Factors Influencing Facebook Page Posts’ Likes, Shares, and Comments in Sport Marketing

Abstract

Social media has turned into a showcasing instrument through the synergy of conventional advertising and innovation. Prior studies in social media literature have examined posting time as a predictor of online engagement based on consumer behavior. However, posting time, from the perspective of page administrators is usually taken for granted and has not been identified completely. The key purpose of this paper is to bridge a research gap in sports related online marketing literature by investigating the impact of content categories, posting time, and types of media on online engagement. Data from a total of 2,499 posts was collected; each Facebook post being coded, and the number of likes, shares, and comments recoded as measurements of online engagement. The findings demonstrate that the effects of content categories, posting time and media types on online engagement were significant in a few cases. Player promotional content obtained the greatest number of likes, and team information received the greatest number of shares and comments. These findings have several practical implications for Facebook page administrators as well as online entrepreneurs.