number of Instagram posts more than doubled on 2018.

Coming back to a comparison of this month over last, activity decreased across all three networks from September levels, but for each network the drop was negligible.

Instagram continues to be the main driver of engagement, with just under 2 million likes and comments generated – representing 71 per cent of the total engagement across all three platforms (down 4 per cent from September).

Facebook saw the biggest increase in engagements from September, with over 140,000 additional engagements, a 43 per cent increase month on month.

Despite the disappointment on the pitch, it was another stellar month for Irish Rugby on social media. For the second month in a row, they topped both the engagement rankings and most-engaged with posts across all three networks.

In August and September, Irish Rugby doubled their average engagement per post on Facebook. In October, it increased yet again, to a record 1,592 engagements per post on average, maintaining their position as the most engaged Facebook page this month.

On all three networks, the same post was the single-biggest driver of engagement. It’s a reflection of the regard with which Rory Best was held that a photo montage marking his retirement from the game generated collectively 139,000 likes, shares, comments and retweets.

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’s important to note that this analysis is based on publicly available data. It doesn’t include any analysis or insight on paid or promoted content.

 

October 2019 Highlights on Twitter


Irish Rugby and the FAI remained the top two in terms of engagement per post on Twitter, but Athletics Ireland continued their rise up the rankings, to break into the top three.
The performance of the Irish team at the World Athletic Championships was the main driver of engagement, but it was one athlete in particular that generated more likes and retweets than any other.
Ciara Mageean’s performance on the track and her interviews off it saw the ‘wee girl from Portaferry’ generate the top-three most engaged with posts for Athletics Ireland in October.
The start of the Super League season saw Basketball Ireland return as the most active organisation on Twitter this month. They were followed in second place by Cricket Ireland, as the Irish team qualified for the T20 World Cup in Australia in 2020.
 

October 2019 Highlights on Facebook

With over 1,500 engagements per post in October on Facebook, Irish Rugby continued to set a new standard on the platform.

Their 107 posts generated an incredible 170,303 engagements in the form of likes, shares and comments – almost 100,000 more than the record they set in September.

To put this number in context, their Rory Best tribute post generated over 42,000 engagements – more than the combined total of 86 Cricket Ireland posts, who ranked second in the engagement stakes in October.

The GAA remained the most active organisation on Facebook in October, with Team Ireland Equestrian closing the gap in second place with over 190 posts in the month.

 

October 2019 Highlights on Instagram


Irish Rugby’s clean sweep was completed by their performance on Instagram in October.
Although their level of activity dropped by 12 per cent compared to September generating 68 posts, they produced over 12,500 likes or comments on average over the course of the month – an 18 per cent increase month on month.
The FAI and GAA ranked second and third, followed by the four Irish provincial rugby teams.
Of note was the Camogie Association, who were next in the rankings. Each of their 11 posts in October generated almost 1,200 engagements, suggesting a sustained appetite for content from Camogie fans, despite the Championship ending in September. The Liberty Insurance All-Star trip to New York in November should provide the association with an excellent opportunity to meet this demand.

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, Olytico and Twitter hosted the best part of 150 professionals from across the Sport for Business network last month at our first Irish Sport on Social Media Conference.  The feedback was great and we are certainly looking at making this into an annual event.  You can see a short highlights reel from the day below.
We will also be starting a short series highlighting the work of some of our Social Media Mavens across our sports and business membership in December.  
Get in touch with us today if you would like to be part of this.  
Those that we feature will come together for a springtime Members Round Table looking to encourage even greater excellence in what we do.