Capturing the attention of over 8.5 million people in 2015 on social media alone (up by 3 million in 2014), there’s no doubt social media has a huge part to play when it comes to The Wimbledon Tennis Championships.

To date, Wimbledon has more Facebook, Twitter and Instagram followers than The Australian, French and US Open.

We’re lucky enough to be just down the road from the action, and we’ve whittled down the tactics the All English Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) uses on social media.

 

Which social media channels is Wimbledon on?

 

  1. Facebook (incl. Japanese) – www.facebook.com/wimbledon
  2. Twitter – www.twitter.com/wimbledon
  3. Instagram – www.instagram.com/wimbledon
  4. Google+ – plus.google.com/+wimbledon
  5. YouTube – www.youtube.com/c/wimbledon
  6. Periscope – www.periscope.tv/wimbledon
  7. Vine – vine.co/u/911632124128407552
  8. Snapchat (mobile only – username Wimbledon)
  9. Pinterest – www.pinterest.com/wimbledon
  10. Weibo (China)
  11. WeChat (China)
  12. Line (Japan)

 

How has Wimbledon used these social media channels?

 

Twitter

  • Bespoke hashtag emojis for #Wimbledon, #TheQueue, #TheHill, #TheWorld
  • Live tweeting exclusive videos and behind-the-scenes photos
  • Using Twitter’s live video feature, Periscope, to stream live footage in and around the grounds
  • Live play statistics

 

Facebook

  • Original content, video and images
  • Linking closely to sponsor’s Facebook pages with collaborative non-salesy videos
  • Sharing live behind-the-scenes videos
  • Building up to the event with #WimbledonAwaits and #Wimblewatch

 

Instagram

  • Exclusive content, on-court and behind-the-scenes
  • Takeovers from celebrities and Wimbledon-related staff

 

Snapchat

  • Live stories (which are only available to view for 24 hours)
  • Personalised Snapchat geo-targeted filters

 

YouTube

  • Live @ Wimbledon
  • 360-degree drone footage

 

Pinterest

  • Wimbledon Party board
  • Wimbledon facts

Most importantly, Wimbledon makes sure to share original, individual content on all platforms. They stay on-brand over all platforms, keeping continuity of fonts, colours, and all other branding to create a seamless experience.

 

What’s so special about Wimbledon tennis compared to other tournaments?

 

    • Media content is king – 34% of all Wimbledon’s Twitter posts include either a video or picture, compared to the French Open (25%), US Open (15%) and Australian Open (14%)

 

    • Branding – You can’t quite beat the history of Wimbledon. The gravitas, the royal and celebrity attendees, the dress code, and even down to the strawberries & cream and Pimm’s! They stay true to their strong brand values and call on their archive footage to create interesting, shareable stories

 

    • Behind the scenes – Fans aren’t just given the facts and scores on social media, they’re given behind the scenes access. In 2014, Roger Federer gave a tour of the grounds via Periscope (Twitter’s live video feature). And who can forget the real-time video of David Beckham catching a tennis ball? The Beckham catch video gained over 10 million views, by the way.

 

What’s in store for Wimbledon 2016?

 

The Championships are launching an Apple TV app, where smartphone app users can post their own shareable “Wimbledon Story” (think Snapchat stories) by uploading photos during the tournament, whether at home or in attendance.

Something that’s been up the AELTC’s sleeve since last year, a powerful computer called Watson will be making an appearance at Wimbledon 2016. To help AELTC keep an eye on all things Wimbledon on social media, Watson analyses vast amounts of text and creates meaning from it. Watson can instantly learn what the hottest topics are and can even respond with relevant articles, posts, tweets, stats and images. The team has already trained Watson to memorise every match statistic since the beginning of Wimbledon – impressive!

 

How will WTC use social media in the future?

 

They’re pretty tight-lipped about this, but we have some predictions. The obvious choice would be to stream matches live on social media channels. This would mean tennis fans worldwide could watch a whole match live via Twitter or Facebook Live, pretty incredible, huh?

We know for sure that Wimbledon has been trying to tap into a younger audience for a while now. Whilst the AELTC already use Snapchat, which is used by a majority of 13-24-year-olds, the AELTC doesn’t seem content with the reaction to date. We imagine they’ll up their video production game by creating engaging, shareable content that appeals to a younger audience. Video is the way forward.