Whether it’s Facebook, Twitter, or Snapchat, the dominant players in the social networking sphere have been positioning themselves to be the mobile destination for sports fans. Newfound livestreaming services of Meerkat and Periscope offer a new angle to sports rights holders, with each of them, too, likely to devise their own strategies to be an integral part of this coveted space. The trend of external parties becoming increasingly involved in these experiences isn’t a fleeting proposition.
Fancred, a Boston-based startup, is aiming to be home for fans as a sports-focused platform. They have raised over $4 million in venture funding thus far. Their user base has been gradually growing–albeit figures haven’t been disclosed publicly–and has ranked among the top 25 sports apps in the past.
A few months ago, though, their latest development pertained to letting users form more specific profile pages that highlights an album of the respective teams they follow. Fancred would instantly filter and aggregate together user-generated content–derived from its community and team pages–in order to place them in these albums. All of this kind of content lived separately prior to this update. Thus, a centralized hub was configured to better organize everything, creating a better UX.
In essence, these albums function as a memory bank that’s personally curated, making it easily shareable to other users with similar interests.
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Conversely, Fancred has been in the process of developing partnerships with different sports teams to offer exclusive, official content to its medium, hoping to further spike its user numbers.
Having launched its Partner Program earlier this year to serve the digital marketing executives across the sports industry, today marks Fancred’s first NFL team partnership with the Carolina Panthers. This team sees value in being one of the early adopters among team brands on a different platform insofar as building engagement with their fans here. Fancred works with these partners to achieve meaningful access and community to fans, fans who happen to care about being around other like-minded fans via mobile.
“A large segment of Fancred users are self-declared football fans; and the app has seen a lot of momentum among fans of NFL’s NFC South and the SEC. Fancred presents a great opportunity for the Panthers to access fans in their geographical area as well as collegiate demographic,” Lauren Creedon, Director of Partnerships at Fancred, tells SportTechie.
While the Boston Red Sox became the first professional sports teams on Fancred in 2013, the Panthers represent the first team in the pro ranks to enlist themselves on the medium after the debut of fan profiles. The recent efforts of the Partner Program intend to provide additional insights tailored from the experiences that fans share in their profiles. The Panthers, thus, want to be a part of a specialized, mobile community that directly speaks to users that have identified themselves as Panthers fans.
“Through our Partner Program, Fancred is working with the Panthers to develop differentiated fan engagement strategies. The Panthers will be able to connect with fans in a more personalized setting and encourage fans to share their life as a Panthers fan through their fan profiles,” states Creedon.
“The Panthers will be able to use their profile to re-share their favorite fan posts and photos, unveil never-before-seen team photos, give behind-the-scenes access, and host contests and giveaways. Partners like the Panthers are able to use their Fancred profile to speak to fans in an authentic voice, engaging with fans over the course of season in a personalized setting, and sharing in the fan experience,” continued Creedon.
Again, the aforementioned in-app update is relevant towards how Panthers fan consume content differently on Fancred versus the other established, social entities. This digital archive sheds light on how users individually define their fan experience as. Also, what’s shared via team feeds or by their friends on the app can help draw complementary, contextual information about users.
The fact that Fancred users declare who their sports teams are and share anything from photos, moments, games, gear, player, memories, people, and content, such activity makes it convenient that it’s all under one platform, which is dedicated to serving sports fans.
Simply put by Creedon, with regards to the Panthers deciding now to share exclusive content on this platform: “The value in joining Fancred is ultimately what fans share.”
Accordingly, Fancred and its partners organically promote partner Fancred profiles through social channels, in Fancred itself, and via proprietary websites like MakeGamedayEveryday.com. Fans, of course, also organically share content from their Fancred account on their own, which helps for promotion. Panthers fans that now join Fancred will be able showcase their favorite moments with a team that’s actively listening to them. Whenever fans tag the Panthers profile in their posts, the team will see it as well.
The partner accounts that have the most success and engagement on Fancred are those that post with authenticity, a unique brand voice, and quality–not necessarily quantity for the sake of doing so. Creedon believes that the Panthers have a very engaged global fan base that’s active year-round; Fancred expects the Panthers to engage with their fans on a regular basis leading into, and definitely throughout the NFL season.
Fancred at present has over 25 partnerships with teams, universities, media, and brands across the sports landscape. Several official partners have joined Fancred, apparently, organically via fan requests from other social channels.
“Fancred and its partners are successful when fans feel a deeper connection to their team, and the team uses fan profiles to connect and engage with their loyal fans. Over time, fan profiles will allow fans to share even more detail about their life as a fan that will help teams deliver an even more personalized experience to their loyal fans,” says Creedon.
Leading up the NFL Draft and preseason, Fancred is assisting the Panthers to produce even more fan engagement through contests, upload challenges, and sharing exclusive content. By doing so, excitement will take shape surrounding highlights of the previous season and build up for the new season this fall.
Considering that the Carolina Panthers have been analyzed to possess the most polite fans in the NFL, Fancred’s fan-friendly platform aligns with that sentiment coupled with their President’s, Danny Morrison, affinity for it being primarily focused in sports as well.