The numbers game
The GAA’s online presence is growing rapidly and it’s Niamh Boyle’s job to ensure content reaches people
“Anything with David Clifford does really well”
“Hurling final pitch team video got 6.7 million views”
AS THE GAA’s digital content manager, Niamh Boyle can neatly sum up her role: ‘Anything that communicates online to our audience, I look after.’
Her day-to-day is a constant whirl of activity and notifications and finding ways to grow an everexpanding audience — the numbers involved are mind-boggling in their own way.
Two years ago, the GAA hit a million followers across its various digital platforms. That has grown significantly since, to where the GAA’s official Twitter account is just under the half-million mark, Instagram is up to 369,000 followers, and Facebook is just over 323k.
And then there’s the engagement around the official website GAA.ie, the YouTube channel, all the clips and archive on GAANOW or the expanding portfolio that now includes a podcast channel.
‘Last year we had 55 million video views,’ says Boyle, which gives an indication of the scale. ‘To give you an idea then of the impressions, how many people are seeing our stuff, last year we had 295 million impressions.
‘Our growth, from January 1 to February 25, we have had 7,897 new followers. So we’re not slowing down by any means.’
Which explains the importance of the social media and digital marketing element in positioning the GAA right now.
‘A lot of people live online, particularly young people. So the importance of being able to produce and deliver diverse content formats like videos or articles is paramount to telling our story and getting our message across.
‘When you see the numbers we have and the number of people online, being there and finding ways to grow is important because it is rapidly changing. So we have to constantly innovate and move with that as well.’
Her phone can and does ping at any minute of the day or night. When you’re dealing with all the various social media platforms, you never quite know what’s going to be the reaction minute by minute, never mind day to day.
‘Social media is the Wild West! So you never know for sure but I have a good sense of our audience.’
Certain things are solid gold in terms of piquing audience interest, Kerry’s back-to-back Footballer of the Year being one of them.
‘Obviously, anything with David Clifford does really well. Anything with David Clifford — or Mayo. Mayo fans just love Mayo. We do a weekly Player of the Week and
Team of the Week which does really well. Any user-generated piece too, where we ask the audience to get involved.
‘Sometimes, it’s a thing you might not expect. I started Instagram Reels. Like short TikTok videos. Where we go behind the scenes or do something fun.
‘One of the videos that we did last year that did really, really well, and my colleague Caitlin Curley did the heavy lifting on this one, we got in really early the day of the All-Ireland hurling final and we followed the pitch team around the pitch. Their whole operations ahead of the match.
‘Just 20-something seconds: lawnmower, cutting the grass, putting up the nets. It got 6.7 million views. One morning of our time.’
So how did she get here? In 2017 Boyle first took on the role of National Social Media Coordinator having completed a Business Degree in DCU and specialised in marketing.
She is currently doing a diploma in Public Relations from the Public Relations Institute of Ireland.
The GAA was an obvious fit given she describes herself as a ‘huge Monaghan supporter’ after growing up in Castleblayney.
‘Every day I drive into Croke Park, I think I’m delighted to be here. Part of me thought, surely that will wear off when you’re in there as often as we are. But it doesn’t wear off. The stadium, there’s always something on. Every day is different.’
All-Ireland final day she describes as ‘The Mecca’. Especially with an access-all-areas pass. ‘It’s the day you get to be one of the fortunate people to stand on the sideline, be involved. To be at the cup lift — to be at that moment, it’s just so pure. Amazing.’
But she aims to share those special moments to as large an audience as possible. ‘Our website is our first one, the one we count. Twitter could shut down tomorrow, whereas the website is always us.
‘My job isn’t just the official GAA.ie website, it’s club websites, it’s county websites, making sure that they all have social and are operating under our policy and guidelines.
‘What underpins it is our values, what we’re here for. What the GAA is all about. What we want to portray and what we want to tell people.
‘During Covid, we pushed a lot of full matches as part of our “Flashback” series. And that did really well. So YouTube is definitely a big part of the strategy.
‘I have a neighbour who is obsessed with David Clifford. Obsessed. He spends his whole time watching David Clifford on YouTube, nothing else. So we’re conscious that we need to be there as well.’
Just last week, the GAA launched a Strategic Plan for World GAA. Given its global reach, the online interaction provides a good indication of the main audiences. ‘From top of my head, it would be Ireland followed by the UK. We have a big audience in the US, Australia, UAE, places where people are emigrating to. Then we have a good size audience in France. Quite often we get comments on our stuff in French.’
Add in the nine Facebook pages she is linked to, including Official GAA, Scór and Féile, and it’s no surprise she says: ‘I get a lot of messages in, constantly. There might be a Canadian who decides at four o’clock their time — but it’s 3am our time — that they want to learn more about the GAA. And they are messaging us. I’ll be there, “Oh my God it’s 3am”. But that’s just part of the gig.’
As for dealing with negative feedback that might flow back around ticket prices or the GAAGO matches, she says: ‘We don’t shy away from that. We welcome when people stand up and say, “Oh I don’t like this”. Or “I wish it was this way” or otherwise. We take all of that on board.
‘When something happens where there is a lot of chatter online, be it negative or positive, we take note of that. We do a huge amount of social listening. And we go back to whatever department or committee it is and say, “Just so you know, there’s a lot of people online who feel this way”.
‘So while we might not necessarily be liking their posts or giving them a thumbs up, we are taking reference of that. Whether it’s prices or otherwise, we see what the atmosphere is.
‘It’s one piece of the jigsaw. We’re not led by it but we do take it on board.’
With a deadline set for 2027 for integration of the GAA, LGFA and Camogie Association, she feels the opportunity is there to really grow a combined audience.
‘It’s exciting to think we are all heading in a direction where we will all be under one roof. For social media, that is yet to be worked out how that will look but it can only be a good thing to bring all three together. A rising tide lifts all boats. I think together we’ll reach an even larger audience. We’re always looking for ways to innovate, tell our story.’