Sport Teams, Fans, and Twitter

The Influence of Social Media on Relationships and Branding

By (author) Brandi Watkins

Publication date:

15 October 2018

Length of book:

148 pages

Publisher

Lexington Books

ISBN-13: 9781498540056

A strong relationship between sport fans and teams is an essential component for the success of the sport brand. This book provides an in-depth examination of the use of Twitter as a tool to enhance and maintain the fan-team relationship. As social media platforms have expanded beyond purely personal use, brands have had to adjust their strategic communication and marketing efforts. Drawing on research and theory from advertising, marketing, mass communication, and public relations, this book uses a mixed methods approach to better understand how online fan engagement using Twitter can help strengthen the fan-team relationship. Findings from this research has implications for the continued scholarly work on online engagement and relationship building as well as practical applications for effective use of Twitter as a strategic communication tool.

Section 1: Twitter for Relationship Building

Chapter 1. The Fan-Team Relationship

Chapter 2. Getting Social

Chapter 3. Online Fan Engagement & Fan-Team Relationships

Section 2: Content Strategies & Relationship Marketing

Chapter 4. Brand Personality

Chapter 5. Connecting with Athletes

Chapter 6. Dialogue

Chapter 7. Recommendations

In Sport Teams, Fans, and Twitter: The Influence of Social Media on Relationships and Branding, author Brandi Watkins takes the reader through a thoughtful examination of social media as it applies to the world of sport. [. . . .] She provides a holistic approach that meshes sound theory and detailed examination addressing pertinent communication and marketing themes. [. . .] It provides plentiful information espousing important concepts associated with social media, including communication strategies, relationship building, and effective brand management. Individuals teaching subjects such as sport communication and sport marketing can greatly benefit from this, as can their students. Industry professionals can also learn a great deal from the data-driven results imparted throughout this work.