Image via mercenie.com Kings XI Punjab have been in the news since the beginning of the IPL owing to co-owner Preity Zinta’s popularity amongst the masses. Wadia Group’s Ness Wadia and Dabur’s Mohit Burman are also the co-owners of this high profile team. The team is yet to win the IPL and have progressed from the group stages only once but with the presence of overseas players Glenn Maxwell and David Miller along with some fine batting from Manan Vohra and Wriddhiman Saha has ensured side’s progress into the playoffs.
Facebook:
On Facebook, the Kings XI Punjab have more than 4.3 million fans. This season of IPL has seen their fan base increase by almost two millions since the inception. The team has managed to gather fans from almost all parts of the world with Bangladesh and Pakistan following India as the country with most number of Kings XI Punjab fans. Despite the presence of quality Australian players in the side, it’s interesting to see only a few people supporting the side on Facebook.
Most of the content shared on the Facebook page is in the form of photos or status. The status count is high since the Facebook page provides up-to-date commentary during the matches. The use of #KXIP is quite popular and makes it easier to keep a track of the tweets pertinent to the team.
The page allows fans to post their opinions which are visible to whoever visits the page. The fans make use of this feature often to make their feelings regarding the performances known. However, the page admins never respond to anything that is posted on the page. Every update on the Facebook page over the last seven days has received an average of 27,602 likes, 1,060 comments and 440 shares. Even in this, updates that have carried images have received the maximum interactions.
The team also holds competitions from time to time in association with its sponsors which help in keeping the fan engagement at a high level. They also post interesting info-graphics in the build up to the games. All in all, their Facebook wall post is always abuzz with some activity or the other!
Twitter:
On Twitter, Kings XI Punjab have around 273K followers. The content being shared is almost similar to that being posted on Facebook but the updates are more frequent and concise. In all, 14,882 tweets have been sent thus far in addition to uploading 716 images/videos.
As is evident from the picture, Kings XI Punjab has been creating buzz in their desired age group with 93% of mentions coming from people between the 13-20 age group. They could perhaps work on getting mentions from the 21-40 age groups. While talking of mentions, it is evident that the number of mentions received on match days increases when being compared to days when the team is not in action. Also, the sentiment thus far has been largely positive owing to a strong performance on the pitch in this edition.
YouTube:
Kings XI Punjab is very active on its YouTube channel and has more than 15,600 subscribers. Since joining the platform in 2010, their videos have received over 1.2 million views. The videos that are posted are categorized in various playlist as per the IPL season.
These videos provide the build up to the games and also provide exclusive reviews post match. They also provide an insight into the lives of the players as they prepare for matches after matches in the tight schedule of the IPL. The length of the videos is generally from 2-5 minutes meaning people can easily watch them anytime!
Instagram:
Instagram is used to share behind the screen images that provide a personal touch to everything and everyone involved with the team. The Instagram account has 7,849 followers and has made 152 posts that receive around 750-1000 likes per post.
Google Plus:
The club is equally active on Google+ and has 739,915 followers on the platform. The content posted is similar to Facebook and Twitter but the frequency of updates and fan engagement is very less. That could be attributed to people not being much active on Google Plus in general.
Mobile App:
In addition to aforementioned platforms, Kings XI Punjab also have mobile apps for Android and iPhone developed by iDubba. The app gives information like latest score updates, league standings, schedule etc. along with detailed information of the squad, statistics, pictures and videos. Apart from this, a live in-app Fan Wall is also made available where fans can engage with each other and the team through Facebook and Twitter, making the app more interactive. The Android app has been downloaded thousands of times and has been rated 5 star by 708 users while only 98 users have rated it as 3 star or less.
