Simon Banoub

Increasing engagement

A case study:Opta Twitter

A bit about Opta

Our Twitter strategy

The tactics we useThe tactics we use

Results and examples

Lessons learned

Prologue/Preamble/Something that dawned on me:

Everyone thinks they have the cutest toddler

So with that in mind....

Throw In. Antonio Valencia (Man Utd).Pass [square] [from x/y to x/y]. Darren Fletcher (Man Utd) to Anderson (Man

Utd)Pass [through ball] [forward] [key pass] [from x/y to x/y] Anderson (Man Utd)

to Dimitar Berbatov (Man Utd)Good skill. Take-on [successful]. Dimitar Berbatov (Man Utd)

Tackle [unsuccessful]. James Collins (West Ham)Pass [square] [from x/y to x/y]. Assist. Dimitar Berbatov (Man Utd)

to Cristiano Ronaldo (Man Utd)to Cristiano Ronaldo (Man Utd)Goal [right footed] [shot] [sliding] [3 yards] [into:bottom right of goal]

Cristiano Ronaldo (Man Utd)Shirt number of scorer. 7

Latest score (2-0) Minute of goal (54th minute)

Over 2,000 actions in every football game in every top league in Europe. Also Rugby Union, Rugby League and Cricket.

Who buys this stuff?

Bookmakers Broadcasters

Brands and sponsorsBrands and sponsorsPrint, online and mobile publishers

Professional clubs

Our marketing challenges

1) A small number of key decision makers

2) Long contracts

and a techie-hassle to change suppliers

3) increasingly commoditised products

data is data, right?

4) small marketing budget

whinge, whinge, whinge

BUT a database of loads of great content

And we know what’s interesting

Why Twitter was a good choice

Our content works beautifully in the format –quirky, regular, highly shareable

A lot of the influencers in our target market use it heavily – and it allows us to chat with them. A lot.

With their permissionWith their permission

We can talk directly to fans, and build our brand in the mind of the end users

It’s cheap

opta

Buyers and

Wow, our

customers

think Opta

content adds

real valueBuyers and influencers

Fans (customers of

our customers)

Wow, Opta

content is

great.

How we approached it

1) we created a set of

individual

characters

Introducing:

The Opta Twitter Family

The daddy:

Opta Joe@optajoe

Tweets about:Tweets about:English football

The little brother:

Opta Jim@optajim

Tweets about:English cricket, rugby and tennis

The exotic foreign cousins:

Opta Jose@optajose

Tweets about:Spanish football

The exotic foreign cousins:

Opta Juan@optajose

Tweets about:Spanish “other sports”

The exotic foreign cousins:

Opta Paulo@optapaulo

Tweets about:Tweets about:Italian football

The exotic foreign cousins:

Opta Jean@optajean

Tweets about:French football

The exotic foreign cousins:

Opta Joao@optajoao

Tweets about:Portuguese football

The exotic foreign cousins:

Opta Jack@optajack

Tweets about:American soccer

(yes, I know....football)

And the Godfather:

Opta Suit@optasuit

Tweets about:Corporate Opta info and news

2) we developed a

unique and

consistent

style

Each and every tweet:

Number →

Fact →Summary word

@OptaJoe:

86.8

Jack Wilshere has completed 86.8% of his passes in the Premier League

this season.Prodigy.

Or:

9

West Ham have won their last 9 FA Cup matches against lower league

teams.Bullies.

Or:

11

In the Premier League this season, Wayne Rooney has conceded 11

fouls, been fouled 11 times and been caught offside 11 times.

Legs.

The parodies - @OptaJoke:

155

The average number of miles Man Utd fans have travelled for today’s

Manchester Derby.M25.

Largely loved but...

8,197

Tweets by @OptaJoe, all probably with an annoying closing 1 word

statement.Unfollow.

3) we are, or try to be, highly responsive

Mark Bright (BBC Sport Presenter)

@optajoe can you confirm that Wigan have not won in London for 17 apps?

@markbrighty That is correct. Wigan are @markbrighty That is correct. Wigan are without a win in their last 17 league trips to London. Homely.

4) we are selective with who and why we ReTweet

5) we do quizzes

@OptaJoe:

Name the player who has scored the most braces in the Premier League without ever having scored a hat-trick.Quiz.

@OptaJean:

Name the 7 players who have scored in a final for Arsenal under Arsene Wenger.Quiz.

6) we do request slots

@OptaJoe:

2pm.The next 60 minutes is REQUEST HOUR. We will answer as many questions from our followers as possible, so tweet your pleasure.

Slave.

Over 500 requests in the hour

Managed to answer 67

Slave.

How it has worked

60,000

10,000

3,000

10,000

1,000

Firstly, the numbers

1,000

5,000

7,000

2,000

2,000

2,000

But it’s not just about the quantity

A selection of industry followers:

A few examples

BBC Sport

The Guardian Football Weekly Podcast

What we’ve learned

1 - Tweet what you promise:

Consistency is key

Meet the expectations I have

when I click “follow”

Segment by type of interest

I’ll forgive the occasional tweet about what you had for

breakfast (if I expected it)

2 – Be human

Answer questions

Listen to what people are saying

and stick your nose inand stick your nose in

Encourage staff to use personal accounts

to come in “via the side door”

3 – Be regular

Try not to let people forget that they are following you

But, conversely, don’t tweet But, conversely, don’t tweet

for the sake of it

4 – Reflected glory can be nice

Selective re-tweeting can help align your brand

with others as you see fit

Or, sssh, take (a bit of) credit for other Or, sssh, take (a bit of) credit for other

people’s content

If you don’t have your own content,

you can be a helpful digital signpost

(people like helpful people)

4 – Share. Don’t Sell.

Twitter will never be a direct response sales tool for

us:

If it isn’t for you – don’t force it, it can still be useful

For us, it contributes at each stage of the buying

process

Thankyou