Simon Dumenco of Advertising Age reports on the trendiest topics on Twitter from last week. The list includes the UFC at #10, ahead of the NFL and the other major North American sports leagues.
“And it’s interesting to me,” Liz continues, “how in the past couple of years, the UFC — Ultimate Fighting Championship — has become a rival to the enormously popular wrestling and internationally popular boxing circuit. I think it might have something to do with the regularly scheduled large-scale events and the fact that the fighters are a very international group of athletes.”
Remarkably, the UFC (at No. 10) charts higher on our list than the NFL (No. 15) — though European football (soccer) beat them both, taking the No. 1 spot this week, thanks largely to Mazembe.
Payout Perspective:
The UFC has done a remarkable job of using social media to engage its fans and increase interest in its brand. It truly is leading all other North American sports properties in this regard. Now, the results are starting to speak for themselves as UFC fans are taking to Twitter or Facebook to interact with the brand and fellow fans; in the last week alone hashtags like UFC124, GSP, Danzig, and Pettis have been trending topics worldwide.
Digital Royalty is the specialty marketing agency that has helped the UFC to implement much of its social media strategy, including the very popular #Hunt4UFC series in local event markets. I love these Hunt4UFC’s not just because they allow the company to interact with fans and reward them for their dedication to the brand, but also because the meeting places help drive business to corporate partners like Burger King or Dave & Busters. It is very difficult to measure return on sponsorship, but the UFC is providing its partners with tangible benefits with these Hunt4UFCs and that goes a long way. Right now it might just be a gesture of goodwill, but in the future this is something the UFC can offer as a part of its benefit package to sponsors.
HeHe Twitter must be outranking other social media websites