Welcome to our Irish Sport Social Media Report for March 2018. In this report for Sport for Business, Sportego looks at how active our Irish Sporting organisations were in the past month, the social platforms used and the engagement achieved.

The total Irish sport social following for our 25 sporting bodies across Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, and now Pinterest stands at 4.54m, up by 800k in the past month, representing a 1.8% increase. The addition of Pinterest has had little effect on the increase as it is an emerging platform for our organisations, but it will be interesting to see how a social network more associated with DIY ideas is utilised in the coming months for sports.

Irish Rugby unsurprisingly saw a big increase in their following, with the men’s Grand Slam triumph driving some terrific content over the past month.

When it comes to popularity, images of national team players celebrating victory have only kitten and baby pictures as their social media rivals. An image posted to Instagram of the players celebrating in the dressing room received almost 50,000 likes and had an engagement rate of 20 percent. Well done to all at the IRFU for their fantastic achievement in this years Six Nations Tournament, and the way they enabled it to be shared through social media.

In March, the GAA again topped the charts in terms of output with over 1,000 posts, although focusing primarily on Twitter and Facebook with very little Instagram.

Basketball Ireland is again the second most prolific social media team in Ireland, with a 40 percent increase in their posts.

A hearty congratulations are in order for the Basketballers as they scooped the best Fan Engagement Award at Sportego’s Fan Engagement Conference in the Aviva Stadium last month.

They beat out last year’s winners the FAI, and also Gymnastics Ireland to win the award, presented by Olympian Colin Jackson.

The IRFU were best for Cross-Channel Engagement for a third consecutive month. With a 1.24m engagement total, they far outstrip the second-placed FAI.

We expect to see the gap narrowing in the coming months, after what was a particularly busy period for Irish Rugby. Engagement increased for most bodies in March, with only really Cycling Ireland, Golfnet, Tennis Ireland and Sailing Ireland having a quiet month.

The sporting calendar is a cyclical one, and rises/falls in the amount of content are to be expected. What is more relevant is the engagement rate of those posts, and it is in this area that organisations strive for consistency.

In March, Irish sporting bodies created a daily average of 9.91 social posts, with Twitter enjoying 63% of the attention, Facebook 29% and Instagram down to only 8%. That is a little disappointing as Instagram had finally broken the 10% mark but hopefully the trend towards that platform will continue in the coming months.

We can see that Instagram provided engagement at a rate of 4.13% per post, far outstripping the alternative networks. The IRFU owes 63.7% of its engagement total to their Instagram posts, which only constitutes 16% of its total content. The FAI puts 15% of its total social content on Instagram, but that accounts for 75% of its overall engagement.

Irish Rugby dominates the potential eyeballs on Twitter this past month as you would expect, with a massive 265m.

There were a total of nine Irish sporting organisations with a potential reach of more than 1 million people in March.

Sport for Business was the 10th placed organisation, with an impressive 858k potential reach, an excellent achievement for an account with 8.16k followers. Well done to Rob and the team.

More often than not, many of the top mentioners are from the usual sources; international governing bodies and news organisations. However, this month there are many unusual entries in our top mentioners for Irish sport.

Musician Niall Horan, author JK Rowling, comedian John Bishop and Sheamus of WWE fame, are only four of an eclectic mix who got involved in the Irish Rugby success in March, tagging the official account. Proof of the widespread appeal of sport to bring the world together.

This report and insight were produced exclusively for Sport for Business by Sportego. They work with sporting organisations to gain insights from their social media presence and also to optimise and benefit from their data. Check them out at Sportego.ie or get in touch @WeAreSportego on Twitter.

 

 

Join us for a series of special Help for What Matters roadshows in Belfast, Galway, Limerick, Cork and Dublin in the coming weeks.  Learn what can help your club excel in sponsorship, fundraising, grant application, finance and meet Ireland legend Alan Quinlan.

 

Admission is free but registratioin is essential.  Secure your place at one of our five venues right here.

 

Sign up today for our free daily news digest covering the commercial world of sport or discover the benefits of becoming a full member alongside the many leading organisations whom we serve.