The latest and from The BIG 

”The world’s most popular social apps are starting to look a little … similar. As companies like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Snap have evolved, they’ve started to borrow product ideas from each other in the hope of building an all-in-one experience.”

It is not  science to know that social media departments are getting bigger and bigger in professional sports businesses. Recode had recently published an article in which they are spotting the trends in social media. What they’ve realized, and what is becoming somewhat obvious, is that all of the BIG FOUR social media channels (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat) are offering a somewhat similar experience. Just take a look at the image and you will get the picture .

However, it’s important to be present in multiple places (one of 4 Ps of marketing). With this being said, not having an account or not being active on social media would equal to nonexistence. By looking at similar experiences that these BIG FOUR platforms are offering, it is quite important to be active on them (either one of them or all of them) because different target groups are active on different platforms which is something that will probably continue for a while.

What am I talking about?

One of Snapchat’s latest updates shows that they are providing a similar all-in-one experience like the other social media platforms. A recent update featured a Search bar, which is something other platforms already have. But, on the other hand, this feature is a bit more unique than it is on other platforms. This search bar gives Snapchat users a good argument to keep using the platform, as well as reason for new people to start using Snapchat.

And yes, this feature already exists on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, but the search results are more or less images or posts that match the user’s search. Taking into consideration Snapchat’s use of short videos, they will look more like Youtube except that videos on Youtube are usually longer and it can take a few days before they are uploaded. With this said, Snapchat is providing a unique marketing opportunity for sports clubs and brands to snap stories that people can search for and discover from the very first second they were uploaded, as well as a few months later, just by searching for the topic they are interested in. 

A quick and simple video of Snapchat´s search bar.

One thing which points at the importance of the BIG  can be seen at Yankee stadium.They are probably the first, but certainly not the last, to launch a social media hub area packed with charging stations. This creates an increased chance to attract and retain the youth who have the habit of regularly being active on social media platforms and continuously having the need to charge their phones. This feature can generate more buzz about a sport brand like the New York Yankees because more photos can be taken, more videos can be recorded, which can eventually result in more posts being published by the audience, which is rarely a bad thing. I can’t wait to read more about this because this is completely in line with all other high technology solutions that we are seeing in these past few years in sports business (you can read some of my trend spotting here).

Now let’s hit some emojis  

“This emoji is another great tool for our supporters to connect with the club through a digital environment”

— Richard Arnold, group managing director, Man Utd

Branded emojis and stickers

“Branded stickers are the new branded emoji keyboards,” said Robert Ferrari, CEO at Bare Tree Media, a company that has created stickers for brands including the New England Patriots and Garfield. “The experience is more frictionless, and they are not just a marketing but also a revenue opportunity for brands.”

Last but not least I want to bring up one additional thing when it comes to the BIG FOUR and that is the way of messaging. Messages have not only been about sending funny filtered pictures. Texting with pictures, emojis and stickers are gaining recognition as a powerful way of marketing as well. We could, for example, experience the buzz on social when Manchester United star Paul Pogba launched his own emoji (first athlete to do such a thing).

Pogba´s own emoji got a lof of buzz on social media but, as of today, you unfortunately cannot use the Pogba emoji on Twitter. His use of emoji doesn’t stop there though. Pogba is the first athlete to have his own emoji on a pair of shoes, which also caused a lot of reactions on social media. 

The number of consumers using mobile messaging apps could reach 2 billion by 2018, according to eMarketer. Stickers are particularly popular, with some 6 billion stickers being sent around the world every day on mobile messaging apps, according to Swyft Media. Plus, everyone from Facebook to Twitter and even Apple, is turning their attention to stickers.

Celebrating a title with emoji

When Wawrinka won the US Open last year he used emoji as an engagement tool, which, at least according to me, is a quick and content-strong communication.

On the iMessage app store, brands typically put up a mix of both free and paid sticker packs, which are priced anywhere between $0.99 and $1.99. The New England Patriots, for instance, have general packs as well as special paid packs like the “Champs” pack, which the brand introduced after its team’s Super Bowl win this year. – Digiday

Conclusion

So,  social media platforms are providing more of a similar experience. It will be exciting to see the development of the search bar with Snapchat and see if more local sporting events can take advantage of that feature. We can clearly ‍ that emojis and stickers aren’t just for fun and for kids, they are highly effective as a marketing communication tool and as we can experience from both Pogba and Wawrinka, top athletes can make some buzz and on social media.

notes

 Picture tells you more than a 1000 words.

 Create your own emoji.

Stadiums, at least in the US, should build their own social media hub spot like the Yankees did.

Please send me and let me know what your favorite emoji is!

Article sources:

Digiday.com

Econsultancy.com

Manutd.com

Nordic.businessinsider.com

Recode.net

Techcrunch.com

USAtoday.com

Quintly.com

Image sources:

Flickr.com/emoji

Flickr.com/emojikeyboard

Flickr.com/emojifootball

Flickr.com/yankee

Flickr.com/yankeestadium

Recode.netsocialmedia