Top 7 Social Media Tips for Sports Brands

Have you ever noticed how fans across the globe now turn to social media platforms to share their thoughts, celebrate their favorite players and even voice their frustrations when their teams fall short? Whether Manchester City wins a Premier League match or Lewis Hamilton sets new records at the Grand Prix, fans instantly take to social media to express themselves. A new chapter in sports has begun, with social media becoming a powerful catalyst for the growth of sports brands. 

The sports industry is expected to be valued at $680.74 billion by 2028. And social media has revolutionized this industry. It has transformed the sports world into a digital stage where fans, athletes and brands connect. So there’s no doubt that brands can harness this power to elevate their reputation and drive revenue growth. 

As such, in this article, we’ll be exploring the top seven social media tips sports brands can use to cut through the social media noise and hit the bullseye of their audiences. With real-life examples, challenges and best practices, we’re here to help you discover all you need to know to score high on social media! 

What is the impact of social media on sports?  

Social media has created a new breed of sports superfans armed with smartphones. They share unfiltered opinions, create memes and build online communities around their favorite teams.  

The impact of social media marketing in sports is significant. The digital revolution has created several opportunities for sports brands to achieve high social media ROI.  

During the global pandemic, when many sports stadiums were forced to remain empty, social media became a vital link to their athletic calling, connecting fans with their favorite teams through large-scale virtual watch parties. And sports brands quickly adapted to this change by sharing engaging digital content to keep fans connected and involved. 

Examples of social media in sports  

Social media trends and strategies are continuously evolving. Let’s look at a few examples of how famous sports brands use social media in sports. 

1. Chicago Blackhawks 

The Chicago Blackhawks chose a very simple yet effective hashtag for their user-generated content (UGC) campaign — #WhatsYourGoal. The campaign encouraged fans to share their personal goals and aspirations, creating a brand community with a shared purpose. It reached more than 46 million people organically on Facebook. And that’s not all. Over 24 million viewers engaged with the content. 

This social media initiative deepened the team's connection with their fans. Through this campaign, the Chicago Blackhawks successfully aligned themselves with themes of positivity and personal achievement.  

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2. FC Barcelona 

Fun fact 💡: Did you know viewers can retain up to 95% of information delivered via video, compared to just 10% from text-based content? 
 
FC Barcelona makes the best use of video marketing by creating short and engaging Reels of behind-the-scenes footage from its matches. The team shares match highlights, players' preparations and more on its social media channels, giving the audience a close and personal view of the sports brand. The outcome? FC Barcelona was the first sports team to cross 1 billion views on Instagram Reels.  

With a robust social media customer engagement strategy and increased merchandise sales, the brand took it one step further. Soon after its success through Instagram Reels, it launched a CSR campaign called “More Than,” which went on to see more success. 

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3. Norwich City  

Mental health awareness has become an important topic in the last few years. Norwich City capitalized on this trend by releasing a powerful ad campaign on Mental Health Day 2023. The ad showed how fans’ moods fluctuate during a football match, opening up a larger conversation on men’s mental health. Since its release, it has garnered 62 million views on X (formerly Twitter). The partnership with the Samaritans (who work on suicide prevention helplines) made the ad more impactful. 

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4. WNBA  

The Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) is very active on social media and highlights its star athletes. Athletes like Caitlin Clark (2.9M Instagram followers) and Aliyah Boston (319K Instagram followers) are well-known faces. The brand’s influencer marketing strategy focuses on leveraging partnerships with athletes to promote the league and its players by sharing player-centric content. This strategy helped WNBA’s social channels in gaining 157 million video views through the first week of the 2024 season.

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Key benefits of using social media in sports  

Sports brands should focus on omnichannel customer engagement. Besides reaching a wide audience and supporting consistent engagement, implementing social media marketing best practices in your overall marketing plan has many other benefits: 

1.  Reaches global audiences  

Social media platforms have a global reach, allowing sports teams to connect with fans worldwide. For example, the NBA leverages Instagram and YouTube to engage with fans in different countries through relevant content. Its social media team responds to fans' interactions in native languages, which has helped grow its fan following worldwide. The league’s 18 localized social media accounts in Europe and the Middle East feature content in eight languages, generating a 100% year-over-year increase in views. 

