Roundtable round-up: The role of web v apps in growing fan relationships
September 13, 2022
Our community Roundtables are a vital part of what we do at iSportConnect, it gives senior people from all over the sports business world the chance to come together and discuss – in a private and intimate setting – their thoughts on a particular issue.
On Tuesday September 6th, one of these roundtables was held at Queensland House, on the Strand. We debated: The role of web vs app in your digital transformation and growing fan relationships.
We were joined by people from Premiership Rugby Clubs, International Federations, Agencies and a National Governing Body.
The session was kicked off with some case studies by app developers Choicely, which highlighted the amount of time people spend on apps. “On average people spend 4 hours and 40 minutes on their mobile devices and in that time people spend 4 hours and 12 minutes in IOS and Android apps.”
The group discussed the ability that apps have to be a ‘one-stop shop’ for fans is unique. This makes them more likely to stay in your ‘digital ecosystem’ for longer increasing the chances of them making another purchase or signing up to something else.
To get maximum value from an app you need to make sure it contains high quality content and to do so “you should treat your app as a media channel”. Strong content is all well and good but you need to understand what it is that your audience wants to be reading and interacting with. Without that understanding you will be wasting time, money and only pushing your audience further away.
According to Choicely, push notifications are one of the best ways apps allow clubs and rights holders to keep in regular contact with their users without them feeling like they are being spammed. Instead you can make them feel special and send out exclusive offers, promote tickets and run prize competitions.
The biggest concerns in the room surrounded the work needed to keep an app up to date and whether their inhouse teams could manage both an app and a website. There is no denying that the technology with apps is more complicated and the ability to be able to effectively manage an app to maximise ROI was another challenge especially for a national governing body which already is struggling for resources. Choicely experts said that it would only require 2-3 hours per week to keep the app fully up to date and full of interesting interactivity.
The move towards OTT in particular with developing sports was considered by the group to be complimented by the use of apps. OTT can be easily integrated into apps and can give these growing sports, with dispersed fan bases, the chance to push out regular content (and monetise when the time is right). This was of particular interest to the national governing body and international federation.
Here is the upcoming schedule for our Roundtables:
September 27: Maximising Event Profitability
September 29: The role of technology in taking your live sports broadcast to the next level
To register your interest in our Roundtables please email: Henry@isportconnect.com
