In September 2019, the 29 organisations analysed as part of the monthly Sport for Business / Olytico analysis, all members of Sport for Business, published over 7,800 social media posts across Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. That was an increase of 12 per cent on August with a strong shift towards Twitter.
In addition, the 7,857 posts analysed generated almost 2.8 million engagements in the form of likes, shares, comments and retweets – an incredible 75 per cent increase on the average engagement per post in August.
Activity decreased on both Facebook and Instagram from August levels, but there was a dramatic increase in Twitter activity.
Facebook experienced the biggest drop, with 25 per cent fewer tweets than in August. This was followed by a minor decrease on Instagram, with 3 per cent fewer posts in September. However, on Twitter, the 29 organisations published 4,724 tweets in September – an 88 per cent increase month on month.
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Instagram continues to be the main driver of engagement, with over 2 million likes and comments generated – representing 75 per cent of the total engagement across all three platforms (up 1 per cent from August).
Instagram saw the biggest increase in engagements from August, with over 800,000 additional engagements in September.
The Rugby World Cup had the single biggest impact on engagement figures, and Irish Rugby topped both the engagement rankings and most-engaged with posts across all three networks in September.
Unusually, all three pieces of content were from different games.
In August, Irish Rugby almost doubled their average engagement per post on Facebook. In September, it more than doubled again, to a record 1,000 engagements per post on average, maintaining their position as the most engaged Facebook page this month.
Their post celebrating the win against Scotland in the opening game of the World Cup was the most engaged with post of the month.
They retained their spot as the most engaged account on Twitter, with a tweet congratulating the Japanese on their win the most engaged piece of content.
After five months as the most engaged account on Instagram, the GAA dropped to second spot, behind Irish Rugby. Their most engaged post marked the last home game for Joe Schmidt and Rory Bes.
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.
September 2019 Highlights on Twitter
Irish Rugby retained the top spot in terms of engagements on Twitter, despite a 27 per cent drop in the average number of engagements per post.
They were significantly more active in September, publishing almost three times as many tweets as they did in August, a natural reflection of the Rugby World cup getting under way.
The FAI returned to second spot in the engagement rankings on Twitter, but the most eye-catching move was from Rowing Ireland who jumped from 14th in August to 3rd in September.
This was helped by the incredible performance of the Irish team at the World Championships, securing four medals and four Olympic qualifications. Their top post in September celebrating the success generated over 900 likes and retweets.
The GAA remained the most active organisation on Twitter in August. Their most engaged with content was a video of the pretty spectacular pass from Diarmuid Connolly in the All-Ireland final replay.
September 2019 Highlights on Facebook
With over 1,000 engagements per post in September on Facebook, Irish Rugby set a new standard on the platform. Their 76 posts generated an incredible 76,859 engagements in the form of likes, shares and comments.
Irish Rugby’s most engaged piece of content celebrated Ireland’s win against Scotland.
This was also the most engaged post overall for the 29 organisations.
The post generated 11,469 likes, 565 comments and 1,967 shares.
Just as they did on Twitter, the GAA remained the most active organisation on Facebook in September, posting more than twice as much content as the second-placed Basketball Ireland.
September 2019 Highlights on Instagram
Irish Rugby’s clean sweep was completed by their performance on Instagram in September.
Their 77 posts generated over 10,600 likes or comments on average over the course of the month – resulting in them topping both the volume of posts published and engagement per post rankings.
Their best performing post marked the last home game for coach Joe Schmidt and captain Rory Best. An image of their embrace after the game in the Aviva Stadium generated 34,325 likes and 145 comments.
Of note in September was again the performance of content published by Rowing Ireland. Their eight posts generated over 800 engagements on average, suggesting a strong appetite from their fans for more content on the platform.
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If you would like a more detailed analysis of your social media activity, contact stephen@olytico.com
As part of a special partnership with Twitter, Sport for Business will host a morning at the Social Media giant’s Dublin Headquarters on Thursday, October 24th.
Over two hours of content and discussion we will look back on the last 12 months of Irish Sport on Social Media with Stephen O’Leary of Olytico.
We will then hold conversations around the concept of the Players, Ireland’s sporting organisations that are leading the way; the Supporters, the brands that are to the fore in activation on social; and the Tactics, with key twitter personnel taking us through the best practice of working on social media.
This is a Members Invitation Event.
If you are interested in attending make sure you register your interest today
