Start-ups are being encouraged to build online communities as part of their CRM strategies, after the owner of social tipping site Footytips was acquired by sports giant ESPN International.<\/p>\n
<\/span> <\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Footytips is owned by Australian company ExtraCorp, founded by Nathan Isterling and Heath Kilgour.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Launched in 1997, Footytips offers social tipping competitions across a multitude of sports including AFL and NRL. The site has attracted thousands of users.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n ExtraCorp has been acquired by US pay TV sport giant ESPN International for an undisclosed sum. Established in 1989, ESPN has networks throughout the world.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The acquisition is intended to strengthen ESPN\u2019s digital audience, advertising revenue and local content in Australia.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n In addition to managing social tipping competitions, Footytips has developed numerous fantasy games and allows users to chat and socialise through the site, while providing a raft of information around live scores, tipping guides, polls and trivia.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Footytips is completely free \u2013 it doesn\u2019t receive any money for tipping competitions and does not facilitate the exchange of money.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n However, the highly engaged audience returns to the site on a regular basis; a particularly valuable proposition to advertisers.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n According to Mile Morrison, ESPN vice president and general manager for the Asia Pacific, the acquisition will enable the company to further enhance its position in Australia.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cSocial tipping is integral to the fabric of the Australian sporting landscape,\u201d Morrison said in a statement.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cFootytips.com.au is an extremely popular tipping platform that combines innovative social media functionality, an innate understanding of the Australian sporting culture and the value of bragging rights to sports fans and their friends.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n According to KPMG digital economy partner Malcolm Alder, start-ups can easily build a community element into their business model, namely via social media.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cCustomers are spending more time on social media, discussing brands and experiences with their friends and networks,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAs a medium, it is not purely \u2018social\u2019. It is an increasingly serious business channel for consumers\u2026 Australian businesses are not capitalising on this online \u2018buzz\u2019 to listen to what their customers are saying.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Aside from Facebook and Twitter, Online Shopping USA co-founder James Harris says blogging is an easy, cost-effective way of building an online community.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Harris says blogging can bring a community element to a site, allowing the business to develop a two-way relationship with its audience.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re trying to get involved with the blogging community by allowing them to build a presence on our site\u2026 We\u2019re focused on building an audience and finding out what that audience wants,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not good enough to allow customers to simply buy online \u2013 you need that community and social media element.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Start-ups are being encouraged to build online communities as part of their CRM strategies, after the owner of social tipping<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":61257,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39911"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39911"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39911\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/61257"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39911"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39911"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39911"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}