2. Increases engagement 

Social media makes it easier for sports brands to connect with their fans directly. Many brands build that connection through content marketing by sharing behind-the-scenes videos and hosting live question-and-answer sessions with star athletes. The #NFLThrowback campaign is a classic example of UGC content marketing. Fans shared their favorite NFL moments using the brand hashtag, reflecting customer engagement and loyalty. 

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3. Generates data-driven insights 

Social media platforms provide analytics on audience behavior. By analyzing content engagement and audience demographics, brands can leverage social media data for their larger marketing goals. They can use this data to make informed marketing strategies and content plans. 

4. Streamlines communication 

Social media provides sports brands with a platform to update their fans on the go. During the 2024 Olympics, for example, X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram were the two major channels of communication between brands and global audiences. Live event highlights, athlete interviews and real-time news sharing helped raise viewer engagement to 1.1 billion. 

5. Cuts down on costs 

Social media marketing is cost-effective compared to other channels due to lower entry costs and the ability to target specific audiences. Sports leagues like Formula One have successfully increased their fan following on social media. For instance, during the 2021 season, Formula One’s following increased to 49 million on social media as fans rushed to see the highlights and behind-the-scenes peeks, which is a 40% bump. Therefore, social media branding is more cost-effective than traditional marketing. 

Learn More: How to Determine the Right Social Media Budget 

Challenges in implementing social media in sports 

While social media in sports is largely beneficial, it comes with specific challenges. Social media guidelines and trends keep changing, making it difficult for brands to keep up with them. 

Let’s explain this with an example. Manchester United has been a power player in the social media game, with over 226 million active followers across X, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok. However, engagements across club channels have often been flagged as inappropriate or discriminatory. In 2022, the brand found 640,000 posts to be unsuitable. That number quadrupled by 2024. To tackle this (pun intended), Manchester United introduced a “social media code” of conduct internally to ensure a safer and more inclusive community. The club monitors all its social media channels for discriminatory or hateful comments and messages, proactively dealing with those who breach the policy. 

There are many more challenges that a brand might face while implementing social media in sports, around:  

1.  Platform delivery 

Major sports brands and leagues have global fan followings on social media. Keeping such a large audience engaged is not easy. However, by conducting thorough market research and creating specific content formats for different types of social media, brands can succeed in their social media marketing strategy. For example, they can use Instagram to share short-form videos and X (previously Twitter) to share real-time updates and fan interactions. 

2.  Crisis management 

Bad performance, change in management, or player controversies can lead to social media crises. However, a swift and strategic approach to brand crisis management can help sports brands stay on top of the issue. Like Manchester United, direct communication and timely action can help manage social media crises.  

3.  Content saturation

Repetitive content can get boring really quickly for global audiences. The solution? An exclusive and authentic global content marketing strategy. Publishing player interviews, behind-the-scenes footage and more exclusive content can help brands create intrigue and excitement amongst their audiences.    

4.  ROI measurement 

Calculating the ROI of social media campaigns for multiple platforms can become difficult. It requires robust analytics tools to track key performance indicators, such as engagement rates, website traffic, and merchandise sales. Sports brands can leverage social media business intelligence to improve campaigns and generate more digital revenue. Additionally, they can use visual data insights to track and identify content that performs better for audience engagement.  

Top 7 social media tips for sports brands 

A structured social media marketing strategy can be a game-changer for sports brands. Several brands leveraged this during the 2024 Summer Olympics. Nike, for instance, launched the “Winning Isn’t for Everyone” campaign featuring top athletes.  

Just like Nike, your brand can also harness the power of social media in sports. On that note, here are 7 social media tips to get you started: 

1. Support real-time engagement 

Most people follow sports brands on social media to gain first-hand information on events. Through live streaming, real-time X post (tweet) updates and other methods, sports brands can generate huge viewership on social media handles.  
 
