Tokyo 2020 is a Games like no other. With no live audiences, digital content and distribution are more important than ever.
So, let’s deep dive into a few key trends and insights we’ve uncovered to date.
How much content?
Since the start of the Games, International Federations (IFs) have produced over 23K posts on social media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube). These have generated more than 50m engagements and 225m video views.
Where is the content being posted?
Because of all the broadcasting restrictions and resources, only 2% of content has been posted on YouTube. Twitter has accounted for 58% of total posts, their main purpose being to inform fans of schedules, live scores and results.
How engaged are fans?
Facebook and Instagram have similar levels of output overall, although engagement levels are 5x higher on Instagram.
However, Facebook has generated 2x as many video views (140m) as Instagram (70m), suggesting that it is still the platform of choice for this type of digital content.
What has this meant for growth?
IF audiences have grown by 2.6m fans across Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube. Half of this growth has come from Facebook (1.3m), followed by Instagram (858k), YouTube (302k) and Twitter (1434k).
IFs have experienced the fastest growth on Instagram – on average growing by 2.9% (5.4k fans). They are finding it more difficult to grow on Twitter, with an average increase of just 1.6k fans.
So…what has been the best-performing post?
Typically, best-performing posts are athletes celebrating their gold medals. One thing they have in common is that they all use paid engagements which seems to be the general theme on Facebook to leverage fanbases from markets such as Philippines and Egypt.
Top 3 best-performing post on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube & Twitter
1. FIBA leverages their fanbase in Philippines producing throwback content to the FIBA World Cup after weightlifter, Hidilyn Diaz win the country’s first ever Olympic gold medal.
2. FINA posted a photo of Team USA winning gold in the men’s 4x100m Freestyle.
3. IHF posted a photo of Egypt becoming the first African team to reach the Olympic semi-finals.
1. BWF celebrating Indonesia’s first ever Olympic champions in the women’s doubles.
Luar biasa‼️
We salute 🇮🇩 Indonesia’s first ever #Olympic champions 🥇 in women’s doubles. #RaiseARacket 🏸 #Tokyo2020 #Olympics pic.twitter.com/X6ez1Yiaqj
— BWF (@bwfmedia) August 2, 2021
2. Volleyball World post a picture after Japan beat Iran to earn a place in the knockout stage of the men’s tournament.
FLY HIGH NIPPON 🇯🇵!
If #Haikyuu was a movie in real life, the world saw it tonight with this team.#Volleyball #Tokyo2020 #TokyoHereWeGo pic.twitter.com/5Ul6x7Sdw5
— Volleyball World (@volleyballworld) August 1, 2021
3. BWF adding graphics to popular Indonesia star, Anthony Sinisuka Ginting, after he won his quarter final match.
Did you witness the transformation? 👀@sinisukaanthony just transformed into Super Saiyan Ginting! 🔥🔥#Tokyo2020 #Olympics pic.twitter.com/DsPALseL0s
— BWF (@bwfmedia) July 31, 2021
1. ITF celebrating Alexander Zverev and Belinda Bencic winning Olympic gold.
View this post on Instagram
2. BWF paying tribute to Indonesia’s first ever Olympic champions in the women’s doubles.
View this post on Instagram
3. This was one of the best organic posts (again, from BWF), combining action on the court with a photo-shop from Kung Fu Panda!
View this post on Instagram
