Following the hugely successful Rio 2016 Olympic Games, the International Hockey Federation (FIH) reached a crucial milestone as part of the 10-year Hockey Revolution strategy as the Federation's Facebook page surpassed 1 million likes as the global popularity of the sport continues to rise.
With the world's top 12 men's and 12 women's teams battling out for the medals in Brazil, a surge in engagement was experienced during the Olympics as sports fans across the world tuned in to hockey's #SambaSticks campaign by following the FIH Facebook page to keep up to date with all the latest news and action from around the globe.
During the month of August, whilst the Olympic Games were taking place, all of FIH's digital channels saw significant growth. Highlights include:
Facebook
- 28,000 news page likes
- 15 million impressions
- 7.5 million individual users reached
- An increase of 217% in engagement* rate compared to July
- 12m impressions on Twitter
- 387% increase in engagements* on Twitter compared to July
- 132,000 likes on Instagram in August - a 300% increase in engagement* compared to July
*Why is engagement important? – because the size of your audience doesn't matter if no one is paying attention.
Now with over a million fans on Facebook, 77,000 on Twitter and 93,000 on Instagram, hockey is reaffirming itself as one of the most followed Olympic sports on social media, notably the third highest sport on Facebook.
This latest milestone follows four years of continual growth. FIH first posted on the Facebook page in December 2012 and have since built hockey's digital community as it set upon a mission to build a powerful recognised image for hockey through a joined-up global marketing strategy.
By working with athletes, fans, Continental Federations, National Associations, event hosts, commercial partners and various other groups, FIH has increased the quantity and quality of content being shared with the aim of inspiring the next generation of hockey players and engaging new fans.
Over recent months, content generated by athletes and fans have become increasingly popular, which prompted the Federation to launch a number of user generated content campaigns, including 'Goal of the Week, 'Stuff We Love' and 'Trick of the Month', with lots of great content being sent in from across the world each day.
Reaching this milestone is the latest evidence that the sport's 10-year strategy - the Hockey Revolution, is delivering results. Aimed at making hockey a global game that inspires the next generation, digital channels such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are key to reaching and engaging with younger generations. That has proven so with 69% of FIH Facebook fans aged 13-24 years of age.
To find out more about the Hockey Revolution, click here.
