How do digital advertising campaigns via social media affect fans to attend sport events?

Social media have left their mark on every industry and have shaped how we talk and communicate with each other. In particular, in sports business, the reasons and effects of social media advertising on the marketing strategy of sport organizations are numerous. The sports industry is one of the most universal and important institutions in our society. This thesis examines why, how and what to consider in digital advertising, especially how social media ads affect fans in the sport business. The main objectives of this research was to study the use of social media marketing by sports teams in order to optimize the reason of doing social media marketing, the behavior of fans and what can be improved and enhanced social media marketing in order to attract fans effectively. The theoretical framework was constructed around the themes of social media, sports marketing, fan behavior and strategic social media advertising. The characteristics of social media in sport were examined in general. The research was conducted using a quantitative research method. Specifically, using a series of semi-structured interviews. Four Finnish sports industry professionals’ marketers were interviewed about their thoughts and opinions about social media marketing. The data they provided were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. The results show that social media should be seen as a branch, which makes communication easier, cheaper and invigorates relationship management. The research offers new information about sports fans (exciting, brilliant, strong and fun content and videos are the most important attributes that engage fans)