Sport
The Stats Revolution has begun: Putting Data Back on the Map
With the fight to capture attention on social feeds becoming a free for all and more difficult by the minute, a question that arises from this is - where does data lead content fall into your sporting social strategy.
Data is a term that can scare some people, negating the reels and reels of stats after any given competition only to put them into graphs and tables that nobody actually relates to. This is where the data revolution begins, giving content creators access to relatable stats for creating visually striking posts that hit hard.
It’s time to tell the story behind a result or performance without slowing your workflow and ultimately engage your audience. Data needs to tell a story and take the fan on the journey to almost feel included. Our work with EPCR & Fifty Sport is a great example of how to execute this, by optimising something that is done over and over but. Their team of the week is all powered by Oval Insights data feeds. They however leave some positions to allow fans to choose who these should be. A follow up piece shows a comparison between the most chosen fan choice per position against the data choice, and why this is. It instantly gives a meaning to the data and in turn creates engaging discussions on the channels as to why.
More over, data can provide a break for the traditional content that everyone is putting out. The generic ‘whos your favourite’ or more conversation starting topics, to something a little more critical and to the point. Understanding what elements work well pre and post game to utilise in the best way. Pre match predictors based around the facts are a huge win, getting home and away fans talking alike. Adding motion to the visuals such as revealing the win probabilities from previous matches or in live time again elevates your content levels above most.
A huge part in the success of your content is something that isn’t discussed a lot within the industry, and that is down to the success of the performances on the pitch. If results aren’t going the way every fan wants, the natural response from an organisation is to stop the content they push to fans. I would challenge this idea and say that within every bad performance will still be moments of brilliance. Data allows you to highlight those key performances from fan favourites to keep your channels ticking. The player that still puts in a shift for his beloved team is still great content - executed as a heatmap alongside a tackle map in Football is the silver lining you needed on a darker publishing day.
Last but not least on your data adventure is the opportunity to commercialise your offering even further. The stats available are vast, but find the right way to execute them and you are on to a winner. It goes beyond finding sponsors or partners for your HT and FT posts, but allows you to offer something unique every week - even more so to those brands that have an analytical core to them. Smart video content highlighting ‘Play of the Week’ or ‘Moment of the Match’ for a sponsor, gives them part of the action rather than feeling like a tick box exercise having their logo on something unrelated.
What we do Azzuu is bridge the gap. We couple our knowledge of what fans want to see and what is the best data lead content, with creative technology allowing you to execute it. We have over 15 data providers all integrated directly into the Azzuu platform with the ability to add any in with an API. This in turn has empowered many clubs and organisations to produce engaging static, motion and even 3D content in a matter of minutes.
