Digital Marketing Strategies and Social Media Metrics for Building Personal Brands in The Pakistan Super League (PSL) of Cricket An Empirical Study of Fan Perceptions and Player Digital Footprints in Pakistan

Authors

  • Maryam Imtiaz Department of Sport Sciences and Physical Education, University of the Punjab, Lahore
  • Muhammad Abdul Jabar Adnan* Department of Sport Sciences and Physical Education, University of the Punjab, Lahore
  • Nabila Raza Higher Education Department, Government of the Punjab, Lahore
  • Neha Tariq Department of Sport Sciences and Physical Education, University of the Punjab, Lahore
  • Ahmad Raza Department of Sport Sciences and Physical Education, University of the Punjab, Lahore
  • Muhammad Tahir Latif Higher Education Department, Government of the Punjab, Lahore
  • Hafiza Mustabshara Irfan Department of Sport Sciences and Physical Education, University of the Punjab, Lahore

Abstract

The Pakistan Super League (PSL) has emerged, since its inception in 2016, as the flagship franchise cricket tournament of Pakistan and a significant vehicle through which cricketers transform themselves from sportspersons into marketable personal brands. This study examines the digital marketing strategies employed by PSL franchises and players, and the social media metrics that most strongly predict personal brand strength, within the Pakistani socio-cultural and digital media context. A mixed-methods design was adopted, combining a structured survey of 320 PSL followers drawn from the four largest metropolitan markets of Pakistan (Lahore, Karachi, Islamabad, and Multan) with a content analysis of 42 official player social media profiles across Instagram, Twitter/X, Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube spanning PSL seasons 5 to 10 (2020-2025). Findings indicate that content authenticity, storytelling/narrative framing, and fan interaction responsiveness are the strongest perceived contributors to personal brand equity, while posting frequency shows a moderate-to-strong positive correlation with engagement rate (r = 0.71). TikTok recorded the highest average engagement rate (6.3%) among the platforms studied, followed by Instagram (4.8%), despite Instagram commanding the larger absolute following. Regression analysis shows that content authenticity, fan interactivity, and storytelling jointly explain a substantial proportion of variance in perceived personal brand strength. The study concludes with practical recommendations for PSL franchises, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), players, and digital marketing practitioners on optimizing athlete personal branding strategies within Pakistan's evolving digital ecosystem.

Keywords: Pakistan Super League, personal branding, digital marketing, social media metrics, athlete branding, cricket marketing, Pakistan, engagement rate, fan engagement

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21699650

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Published

2026-03-25

How to Cite

Maryam Imtiaz, Muhammad Abdul Jabar Adnan*, Nabila Raza Higher, Neha Tariq, Ahmad Raza, Muhammad Tahir Latif, & Hafiza Mustabshara Irfan. (2026). Digital Marketing Strategies and Social Media Metrics for Building Personal Brands in The Pakistan Super League (PSL) of Cricket An Empirical Study of Fan Perceptions and Player Digital Footprints in Pakistan. Sociology &Amp; Cultural Research Review, 5(01), 1282–1298. Retrieved from https://scrrjournal.com/index.php/14/article/view/764

Issue

Vol. 5 No. 01 (2026): Sociology & Cultural Research Review

Section

Articles

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