Discuss whether social media can truly be used as a tool to generate revenue. Do ticket offers posted on social media sites create new revenue for a team, or do they cannibalize other ticket sales efforts? How effective are teams at realizing ROI from their social media platforms? Show data to support finding?

Social media can truly be used as a tool to generate revenue. The use of social media campaigns helped the Texas Christian University women's volleyball team to increase its revenue by 40%. 

Yes, ticket offers posted on social media sites create new revenue for a team, but they do not cannibalize other ticket sales efforts. The rise of social media has now made it easy for newly emerging teams to reach a sports fan. They only require a skillfully tailored promotional campaign that would motivate the fans to buy their tickets. 

Now, teams can create videos, write blogs, and share on-field moments with interested fans and public. Today, fans can stay updated about recent developments in their favorite sports team and even buy tickets online. 

Sports teams seem to be divided on the issue of the realization of ROI from social media. A detailed explanation has been provided below.

Step-by-step explanation

Social media refers to those online platforms where people interact with each other by sharing photos, videos, and texts. Some common examples of social media platforms are Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and Pinterest. Social media is used for gaining information about the events that are occurring around us and has become a vital part of our life. In business terms, it is used by marketers to increase their audience reach and understand consumer behavior. 

Studies show that 3.8 billion people all over the world are active on social media and this number is increasing rapidly. Social media can truly be used as a tool to generate revenue. Let's take the example of Texas Christian University women's volleyball team. The team used to have a website which was the only point of contact between the team and its fans. Fans used to open the website, sign up for the newsletter and the communication stopped there. 

The TCU team tailored a social media campaign that suddenly increased the number of fans at the stadium. The team used to have 700-800 fans per game before its social media campaign. Now, it sees an average of 1600 fans per game. Its social media campaign helped the team to gain 5200 followers on Facebook and a 40% increase in its revenue. The team also recorded a 26% increase for its summer camp enrolment.

Yes, ticket offers posted on social media sites create new revenue for a team, but they do not cannibalize other ticket sales efforts. Traditionally, established sports teams used to promote themselves through newspapers, banners, events, and television advertisements, while newly emerging teams did not have the required amount of money for advertisements and often had to search for sponsors and donors. No advertisements mean no audience and no audience means no revenue. This situation might disintegrate the team.

The rise of social media has now made it easy for newly emerging teams to reach a sports fan. They only require a skillfully tailored promotional campaign that would motivate the fans to buy their tickets. Now, teams can create videos, write blogs, and share on-field moments with interested fans and public. Today, fans can stay updated about recent developments in their favorite sports team and even buy tickets online. 

Accurate analysis of ROI gained from social media platforms is difficult because a marketer cannot accurately estimate whether a consumer will make a purchase even after he has shown his interest. One of the main problems is the non-disclosure of data required for calculating ROI. Social media sites like Instagram and LinkedIn are strict about sharing their data with companies which limit the ability of the companies to accurately calculate ROI. Most of the companies lack measurement tools, technological framework, and expertise required to keep track of data for analysis. 

Sports teams seem to be divided on the issue of the realization of ROI from social media. For example, the Wolverine Athletic Department of the University of Michigan organizes social media only ticket sales before the football match. The team generated approximately $75,000 through its social media only sale which seems to be promising. On the other hand, in some studies, it has been found that social media marketing played no role in increasing the revenue for the sports teams. Social media is good for engaging sports fans and communicating with them but its effectiveness in increasing ticket sales cannot be proved.