Messaging is the most widely used application on the internet. Can you imagine your smartphone without instant messaging? Social networks too have started adopting to the user demand and have added instant messaging options in the services their network provides. With more than 4.5 billion downloads of the top messaging apps alone, instant messaging has proved to be the way people now connect. Imagine chatbots changing the game for sports social networks?

Sports social networks become popular

Sports industry, an industry where fans are always thirsty for more interaction and even more action, is using the growing reach of social networks and instant messaging to develop a better relationship with the fans. Sports social networks, where the fans interact with their favorite players, and with each other, are gaining popularity. The sports social networks give the fans a chance to interact with fellow fans, and with their favorite teams, and also provide the teams a way to interact with their fans.

Brands, including sports brands, are using social media

Brands across the world now use social media to connect with their customers. Since the millennials spend a lot of time online, and a lot of it is spent on social networks, a social media profile is a very easy and effective way to connect with them.

A social media profile is used in many ways like –

- keeping the profile updated
- posting about the current events
- updating followers about the future brand events
- keeping in touch with the followers.
- Social media profile is almost used like a spokesperson by the companies now. Online presence also leaves a good after-effect for the companies, for example, for sports industry, fans that see message from a brand on social media have a 78% more chance of having a positive perception of the brand.

But here are a few questions we want you to consider –

- Is a social media profile enough?
- Are fans satisfied with news reports kind of updates from the team?
- Can there be better ways to interact with the fans?
- Ways to make the interaction more personal, ways to bring the fans together and let them interact with each other too?

Use the better way: chatbots

A better way is to create a unique platform for the sports fans. Such a platform, which offers exclusivity to the brand and ensures that the fans are not distracted by other things in the feed, that the content reaches to them and does not get buried in the hundreds of other updates. Such a network also helps you to target users of a certain region for certain events.

A great way to engage with the fans, being used successfully by the sports industry, is using chatbots to interact with the fans and update them. Chatbots provide an interactive environment and personal touch to the brand-fan engagement.

Chatbots are fast becoming a rage across the technical world. But why? Well –

- They provide a way to engage with the users personally while still not having to spend manual resources answering the same questions to hundreds of thousands of users.
- Advancements in AI have ensured that the chatbots keep learning from each interaction and are better prepared for the next interaction using the learnings from the previous one.

A chatbots use case

The sports industry has started using chatbots, as seen by the successful use of a chatbot during NBA finals. This bot became an instant hit with the fans. It could show highlights of top plays, best actions of a particular game or best actions from all the games during the tournament, highlight of a specific player, recaps, etc., all based on the demand of the user. The fans later said that interacting with the bot was like talking to a friend who has encyclopedic knowledge of the game and we are taking his suggestion and asking him to show us the best reels.

More uses of chatbots for engaging fans

Chatbots can also be used for helping the fans with their queries, be it the schedule of the matches or events, ticket-price, ticket-availability or simply a message informing them of the next planned event. The bots help the brands in making a smart social strategy with help of artificial intelligence that improves the fan experience too. With bots, it is easier to identify the topics of interest among fans and using learning from the data, engaging fans in a better way. And the best part is, this data can be generated at any time, thus making decision making faster, efficient and more accurate. Bots give the brands a 24/7 connectivity with fans and also make sure that the vision of the brand and the culture of the team is reflected in the interaction rather than the mood of the person sending the replies. Bots will also bring in another avenue for revenue for the brands in the form of sponsored advertisements.

Vinfotech, world leader in social network development can help you make an exclusive platform for all your fans in the form of a sports social network and a better way to keep in touch with your fans using chatbots. Vinfotech understands the needs of modern sports fans and will help you in getting your initial set of users, and then in keeping the users engaged, all the while growing your online presence and reach. With a proven track record in building excellent products in record time,
Vinfotech is your best bet if you want to develop a sports social network or deploy a chatbot to engage with your fans. If you want to provide the best service to your followers and fans, and keep in regular touch with them, give us a call.