Three ways clubs can enhance the online experience for new & old fans and partners

Over the last few years, Facebook has emerged as a key referrer of traffic to websites for publishers and sporting bodies, however changes to the Facebook algorithm means that this is changing.

The social platform, slowly emerging as a key acquirer of sporting rights, has restricted the sharing of posts that lead back to sites. That approach has had a huge impact on publishers and has forced a rethink in how the platform is approached.

While publishers have been forced to adapt, so too must football clubs and other sporting organisations.

Video content

The changes to Facebook means that clubs need to change their approach on the platform.

In recent years, teams, leagues and sporting bodies have expanded to become more than sporting organisations, with publishing and media now a large part of the activation services expected by partners that come on board.

The recent World Cup in Russia was a perfect example to the evolution within sport. Video played a large part in FIFA’s over-all strategy for the tournament.

Their “Moment of the Day” video clip of the Toni Kroos goal versus Sweden for example, generated 21.5 million impressions, 5.3 million views, and 3.75 million engagements on Facebook. The focus was on engagement, interaction and where necessary, sponsorship activation.

The channels were deemed to be “owned” channels and the focus was on keeping them within the space there were in. While it may have stretched the definition a little far, FIFA accepted that although fans were on Facebook, they were on the FIFA Facebook page therefore on one of FIFA’s own channels.

The lesson here is that while driving people from Facebook back to the team website is still a legitimate strategy, it should not be the sole focus of Facebook activity - clubs need to work with their brands on co-created content which will ensure the maximum exposure for their partners without the need to migrate those fans elsewhere.

Don’t forget photos

Looking specifically at the perceived top 7 of the Premier League (Man City, Man Utd, Chelsea, Liverpool, Spurs, Arsenal and Everton) and their activity on Facebook, you see how important imagery is and how badly links to their websites perform.

Over the last 30 days, the top 7 on average have posted 2.5 photos per day versus 2.21 videos. The engagement per post, on average, is .042% versus 0.37% with photo just about shading it.

Both of these are well ahead of status updates (.028%) and links (.028%). The top performing posts were all photos. The imagery needs to hit home, by being relevant, capturing a key moment or raw emotion.

Sponsors can be part of that journey too especially around more static content such as team announcements, player unveiling (while there are vibrant ways to unveil a player, the static photo holding the top up resonates more with fans) and stats/results from games.

Look at YouTube and Twitch

Whilst the focus of this piece is on being better on Facebook, clubs also need to re-focus attention back to YouTube and explore newer platforms such as Twitch.

The major advantage of YouTube is that content can last longer. Whilst it is rare for fans to trawl through old Facebook posts, it is often the case that videos on YouTube can generate multiple views long after the original time of posting, with people engaging again and again.

Facebook video are more difficult to search, so fans will always turn to YouTube when seeking to re-watch some content.

Amazon-owned Twitch is a great example of a platform that can deliver for clubs. With an audience that is younger and more tech savvy, the platform is expanding its reach beyond gaming.

The Washington Post for example has launched its own channel and will feature live coverage of events. The Washing Post live streamed Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg's Capitol Hill testimony in April and included analysis by its reporters. The real-time conversations and viewer engagement around the event ensured sufficient appetite to launch their own channel.

“Stadium”, a multi-platform sports network featuring exclusive live and on-demand games and events and daily live studio programming that launched in 2017 also has a dedicated channel on Twitch.

Sporting clubs have yet to engage with Twitch although the expected launch of a Premier eLeague will see top level clubs potentially move across to the platform at which point the potential will be realised. 

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