What matters to football content readers in 2022?
There has been a significant shift in the football content landscape over the last couple of years. Previously, the news was a big traffic driver. Fans wanted to know everything as quickly as possible.
This birthed clickbait. Fed up with the deception, readers changed how they would consume content. We then entered the era of analytical content. Instead of quick hits, audiences wanted to be educated on players, tactics and trends. This coincided with a big data boom in this market.
Now, there are a number of subscription services and people are willing to pay for quality content.
There’s no manual for success and the demands of audiences can, and do, change on a daily basis. While there’s no shortcut to nailing it, there are a number of ways that you can build a rapport with your audience in a way that guarantees loyalty.
Through our experience of seeing our products in action, plus our continued work as a Content Services provider in the football industry, we feel well placed to talk about what matters to readers.
Show that you get it
In this instance, it is whatever you are talking about.
Readers are knowledgeable enough to know when someone is making it up as they go along. They are experts in their own right and it is easy for them to spot when a writer is effectively winging it.
By winging it, we mean they have done basic research but haven’t necessarily familiarised themselves with the nuances of a team, player or tactic. As a result, they will flag a particular positive stat that has no relevance. For example, instead of looking at what a transfer target would have to do for a team, they have looked at their stats and just highlighted the ones they deem to be good.
How does that benefit the reader though? They can do that themselves. What they are after is a better understanding of the link.
Show that you understand the team, tactics and roles and you gain their trust. Have that and they are likely going to return to read more pieces.
Personality
Readers are now aligned with a writer and not an outlet.
Allowing them the freedom to add their personality to content is what will help them stand out. They are then able to cultivate a loyal following and you are almost guaranteed sessions, traffic and clicks.
It ties into the above, but trust is a big factor in all of this. If readers are familiar with a writer, their style, their brand and their personality, there is trust even without realising it is there. If there is a sense of authenticity and realism, readers are more inclined to give up their time to familiarise themselves with the work.
It is why, generally speaking, if you ask people where are the best places to read football content, they will reel off a list of writers, not publications.
Value
This should be a given but sometimes the need to hit targets takes priority.
If there is a transfer to write about, don’t just rehash a Wikipedia entry. Give the reader something different. That doesn’t mean you have to spend hours researching them, you just need to be able to put your own bespoke spin on it so that if they take time out of their day to read your stuff, they are getting something worthwhile.
Quality is very subjective. Some think a piece improves with stats, but how useful is that if they are used poorly? Writing 3,000 words doesn’t necessarily mean it is a quality piece of work either.
If you break it down properly, people deem something to be quality if they are able to take something away from it. Just ensure you are providing value.
All the graphics and visualisations in this article use Wyscout data and were produced in the Twenty3 Toolbox.
If you think the Toolbox could help your organisation either in the Media or Pro industry, please don’t hesitate to request a demo here.