Neha Sharma Katyal, Business Head – West & South at Twitter India, told ET that cricket is one of the most passionately followed conversations on Twitter in India, whether it’s about ongoing leagues or series, or staying connected with fellow fans and players.
“The #CricketTwitter conversation is always on and growing. In fact, in the last one year alone, we recorded 96.2 million tweets about cricket from 4.4 million people on the service,” said Katyal. “Our internal research also suggests that 94% of the cricket conversations in India carry a positive or neutral sentiment, so we know that people who are engaging in these conversations are excited, cheerful, and receptive.”
Incidentally, Twitter’s internal survey suggests that while 67% of the online population in India are fans of cricket, 75% of Indians on the service identify as fans.
“These fans come to Twitter not only to cheer for their favourite teams and athletes, but also to enjoy the camaraderie and community with other fans and engage with interesting pre-to-post-game content and brand campaigns… If Twitter is the roar of the stadium, fans are the amplifiers that keep this stadium live and booming with energy,” Katyal added.
Last week, Twitter said it will start testing a Cricket tab on its explore page for some of the users who use Twitter on Android devices. The tab is a single landing point that will serve as a channel of discovery for what’s happening in cricket along with relevant, exclusive, and Twitter-first content.
Last year, the company had started testing a dedicated Cricket Twitter – India Community for fans to find and engage with each other, and had also launched a live scorecard to keep a tab on scores while participating in conversations, without having to switch screens.
Katyal pointed out that 74% of people on Twitter in India watch cricket games on TV/Online/Live, and fans’ excitement is especially palpable during big-ticket events and tournaments such as the Indian Premier League (IPL), which is the second most followed cricket event by 77.1% Indians on Twitter, just next to the ICC Cricket World Cup, which is followed by 88.2% Indians on Twitter.
India cricket commentator Harsha Bhogle feels that the way people follow sports has changed immensely and for fans, the sports experience is now a lot more than just match viewing.
“They’re interested in knowing more about the athletes they look up to, what’s happening behind the scenes, or how players are preparing for the next game. There’s a greater appetite for snackable content that is not only entertaining and engaging, but also authentic and relatable. And that’s what social media channels have made space for,” he said.
Cricket presenter Gaurav Kapur said that the cricket-viewing experience has gone way beyond TV screens, and fans are at more than one place at a time – they’re watching, talking, Tweeting, posting – all at once.
“Platforms like Twitter have put audiences in the centre of all the action that happens on and off the cricket field, and they’re now participating in the massive cricket saga a lot more closely than ever before. People are no more just viewers, they’re active contributors to the conversation around their favourite sports, teams and athletes. The fans are helping shape the story while being a part of it. That’s also prompted broadcasters and brands to come up with clutter-breaking ways of engaging the audience – further fueling fans’ hunger for more entertainment.” Kapur said.
Bhogle added that channels like Twitter have democratised cricket, and the doors to opinions, discussions, and conversations are now open to everyone. “That certainly sets up a grand opportunity for creators who are driven to keep the conversation going and growing – they can now engage with audiences one-on-one, without any loops in between. And this advantage of connecting one-on-one runs both ways: audiences now have more content and conversations to satiate their passion for the game, and they get to do it with each other – like one big community,” he said.
But its not just the fans and the athletes, but even brands who want to connect with their target audiences using Twitter.
Rishabh Sharma, Head – Twitter Next India, said that as conversation peaks considerably during big-ticket events, these moments and surrounding conversations serve as a “hotbed of opportunities” for brands to connect with their audiences when they’re at their most excited and receptive, and by way of that, become a part of India’s cricket story that is taking shape on Twitter.
“Brands are cognizant of the potential these conversations carry, and have been connecting with audiences in the most creative, thoughtful and innovative ways through content that entertains, educates, and engages,” Sharma said. “By participating in these conversations, brands can set their foot as a culturally relevant brand.”
As per a study by Kantar and Twitter, there exists a 73% correlation between a brand’s cultural relevance and its revenue, and there’s an 88% correlation between a brands Twitter spends and its perceived cultural relevance.
“Not only can brands leverage the charged-up cricket conversation to connect with audiences and stay top-of-mind, but they can also use the momentum of conversations and audience-energy as a catalyst for a new product launch,” said Sharma.
He added that Twitter is a force multiplier of conversations. “The service’s real-time nature, its leaned-in audience, and its dynamic ad-products suite make for the perfect package to help brands in optimising the spirited Cricket Twitter conversation.
For all the latest Sports News Click Here