For instance, the New York Yankees' social media team often tweets live scores during matches.

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💡 Pro Tip️: Keep your audience updated during major events and off-season periods by creating a social media content calendar. This way, you can maintain a steady frequency of content year-round. You can utilize a social media calendar platform, like that of Sprinklr’s, to achieve this. You can use it to:  

📅 Organize content easily by applying filters and adding detailed tags and color codes  

🔄 Effortlessly synchronize across teams by assigning tasks and leaving notes to ensure nothing’s amiss 

🔎 Monitor the performance of your posts across multiple social channels in real time and optimize your strategy  

AUTOMATE YOUR CONTENT NOW 

2.  Run contests and giveaways 

In the digital age, everyone wants instant gratification. Sports brands can leverage this by providing incentives to their global audiences. Running contests with awards and giveaways can help them grow their following and increase digital customer engagement. 

Take the Birmingham City Football Club, for instance. The club regularly conducts contests and giveaways for fans.  

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Learn More: 7 Effective Social Media Contest Ideas for 2024 

3. Use social listening  

The regular monitoring of online conversations can help your brand create a better audience communication framework. Through social listening, you can see what people are talking about in real time and proactively lead the conversation on the platforms of your choice.  

Pro Tip💡: Leverage a social listening tool for detailed insights on brand mentions. Compare your performance against your competitors to stay ahead in the market. You can even predict potential crises by analyzing conversations on social media and getting real-time alerts. 

GET A PULSE OF YOUR AUDIENCE NOW 

4. Leverage trending hashtags 

Actively participating in social media trends can increase brand visibility. Hashtags are essential in classifying content based on different topics and trends, making it easier for your audience to discover your content.  

While trending hashtags are important, a personalized hashtag can significantly impact your social media reach. These can include the sports brand’s name or other elements, like major events and matches. 
 
For instance, Chelsea FC has created a hashtag featuring its famous slogan, “The Pride of London.” The branded hashtag encourages Chelsea fans to cheer for their team on social media, increasing engagement and social media mentions.  

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If you want to know more about how you can make the most of this, check out our guide on how to find the hashtags that actually work. 

5. Partner with the right influencers 

Partnering with the right influencers before sporting events or product launches can significantly increase visibility and boost sales for sports brands. With many athletes now serving as influencers, leveraging your own stars to promote matches as part of your influencer marketing strategy is not only easier but also highly recommended. 

For instance, Formula One team Scuderia Ferrari partnered with Carlos Sainz for an Instagram post during the Belgian Grand Prix for the win. 

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Deep Dive: Influencer marketing statistics of 2024

6. Invest in paid social media advertising 

Paid promotion on social media is a good way to increase your content reach, improve engagement, and reach the right audience. Targeted social ads can boost a sports brand’s social media performance significantly. A well-planned social media promotion strategy can go a long way in getting you quality engagement from fans across the globe. It is important to research the organic vs. paid social media scenario to understand when to promote which content for the best results. 

Dive Deeper: Social Media Advertising: In-Depth Guide & Proven Tips (2024) 

7. Track and analyze performance 

Use a social media analytics tool to see what content works best for your audience and make improvements as you go. Social media metrics can provide you with a deep understanding of audience behavior and preferences. Use them to adapt your social media strategy. For instance, if you notice posts featuring athletes training garner higher engagement, adjust your strategy to upload similar content. 

Final thoughts  

The impact of social media on sports cannot be ignored. By leveraging data and influencer collaborations, sports brands can greatly increase their fan following and generate revenue through social media.  

As a sports brand, it is time to jump on board. As such, you can reach the right audience at the right time with a 360-degree tool like Sprinklr Social. Sporting brands can leverage the platform to use the right type of content to engage with fans at the right time and generate more leads. How? Its social media publishing tool supports an AI-led solution suite that helps you create and modify content instantly. You can also try Sprinklr’s distributed marketing tool to improve lead conversion by up to 50%. And that’s just the start of it. 

Ready to elevate your sports brand's social media game?