AI is like this super cool new thing.
But most clubs are using it wrong. And it could have some pretty bad consequences.
As the common person starts to adopt AI, there has been a prolific increase in the amount of GPT-generated graphics being shoved onto Instagram.
It’s ugly.
Supporters notice these things. Consciously or subconsciously, social media is there to update your followers and celebrate performances. It’s there for you to show off the great things about your club. To try to convince others to join. And last time I checked, you join clubs because of the people who are there, and the atmosphere they help to create.
Someone, please, tell me how AI-generated graphics showcase any of those things.
Chucking some information into AI isn’t celebrating your players. All the effort they put into the club, and all you do is spend 20 seconds on a quick prompt.
It just doesn’t seem fair. And it looks terrible. Sponsors certainly won’t be supporting it. Because if you’re not going to put the effort into doing something properly, why should they spend their money with you?
This isn’t to say that AI doesn’t have a place in the club cricket world. It’s there to speed things up.
As Head of Media at HCPCL, I use AI in my processes. Every Sunday, I get a report emailed to me via an automation I have set up, with the top scores, wins, losses, and other important statistics I need.
I use these to write my reports, design the Team of the Week graphics and speed up my process.
I’m still going out every weekend, trying to capture these moments and thinking of better ways to engage the community and show players they’re valued.
We see it across so many profiles. And sometimes, these graphics might look good – but they’re not actually doing anything for your club. The engagement is poor; Meta will probably stop prioritising them in the algorithm, and it’s simply not authentic.
Sponsors see low effort. Players don’t feel celebrated. The club loses its authenticity.
Instead?
Invest in photography and videography. Whether that’s us, someone in your club, or some budding University students who are in need of some work experience.
The important thing is delivering for your members. Not showing they don’t matter.
Here are our recommendations for how to use AI within your club when it comes to marketing the great things you do:
- Audit – add the extension to Chrome, load up your social profiles and ask it to audit your most recent posts. See what works, what doesn’t and what needs changing.
- Captions & Copy – we’re not all William Shakespeare. It’s okay to use AI-generated captions, as long as you edit them to reflect your club’s tone of voice.
- Scraping – going through play-cricket stats takes a long time! Set up an AI automation, so you can spend the time on how you want to present this information.
