Shunt Creative

What’s the differences between a Facebook “Like” and “Follower” and what does it say about your sports page and its fans? When a fan “Likes” a page it’s a public expression of support for your sport. When a fan “Follows” a page it’s because they’re interested in your sport and want to keep up to date with the latest news and information. Where one is overt the other is more covert. Which is more “valuable”? There’s a couple of factors to unpack here….. A fan who “Likes” your page may or may not get your posts in their feed depending on which way the Facebook algorithm wind blows on any given day. A fan who “Follows” has more control over this process via preference settings. We’d argue that a fan who is a “subscriber” (Follower) is more interested and invested in your sport than a “supporter” (Like) who likes your sport but is not terribly concerned about whether or not they get regular content from you….. Agree? Disagree? Get in touch if you’d like to know about our other social valuation insights.

Amongst a sample of 20 sports who’s talking about their next generation of participants more than anyone else? A: Basketball! This investment in promoting the future is evident in the extent to which the sports administrators and clubs lean into keywords such as “Junior/s”, “Boy/s”, “Girl/s”, “Kids” and “School (Holidays)”. Our social media keyword analysis of sport administrators and community clubs provides new insights into the DNA of a sport based on what talking points it is and isn’t prioritising. Every one of our 20 sport sample has "socially" evolved a unique profile based on 6 streams, 20 content themes and 125 keyword conversation starters. Get in touch if you’d like to know more about what your sports DNA looks like.

Woolworths investment in Cricket Blast is clear to see in our sponsor analysis of community sport with well over a 1,000 mentions by clubs last year. As a percentage of total content, it’s Surfing that leads the way via the company’s involvement with the SurfGroms program for junior surfers. If you’d like to know more about what clubland is saying about their sponsors then get in touch.

In our latest conversational analysis the hot topic amongst NRL Community clubs is Conversions. Way outnumbering its nearest rival for mentions…..Errors! When it comes to post performance Field Goals cruises to top spot with Dummy Half, Linebreaks and Offloads also in the mix for most talked about and engaged with. While getting sent to the Sin Bin typically isn’t an NRL community club talking point, when it does come-up its super engaging with post-performance levels the second highest of all the terms we looked at. Suggesting fans are more than happy to voice their opinion on what’s gone down. From a commercial perspective we reckon aligning sponsors to conversions and field goals is a no-brainer. Want to know what topics specific to your sport are being talked about & how much? Get in touch & let’s chat.

In the battle of the AFL state leagues who’s the biggest, baddest club in the land for comms and commercial performance so far in 2024? In our latest face-off brought to you in partnership with our data partners @ TCACC we analyse the results from 51 clubs nationally. Shout-out to SANFL clubs Sturt and Norwood who lead the way for comms performance racking-up a seriously impressive 139K and 122K Facebook reactions, comments and shares respectively at the end of Q3. Well done to another SANFL club, this time West Adelaide who has built out an impressive sponsorship roster of 182 partners from 91 industries. If you’re a state league team looking to further improve the comms and commercial performance of your socials we’re here to help. If you’re looking for new sponsors as we head into ’25 then Robert Honan is the person you need to speak to!

How often do you give a shoutout to your social media followers? A simple congrats, good luck, we’re proud of you or well done? What shout-outs are used and how much depends on what organisational tier you’re coming from. Sports administrators at a state or national level tend to lean more into “Performance” and “Record” which feels a little more "official" and detached as well as being less emotive. Community clubs are more into “Good Luck”, “Proud”, "Well-done" and “Legend” than administrators which are more emotive terms and give a sense that the content producer is closer to the individual/team and the action. Makes sense? Agree? Disagree? How does your sport prioritise keywords within this critical content theme? Get in touch if you’d like to find out.

Who’s the greatest NBL1 basketball club in the land for comms & commercial performance in 2024? We’re back with another Face-Off thanks to an assist from our good friends @TCACC as we analyse the results from 71 NBL1 clubs nationally. Hat-tip to Kilysth Basketball for topping our Comms table with 28K Facebook reactions, comments & shares upto the end of Q3. Nicely played Maitland Mustangs for building-out a seriously impressive sponsorship portfolio of 60 supporters. If you’re a state league team looking to optimise your socials we’re here to help. If you’re looking for new sponsors as we head into ’25 then Robert Honan is the person you need to speak to!

We’ve teamed-up with our good friends at TCACC to put together the ultimate Comms vs Commercial Face-Off for netball state league teams nationally. Big congrats to Central Coast Heart for topping our Comms table with 24K Facebook reactions, comments & shares upto the end of Q3, 2024. Well done to Peel Lightning for building-out a seriously impressive sponsorship portfolio of 65 supporters. If you’re a state league team looking to optimise your socials we’re here to help. If you’re looking for new sponsors as we head into ’25 then Robert Honan is the person you need to speak to!

HOWZAT! The great thing about cricket is that there’s SO many ways to lose your wicket….. So which way is talked about the most? Getting a Duck of course! It’s hard to beat the unrestrained joy of the fielding side and the humiliation of the batter for getting-out without scoring or event better first ball. The interesting thing about Hat-tricks is that our research shows they are actually quite rare. But there’s a lot more near misses where a bowler gets two wickets in a row but can’t quite nail the "trick". Looking through a commercial lens, getting a sponsor to offer a Hat-trick incentive that possibly jackpots for every near miss might be a good way to generate a whole lot of social buzz? Want to know what topics specific to your sport are being talked about & how much? Get in touch & let’s chat.

McDonalds has a strong presence at all levels of Football in Australia and you can really see it shine through in our community club analysis. Worth noting that as a percentage of total content published by clubs the NRL actually has the edge. The most interesting mentions of the brand actually come from Triathlon. Seems the local Maccas is a regular meeting point for an icecream or sundae after a big training session on the bike! If you'd like to know more about what clubland is saying about their sponsors then get in touch.