With the World Cup frenzy kicking off, Twitter and Facebook have unveiled some hints on how brands and marketers can capitalise on the tournament.
From second-screening to using images, some of the tips may be familiar, but they are things that all marketers need to remember.
Second-screening
“We already know
90 per cent of UK Twitter users will be watching the World Cup on TV, and many will be tweeting as they watch,” Twitter boasted.With a recent international survey finding that
over 35 per cent of the public use their smartphone while watching TV, it is important to capitalise on the market of people who are second-screening during games, whether that be tweeting about a ref missing a foul or celebrating on Instagram following a win.Referring to the Bayern Munich vs Manchester United match in April, Facebook revealed that the majority of the 90,000 actions made on social happened during the second half of the game, when the four goals were scored.It is important that marketers are aware of this, with sponsors and those advertising in the World Cup making the most of the airspace to promote their social channels, with use of a hashtag, to make sure the conversation extends online.
Plan in advance
Yes, there are some tweets you can’t plan in advance (Oreo’s blackout tweet from the Super Bowl has a lot to answer for…) but there are things that you do know are happening and can prepare for.“Think about all of the individual World Cup moments where brands like yours can join the discussion - it’s key moments like these that are likely to drive huge scale and create unique opportunities for you,” Twitter stated. This doesn’t need to be during games, as Facebook points out. Ahead of matches, members of the public will be deciding what to eat when they have their friends over.“Target them with special offers before kick-off using Partner Categories to identify and reach the right people based on their activity off Facebook, including purchase history, intent and demographics,” Facebook for Business suggested.This leads to…
Targeting
From late May, Facebook is testing a new targeting segment for managed clients, specifically to find those interested in the World Cup.“Constructed of team fans and others who are following the event, it will be updated daily and allow you to reach people from before kick-off through to the final match,” Facebook explained.Twitter also provides the opportunity to target through Twitter ads, but before you even write your social message, it is important to know what sector of the market you want to aim messages towards.Facebook research has found that the majority of UK football fans are young: 32 per cent of them are between 18-24, and 27 per cent are between 25-34. In terms of numbers, UK men edge out women: 58.2 per cent of fans are male, and 41.7 per cent are female.
Use videos and pictures
Extending a tweet or Facebook post with the use of an image or a video can help drive actions, and have users looking at the post for a little bit longer.Tweets from verified accounts with photos
receive on average a 35 per cent boost in retweets, and those with videos get a 28 per cent boost, recent research from Twitter discovered. Adding this to the fact that UK football Facebook fans make 1.8 times the number of post comments than the overall Facebook audience, the use of interesting or interactive graphics in a post can help stand out.
