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To view a copy of this licence, visit: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ 44 The Contribution of Social Media Promotion Towards Participants' Interest to Join the Permata Sakti National Virtual Run 2020 Ilman Zuda Septiawan 1A-D* , Rumini Rumini 2A-C , Billy Castyana 3A-E 1Department of Physical Education, Faculty of Sports Science, Universitas Negeri Semarang, Indonesia 2Department of Physical Education, Faculty of Sports Science, Universitas Negeri Semarang, Indonesia 3Department of Physical Education, Faculty of Sports Science, Universitas Negeri Semarang, Indonesia ABSTRACT This is descriptive quantitative research using survey methods. The researchers took data from a questionnaire filled out by participants in the Permata Sakti National Virtual Run 2020. Respondents filled out a questionnaire in Google Form with a 4-point Likert scale that has variables, namely, social media as a promotional medium, interaction between social media users, social media as brand equity, social media as a brand attitude, and the participant's decision to take part in the championship. Data from 39 respondents was then analyzed using Spearman Rank in the IBM SPSS Statistics 25 application, and these results were also supported by a SWOT analysis of related scientific articles. Based on the data obtained, it can be seen that participants have an age range of 14–65 years, with the majority of social media used being WhatsApp and Instagram. Data also shows that promotion using social media in the event has a significance value of 0.749, which means it has a strong relationship, and the level of influence is 69.8%. These results are also supported by the results of the SWOT analysis, where the use of social media is considered efficient and flexible in spreading promotions because it is easy and fast. Keywords: sports marketing; virtual sports event; social media Corresponding author: *Ilman Zuda Septiawan, Department of Physical Education, Faculty of Sports Science, Universitas Negeri Semarang, Semarang (50229), Indonesia; E-mail: ilmanzuda30@students.unnes.ac.id Article History: Received: December 21, 2022 Accepted after revision: March 22, 2023 First Published Online: April 30, 2023 Authors’ contribution: A) Conception and design of the study; B) Acquisition of data; C) Analysis and interpretation of data; D) Manuscript preparation; E) Obtaining funding. Cite this article: Septiawan, I. Z, Rumini, R., & Castyana, B. (2023). The Contribution of Social Media Promotion Towards Participants' Interest to Join the Permata Sakti National Virtual Run 2020. Indonesian Journal of Sport Management, 3(1), 44-51. https://doi.org/10.31949/ijsm.v3i1.4085 INTRODUCTION The COVID-19 virus outbreak has occurred since 2019 and spread so fast that Indonesia implemented a lockdown to avoid crowds, which resulted in the transmission of the virus (Hasanah et al., 2020). To overcome the current conditions, the government implements a Clean and Healthy Lifestyle (PHBS) policy, keeps a distance, and reduces crowds (Zukmadini et al., 2020). This has had a significant impact on the world of sports. The postponement of major event matches and races in Indonesia is very detrimental to the parties concerned, especially athletes who are supposed to compete and are forced to postpone this opportunity. Apart from that, economic income from the business value of event organizers has decreased due to the sports industry not operating normally. To minimize this, mailto:ilmanzuda30@students.unnes.ac.id https://doi.org/10.31949/ijsm.v3i1.4085 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5715-990X https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8041-3654 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5715-990X https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8041-3654 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5715-990X https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8041-3654 Indonesian Journal of Sport Management https://ejournal.unma.ac.id/index.php/ijsm/ Septiawan et al., Volume 3, Number 1, 2023, 44-51 45 event organizers changed event activities that were originally offline directly to online indirectly through social media. The Permata Sakti National Virtual Run is a sporting event that is held online. Organizing events online intends to accommodate or increase the flight hours of athletes who rarely participate in competitions due to the Corona virus outbreak. Participants have the distinct advantage of not being required to gather in one place because they can take part in a running championship anywhere, including in their respective regions. Sports activities can be used as a community effort by paying attention to the involvement of the committee, spectators, and sponsors who have carried out the event (Marwan et al., 2018). However, organizing the event this time is different from the previous year; the committee does not require quite a lot of costs, such as renting a place, but what is needed is good communication, marketing, and promotion using social media to attract participants (Prastiani et al., 2020). In carrying out the course of the event, the organizer must also have a marketing strategy, namely in the form of publicizing and promoting events that aim to attract participants (Kustiawan, 2018). There are several promotional activities that can be carried out, namely advertising, sales promotion, public relations, publicity, and direct marketing (Hanida et al., 2020). Event suitability, sponsorship targets, and financial performance also need to be considered by sports event organizers and sports sponsors (Jung & Kim, 2015). Apart from that, promoting activities also require good communication to expedite delivery and carry out promotional relationships with audiences (Jacqueline & Kusniadji, 2019). This is, of course, inseparable from the role of social media as a