Catalina Boneo, partner manager, Adaptly

Social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram are where today’s global communities come together, and there are few activities that create stronger communities than sports and fitness. Between athletes and sports fans and enthusiasts, millions of people across the world turn to these social platforms to connect around a love for sports. 64 million people worldwide joined the Super Bowl conversation on Facebook in 2017, with another 44 million chiming in on Instagram, which Facebook owns. People also use the platforms to discuss their own fitness and personal goals: the number one New Year’s resolution this year was losing weight and eating healthier.

A sporting goods retailer’s place within these active online communities is promoting and facilitating healthy lifestyles and a love for sports. Sports brands can engage Facebook and Instagram users with first looks at new apparel through the Collection or carousel ad units, behind-the-scenes action in Stories or Live videos, and fitness and style inspiration. Both Facebook and Instagram have been key in fueling the sports communities, with actively engaged users following athletic retailers on each.

Develop a social advertising strategy using the strengths of Facebook and Instagram with recommendations from Adaptly.

1. Go behind-the-scenes with Instagram Stories: Get personal with a celebrity, influencer, or athlete that embodies your brand and feature the products the campaign is focusing on.
2. Leverage Collection Unit to introduce new products and drive sales: Showcase your brand’s latest product offering and related items with a video that draws attention to the Collection unit, which is a fast-loading, full-screen experience in which users can instantly browse and shop for more products.
3. Use Canvas to tell your brand story through sport influencers: Shoot short, mobile-optimized video featuring a celebrity or sports team wearing your brand’s latest gear and highlighting the products’ unique advantages and functionalites.
4. Go live during key sports moments for your brand: Seize opportunities to share your brand’s experiences as they happen, like live coverage of pre-game rituals and post-game celebrations, or Q&A’s with the athletes representing your products.
5. Leverage DLX audience segments around live sporting event TV viewership and Seasonal Sporting Audiences: Run a Nielsen TAR Study to measure incremental reach from TV campaigns.
6. Drive awareness of product lines by reaching key targeting segments with a phased approach, ultimately driving sales: By driving awareness in the beginning of a campaign, your brand can build audiences of qualified users who show purchase intent by taking specific actions on your website.
7. Drive store visit and in-store sales around key moments for the brand such as new product releases: Over 90% of retail sales in the U.S. happen in stores, but people are increasingly researching products and business locations on their mobile phones. Facebook’s Store Visits bridges the gap between the online and offline worlds, enabling businesses achieve their end objective of driving customers into a brick-and-mortar store.
8. Utilize the offline conversion API to determine how in-store sales were impacted from the campaign: The Offline Conversions API allows you to match transaction data from your customer database or point-of-sale system to Ads Reporting. The API provides insight into primary purchaser demographics, allows for learnings to be applied to future campaigns, and attributes transactions in real time.

Adaptly is a social media marketing agency.