Monitoring social media communications of non-professional sports clubs: A rink hockey case study

Abstract

Today, the importance of social media in sports marketing and communication is undeniable. Several studies investigate how sports organizations use social media to engage fans, manage brands, and cultivate relationships, primarily focusing on major professional clubs with robust marketing capabilities. However, amateur sports clubs run by volunteers often lack the means to effectively manage their digital communication. This study aims to develop an affordable system for non-professional sports clubs to monitor their social media communication. Objectives include selecting inexpensive key performance indicators, exporting them to Microsoft Power BI, designing a monitoring dashboard, and evaluating the system’s effectiveness by applying it to a minority sport club. Thus, we collected and graphically represented posts published over a season on X, Instagram, Facebook, and the website of the rink hockey sports association Club Patí Voltregà. The resulting dashboard provides an overview of the club’s metrics categorized by platforms, months, topics, subtopics, and competitions. Additionally, we compared its social media performance against that of its rivals in the Spanish major league. In conclusion, the research demonstrates that, despite limited resources and volunteer-run administration, amateur clubs can effectively enhance engagement and brand promotion through a cost-effective, user-friendly social media monitoring system.