promotional medium during events (Merek et al., 2016). The development of the use of social media in Indonesia is increasing every year, for children, teenagers, and even parents, because accessing it using smartphones is more efficient and cheap. Therefore, participants can access sports event information anywhere by using a smartphone (Semuel & Setiawan, 2018). In promoting using social media, you also have to use proper ethics, such as chat forms and even uploading posters on social media. Many people get information using social media, such as Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, and so on. One of them was that the use of the Instagram application in Indonesia at the age of 18–29 reached 83%, aged 30-49 years, 18%, and at the age of 50–64 years, as much as 6% (Indika & Jovita, 2017). WhatsApp, which has various features such as sending messages, sending files and documents, video calls, and group chats, has also been noted to use this medium, with a total of 1.5 billion users worldwide (Riadi et al., 2018). There are quite a number of Facebook users in Indonesia, reaching 65 million, and Twitter users reach 30 million (Aryansyah et al., 2020). Promotion with social media has the advantage of providing information about events with a wider scope (Puspitarini & Nuraeni, 2019). In the current situation, people also spend a lot of time on social media, and even the information provided is not only word of mouth but can also be shared through posts, Instagram stories, or the distribution of group links (Fadly & Wantoro, 2019). Event organizers must also communicate well and ensure that the championship is interesting (Jacqueline & Kusniadji, 2019). Based on online observations via WhatsApp with the chief executive of the Permata Sakti National Virtual Run 2020, Akbar Tanjung (2021) said that this time the event was almost fully organized using social media, promoting this event by Indonesian Journal of Sport Management https://ejournal.unma.ac.id/index.php/ijsm/ Septiawan et al., Volume 3, Number 1, 2023, 44-51 46 using several social media, such as WhatsApp, by disseminating information through stories and groups, and posting information about the championship via Facebook and Instagram, targeting all Indonesian people. However, how effective this is in attracting participants to participate in the 2020 Permata Sakti National Virtual Run needs to be discussed further. Later, through this research, it can become a reference for increasing promotions through social media in virtual championships. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY This research method uses a quantitative survey approach to take the research method. The survey was conducted online using the Google form with a 4-point Likert scale questionnaire with the independent variables in the form of social media as promotional media, interaction between social media users, social media as brand equity, and social media as brand attitude, while the dependent variable was the participant's decision to participate. Permata Sakti Virtual Run 2020. The population in this study were all 50 participants in the Permata Sakti Virtual Run 2020 and used purposive sampling as a sampling technique. Respondents who become the sample must meet the requirements, namely registered as participants and willing to become respondents. After the data was obtained, the data was processed using the IBM SPSS Statistics 25 program. In addition, this study also collected literature that was used as supporting data for conducting a SWOT analysis on social media. RESULTS Based on the results of the Rank Spearman test, it shows that the contribution of social media to promote the virtual sports event on the level of interest of participants in participating in championships produces a value of 0.749. This shows that the two are correlated and have a strong relationship. Table 1. Spearman rank correlation analysis results Correlations Social Media Participants Spearman's rho Social Media Correlation Coefficient 1.000 .749 ** Sig. (2-tailed) . .000 N 39 39 Participants Correlation Coefficient .749 ** 1.000 Sig. (2-tailed) .000 . N 39 39 **. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). These results are then tested with the R square test to determine the effect between the two variables being tested. The R Square test results show a value of 0.69, which means that the two variables have an effect of 69.8%. Table 2. R square coefficient test analysis results Measures of Association R R Squared Eta Eta Squared Participant * Social Media .835 .698 .956 .914 From these results, researchers also conducted a SWOT analysis to support the existing results. It should be noted that in this study participants were dominated by Indonesian Journal of Sport Management https://ejournal.unma.ac.id/index.php/ijsm/ Septiawan et al., Volume 3, Number 1, 2023, 44-51 47 using social media in the form of Whatsapp with a percentage of users by 36%, then Instagram users by 32%, then 18% Facebook users, 13% YouTube users, and 1% Twitter users. The following are the results of the SWOT analysis on each social media: Table 3. SWOT analysis on Whatsapp Strength -The spread of promotions via WhatsApp is easy -People use WhatsApp a lot Weakness -Promotion via WhatsApp is only for people who know the business owner's personal number -The duration of promotional uploads in the form of videos is limited -Promotions tend to be monotonous because the WhatsApp feature is just like that Opportunity -The spread of promotions via WhatsApp can be arranged for anyone through the available features -Price competition Threat -Products easily imitated by other business owners Table 4. SWOT Analysis on Instagram Strength -Efficient and flexible use of Instagram -Promotion via Instagram is easy and fast to spread Weakness -Less promotion of products that are being marketed -Business owners don't know much about Instagram -Use of Instagram in