SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Marketing and communication via Facebook and Twitter are becoming more and more important for online gambling operators. The researchers at MECN therefore compiled an overview of the activities and successes of the key online gambling operators on the key social networks.
In nearly all social communities analysed, Paddy Power and PokerStars currently (Q1 2014 analyses) rank at the top. Paddy Power slightly lags only on YouTube. MECN analysed the number of Facebook Likes. The number of Likes shows how many Facebook users appreciate a particular Facebook page.
The most recent analyses provide the following insights:
- The average number of Facebook Likes of the online gambling operators analysed was 212,574 .
- The Facebook page of Paddy Power has the greatest number of Likes/fans with 1,180,684 . The two runner-up operators are William Hill and PokerStars.
- An analysis of the total number of Likes of the entire sample shows that the “industry’s” Facebook Likes have increased by 80% since beginning of 2013.
Setting the number of people “talking about this” in relation to the number of overall Likes/fans can serve as an indicator of the level of engagement. The average percentage of people “talking about this” as a proportion of Likes/fans of the online gambling operators we analysed was 2.3%. The Facebook page of Bet365 has the highest level of engagement with the percentage of people “talking about this” as proportion of Likes/fans coming to 8.3%.
MECN also analysed the number of Twitter Followers – the most recent analyses provide the following insights:
- The average number of Followers of the online gambling operators analysed was 49,202 .
- The Twitter page of Paddy Power has the greatest number of Followers with 252,000 . The two runner-up operators are PokerStars and Ladbrokes.
- An analysis of the total number of Followers of the entire sample showed that the “industry’s” Twitter Followers have increased by 93% since beginning of 2013.
