English football’s biggest clubs are consistently burning through cash by failing to understand and maximise their online advertising, a new report has found.
Having assessed its findings in detail, the report concludes that Premier League clubs are “unable to effectively operate and manage a key commercial channel”.
Leading Google Shopping specialists Dream Agility, who Google recently recognised as one of the leaders in their field across Europe, the Middle East and Africa, audited Premier League football clubs in the week leading up to the start of the 2016/17 season.
The research, which looked at the clubs’ ability to optimise their Google Shopping adverts in response to searches for official replica shirts, found a shocking lack of technical understanding.
In total, more than 100 Product Listing Adverts (PLAs) were assessed against 22 performance-impacting criteria. Points were allocated for each criterion, with a perfect PLA able to amass 180 points – but not a single advert managed to generate 100 points or more.
Dream Agility CEO Elizabeth Clark said: “There are hundreds of thousands of football fans who want to buy a replica shirt, but Premier League clubs are screwing up their Google Shopping spend.
“Our belief is that Premier League clubs have been duped into complacency.
“We suspect they’re using the same agencies they always have, with trusted suppliers operating Sunday League technology and determined to hang on to their profit margins rather than act in interest of their clients.
“Premier League clubs should, in short, invest in Premier League technology and start delivering Golden Boot results.”
Clark added: “Clubs are each faced with a significant opportunity and could be doing so much more to engage their fans and drive increased revenue.
“We calculate that most clubs are wasting 30 to 40 per cent in their Google Shopping spend just from not operating within best practice guidelines.
“If you’re still stuck using a first generation platform to manage your Google Shopping, then you should expect your results to reflect that – and that’s exactly what we found.”
Only 14 per cent of all adverts served across the 20 Premier League clubs came from the clubs’ own stores, with third-party retailers taking the rest of the advertising space.
The report also lets fans have their say.
The full report is available on request or via the Dream Agility website.
Dream Agility, who built the first dedicated tool that allows online advertisers to control and optimize their spend, conversion and ROI, is a multi-million pound software company based in Ramsbottom, Greater Manchester.
Dream Agility’s clients include musicMagpie, Ribble Cycles and The Protein Works and it is backed by software tycoon Derek Lilley, whose previous ventures include Fourth Hospitality.