society is not evenly distributed Opportunity -Add hashtags to posts to make it easier to search for a product -Price competition Threat -Products imitated by others if they do not have distinctiveness -Less attractive in promotions so consumers are not interested Table 5. SWOT Analysis on Facebook Strength -The spread of promotions via Facebook is considered easy -People use Facebook a lot Weakness -Less promotion of the product being promoted -Business owners lack mastery of the field they are currently working on -Not all people use Facebook Opportunity -Additional hashtags to posts can be added to make it easier to search for a product -Price competition Threat -Products are very easy to imitate by others if they do not have different advantages -Less attractive in promotions so consumers are not interested Table 6. SWOT Analysis on YouTube Strength -Promotional deployment through YouTube is easy to do -People use YouTube a lot -Business owners are free to express themselves using YouTube with unlimited features in it Weakness -Less product promotion -Business owners are less creative in making interesting work Indonesian Journal of Sport Management https://ejournal.unma.ac.id/index.php/ijsm/ Septiawan et al., Volume 3, Number 1, 2023, 44-51 48 Opportunity -Add hashtags to posts to make it easier to search for a product -Price competition Threat -Products imitated by others -Less attractive in promotions so consumers are not interested Table 7. SWOT Analysis on Twitter Strength -Use of Twitter is efficient and flexible -The spread of promotions through social media is easy and fast Weakness -Less promotion of products that are being marketed -Use of Twitter in society is not evenly distributed Opportunity -Adding the hashtag feature to posts makes it easier to search for a product -Price competition Threat -Products imitated by others -Less attractive in promotions so consumers are not interested Discussion From the results of the data analysis presented above, it can be seen that the contribution of promotion using social media to the Permata Sakti Virtual Run 2020 online championship has a strong relationship. And there are the results of the SWOT analysis in this study, including the use of social media, which is considered efficient and flexible in spreading promotions because it is considered easy and fast to be supported by the large number of people who use social media a lot in their daily lives. The use of social media during a pandemic is very helpful in spreading news. Lockdown activities during the COVID-19 pandemic were not a very big problem because activities could be shifted from offline to online. It cannot be denied that these results are also supported by research that has been carried out previously, where the explanation in previous research is that promotion using social media can attract interest in potential participants (Lukito & D, 2020). This explanation is also based on other research that shows that the use of social media has a significant influence on purchasing decisions (William & Aripradono, 2020). This is because most consumers use social media in their daily lives. Consumers use social media a lot because they feel they have advantages in the form of a flexible and efficient usage model (Puspasari & Adawi, 2020). Choosing social media as a promotional medium is necessary to grow a business with a broad reach; however, the lack of effort in the field of promotion usually becomes an obstacle to the dissemination of information regarding the product being promoted (Puspasari & Adawi, 2020). In the research data that has been presented by researchers at the Permata Sakti Virtual Run 2020 online championship with an age range of 14–65 years, It can be seen that the youth category dominates the use of social media, with a percentage of 36% of WhatsApp users, 32% of Instagram users, 18% of Facebook users, 13% of YouTube users, and 1% of Twitter users. In this case, it is in line with the statement that Indonesian youth are included in the group of high social media users (Rafi et al., 2020). With the following, researchers have a basis on which the promotion of the Permata Sakti Virtual Run 2020 online championship uses social media. In the current era, it cannot be denied that the use of social media is very high for many people, regardless of age (Adhitomo, 2017). At this time, consumers tend to go through social media to find what they want rather than through print media Indonesian Journal of Sport Management https://ejournal.unma.ac.id/index.php/ijsm/ Septiawan et al., Volume 3, Number 1, 2023, 44-51 49 such as newspapers and magazines because social media is considered more practical in terms of how to access it (Nugraha, 2017). The growing marketing industry can be used as a turning point to reverse the economic downturn in recent years affected by the pandemic. The use of social media has great opportunities as a promotional medium, including by way of competitive prices (Puspasari & Adawi, 2020). Plus, at this time, people cannot be far from social media as a medium to find information and other things; it is a breath of fresh air for business owners (Soeswoyo et al., 2018). In the promotion used by the Permata Sakti Virtual Run 2020 online championship, the promotional media used is Instagram. It can be suggested to the championship organizers to add hashtags with the aim of potential participants to see posts uploaded on Instagram such as #permatasakti, #kejuaraanpermatasakti, and others. CONCLUSION From the results of the research that has been done, it can be concluded that there is a correlation between the contribution of social media promotion and capturing participants, so it can be concluded that the contribution of promotion through social media in capturing participants in the Permata Sakti Virtual Run 2020 online championship can be categorized as strong. 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