Football League promises social insight for sponsors
The Football League is to offer sponsors insights into how fans are engaging with all 72 of its member clubs online with the launch of a social media tool designed to help reach its global audience.
The platform launches later this month (22 April) and tracks fan behaviour across the League’s entire web presence including Facebook, Twitter and mobile applications. The social listening tool records data on fan sentiment and engagement in real-time which in turn is shared with sponsors to help plan campaigns.
Sponsors can filter the data to build audiences and target ads across the governing body’s online portfolio, which includes the websites and social networks for all its member clubs. It aims to give backers deeper insight into the digital and social behaviour of the League’s global fanbase in an effort to increase revenues from international campaigns.
The organisation claims the deal will move sponsorship exposure beyond “the billboard, the television screen, the strip or the website” for the first time.
David Parish, head of the Football League’s digital operations, says the metrics the platform provides offer “a vital combination that will add value to our digital business”.
He adds: “As the world’s largest online footballing network, insight is of paramount importance to steering our user journeys in a way the fans need.
“Any knowledge of fan and user engagement has a natural knock-on effect when it comes to activating brand activity for our partners. We have proximity to a huge percentage of the population and by understanding them better we obviously add value to the overall offering.
The platform, developed by advertising services business RadiumOne, will be used alongside the League’s recently launched online research panel Changing Room.
The governing body, which distributes the money it collects from sponsors to member clubs, is working to exploit the global appeal of the League as more of its member clubs are bankrolled by overseas owners. Last year it expanded its commercial team with several new appointments and also agreed a multi-million deal with American financial firm Capital One to sponsor the League Cup in June.
The launch comes as the orgnisation’s commercial team reportedly struggles to secure a new title-sponsor for next season with potential backers believed to be unwilling to budge on a revised value, thought to be around £10m-a-year. The League, however has ramped up its data offering in recent months to demonstrate value, particularly around the country’s less celebrated sides, who are turning to ECRM initiatives to build long-term relationships with young supporters.
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