Twitter England World Cup

Three ways the World Cup will impact Twitter

Twitter England World Cup

Three ways the World Cup will impact Twitter

The start of the 2018 World Cup is now just over a week away and if you can’t be in Russia yourself, an alternative way to immerse yourself into the occasion is to dive into social media and like, share and tweet as you take the games in.

The 2014 World Cup was Twitter’s “biggest ever event” and the microblogging site expects another surge in engagement as this summer’s football action unfolds. With it being the largest single sport event on the planet, it would be naive not to expect Twitter to embrace and change during the next few weeks, and here are some things to expect:

1. A surge in advertising

Traditionally, World Cups have been known for creative, high-budget television adverts, especially for sportswear giants like Nike and Adidas, usually featuring top players showing off their football skills in airports, ships, condemned buildings and other unfamiliar surroundings. Nike appears to have released its effort from this year:

Today, though, we can’t escape ads by simply making a cup of tea at half time. If we follow sports on the internet, we’re sure to be bombarded by the likes of Coca-Cola, McDonalds, Budweiser, VISA, Qatar Airways and the various other sponsors of the tournament.

Analysts have suggested that the upcoming surge in World Cup advertising makes now an excellent time to invest in shares in Twitter. Even though the U.S. failed to qualify this time, with American media giant Fox Sports adding every World Cup goal to its Twitter feed, companies are sure to want to latch onto this wave of Twitter activity.

2. Video mayhem

This could well be the World Cup of video, not least with the controversial and still very flawed VAR being used to “assist” referees at the tournament. Twitter, too, has revealed that it will be embracing video during the tournament, offering daily, exclusive content. Football’s growing South East Asian market will be targeted as well, with Malaysian, Filipino and Indonesian Twitter users being offered World Cup highlight clips almost as they happen.

3. Hashtags spawned as the tournament happens

Last World Cup saw popular hashtags emerge as the tournament progressed. For example, when USA goalkeeper Tim Howard produced an inspired display against Belgium, people started having some fun with #thingshowardcansave.

If any player has a fantastic game, scores a wonderful goal or has a complete shocker, expect Twitter to react in its usual imaginative and lightning quick way.

How can businesses join in?

Remember that the World Cup is not just a lot of football matches, but a coming together of 32 nations, where countries as diverse as England, Russia, Brazil, Australia, Japan, Panama, Iceland, Senegal and Saudi Arabia all lock horns. In that way, it could be seen as a celebration of world culture and what each nation can bring.

Whatever your business, whether it’s architecture, food or accountancy, there’s sure to be some way you can link it to the wider world. Keep an eye on the fixtures and be imaginative – you might be surprised by how much there is to share about Uruguayan kitchens or Serbian business coaching!

John Murray

Get in touch

Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.
Acceptance

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

>

Book a consultation with Engage Web