For those still wondering about the value of, if not the pervasiveness of, social media, new research from Horizon Media has a data point to make any marketer’s head turn:
“Greater willingness to post at a sporting event = greater willingness to buy.”
Cause/effect marketing purchase connections are always difficult, but based on research from an Internet panel of 650 self-selected 18- to 49-year-old sports fans, Horizon has found a strong link between social media use at live sports events and purchase intent. Specifically, the study found that 40 percent of sports fans who were open to posting about brand activations at events would consider buying brands from the event sponsors they post about, as opposed to 22 percent of all sports fans.
“We know that the intersection of live events and social media is explosive, but we’ve never seen from a sponsorship what sorts of activations produce social media use,” said Sheri Roder, who heads Horizon’s Why consumer insights group. “As we move toward a ‘return on activation’ measure, these are critical.”
Accordingly, the recommendation from Horizon and its associated agencies, the Why group and Scout Sports and Entertainment, is that at-venue sponsor activation be designed to catalyze social media use. Key drivers for that are fan amenities such as free Wi-Fi and seat upgrades, which also helped increase purchase-intent measures.
Perhaps surprisingly, traditional venue sponsorship activations — including naming rights of buildings and events, and signage — were among the most potent drivers of purchase consideration, for both live-event attendees and TV viewers.
The dichotomy between fans at live events and fans watching live sports on a screen was stark, even in the social media arena. At live events, 21 percent said they were open to posting about brand activations, but only 13 percent did — while around 9 percent of TV sports viewers said they were open to posting about brand activations, and 8 percent did.
“Closing this gap is a growth opportunity,’’ the research concluded.
As for precisely why particular venue activations merit a post or a tweet? Not surprisingly, the study found that to merit social media mentions, venue activations should be “fresh, unique and/or humorous.” Around 40 percent of live-event attendees said they don’t post content regarding brand activations at a venue because they worry about spamming their social media network; 50 percent said they are too selective about what they post to discuss activations.
