Before I get started, in yesterday’s post about the Brumbies I stated: ‘They don’t really engage with fans: no replies on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook’.
I was mistaken because they do reply on Facebook, occasionally publicly through comments on posts but more often via private messages with people. Thanks to all who let me know, and apologies to anyone who was put out by my mistake!
Fan engagement: the other side
It’s a franchise’s responsibility to engage with their fans. But we need to recognise that this responsibility goes both ways.
As fans we need to do our bit too.
Why?
Retweeting on Twitter, sharing on Facebook and tagging your friends in Instagram comments is how people outside of that (surprisingly small) inner fan sanctum find out what is awesome about your team. Doing so sends posts viral, and for cash-strapped rugby teams viral posts are GOLD!
For the past two years the Wallabies have run an Ultimate Fan competition based largely on fan engagement via social media channels. Why? Because you are effectively selling their stories to your friends, and social media research tells us that we are more likely to click on links, read, and watch stuff that our friends click, read and watch.
Facebook is an interesting case: what you see on your news feed is largely the result of a complicated algorithm. Where sides have 20 000+ ‘likers’ if you don’t routinely check their page, or if your friends don’t hit like, share or comment on their post, you are unlikely to ever see their content on your newsfeed. Unlike Twitter and Instagram, where posts are posted chronologically and you see all posts from everyone you follow, Facebook is extremely selective and difficult to predict.
Probably the only measure we can get of fan engagement via Facebook is the ratio of people talking about the page to the number of people who like the page. The people talking about the page counts the interactions that people have with the page, whereas the likes is the number of people who pressed the like button even once. The actual number is meaningless, but obviously higher numbers mean that more of your ‘likers’ are interacting with your content.
How can you help your team?
1. If franchises give you an opportunity to engage, ENGAGE! Ask questions, give your opinion, post your own photos from the games or fan activities and tag them in them. It gives the franchises the opportunity to talk to you – no one likes being a Nigel-No-Friends trying to enter a group having a conversation. And nothing is more awkward than trying to start up a conversation only to be ignored.
2. Share content on Facebook – if you ‘like’ it, do you ‘like’ it enough to share it with your Facebook friends? If you like it enough to share it with your Facebook friends, is there something about it that you really like? Tell people when you share it – they’re heaps more likely to click on it! (PS Nothing says “I love the Social Pages” like sharing on Facebook or tweeting the link. Bloggers need validation too!)
It’s fairly easy for me to sit here and have a dig at what the Super Rugby sides can do better (in my opinion, anyway), but we need to do our bit too.
The Western Force
The Force are a side who could really do with a hug. And your social media love and support.
Photo stolen shamelessly from the Western Force Instagram account
The Official Accounts
Facebook: facebook.com/westernforce
Instagram: westernforce
Twitter: @WesternForce
Strengths:
- They love interaction – they talk to fans promptly via Twitter and Facebook in particular. Seriously have a look at their Twitter feed or Facebook page – you can’t miss it. It’s everywhere.
- Their Facebook page has an eCalendar. I didn’t even know they existed but I can add the players’ birthdays to my own calendar if I choose.
Weaknesses:
- Posting on Instagram has been patchy.
The Force are, along with the Rebels, the great overachievers of social media on the Australian rugby landscape. They don’t have the high-profile players of other sides, and they haven’t had the onfield successes. This means that the Force official social media accounts carry a greater level of responsibility for promotion and engagement. Their follower numbers probably reflect the focus that has been placed on each: they have more than 11000 followers on Twitter, more than 23000 (!) likes on Facebook and 882 followers on Instagram. Like the Brumbies, their follower numbers significantly outweigh the crowds they get to games.
For a reference, the Brumbies yesterday had a “talking about:like” value* of around 4.12. The Force has a value of 6.2 interaction rate. Completely meaningless numbers now, but it’ll be mildly interesting and pointless completely fascinating and worthwhile to track these throughout the year.
*calculated by dividing number of ‘talking abouts’ to the number of people who like the page. Then I multiplied it by 100 solely so I didn’t have to use a bunch of zeros.
The players
Unlike the Brumbies who have only a fairly small proportion of players who actively engage in social media (those few that do are prominent), the Force seem to have a greater number who are on Twitter, who tweet fairly regularly, but not to any great effect.
I think the whole of Australia would join me in wishing that the Honey Badger (@nckcummins) was an active tweeter, but I take heart in knowing that he retweeted something from 21 January this year. Fingers crossed he’s willing to grace the land of 140 characters in 2014!
The Western Force official Twitter account has created a very convenient list of their players, and most of them seem happy to chat. Get involved!
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Heath Tessmann
(@heathtessmann on Twitter; heathtessmann on Instagram)
Sweet tan lines.
Few people with any kind of public profile are as adept at taking the mickey out of themselves as Heath Tessmann. His banter with teammates (both current and former) is class, his photo captions and hashtags are clever… he’s basically the guy you want to have a beer with.
Salesi Manu
(@SalesiManu)
Anyone who can post a tweet like this is awesome in my eyes
If you are going to follow Salesi I suggest looking at his twitter feed and following those he has conversations with too, otherwise you’ll miss quite a bit.
(For those people new to twitter, you will only see a conversation between two people if you follow both of them)
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Wilhelm Steenkamp
(@wilhelmst5)
I’ve selected Wilhelm because he’s one of the most prominent tweeters from the Western Force. If Ruan Smith’s seductive Afrikaans tweeting makes him the Tom Jones of the Brumbies, then Wilhelm Steenkamp is truly the Julio Iglesias of the west.
Loosely translated, this tweet says “You have such lovely hair – it is the colour of a steak cooked well done. My braii is always warm. Preseason”
Honourable mentions
Rory Walton (@rorywalton4) – quiet on twitter normally but showed last year that he was happy to talk to anyone
Ian Prior (@ianprior90) – lots of golf, cricket and tennis talk. His nickname (The Situation, Sitch) teases at a willingness to disrobe.
Pek Cowan (@pekcowan) – a front rower, so obviously smarter than your average player.
Alby Mathewson (@albymathewson) – sure to feature heavily in future Social Pages posts.
Western Force news:
The Force fan day is on this Saturday from 9-11 WST at Perry Lakes Reserve. To encourage the players to follow the lead of the Force official accounts it’d be great if any readers who get photos with the players could tweet them (and the Force account), tag them on Instagram or let people know some other way that you were there.
On a personal note, photos of Kyle Godwin in tight clothing or various states of undress will be highly regarded… tweet me.
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