Connecting with fans in the digital age: an exploratory and comparative analysis of social media management in top football clubs

The paper situates football clubs within a rapidly digitising, highly competitive environment where fans expect direct, ongoing connection via social media. Social platforms (notably Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) are central tools for communication, branding, sponsor activation, and relationship building, with engagement as a key metric. Despite widespread adoption, uncertainties remain about optimal content, formats, platform use, and true potential in sport. Prior research suggests content type, format, and platform matter for engagement, yet cross-regional, multi-platform comparisons in elite club football are limited. Research question: What are the main characteristics of Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram posts from elite football clubs to understand the content type, format and social media platform that generate the highest engagement among social media consumers? Purpose: Using relationship marketing theory, the study aims to descriptively and comparatively analyse engagement generated by posts from elite clubs in Europe, South America, and North America, identify high-impact content dimensions and formats, and provide a validated observation instrument to guide strategy. Importance: Insights can help managers tailor content to enhance fan relationships, commercial outcomes, and social impact, supporting data-driven decisions in social media management.

The review defines social media as interactive tools enabling rapid, boundary-transcending communication and collaboration, widely used for marketing, brand equity, and consumer insight across sectors, including sport. In sport’s emotionally charged context, social media supports public relations, fan interaction, sponsor visibility, and potential revenue. Integrated marketing communications have shifted to include social media as a core channel. The review emphasises engagement’s role in loyalty formation and the application of relationship marketing theory: long-term, mutually beneficial relationships between clubs and fans are fostered via social media, which facilitates knowledge of fans, interaction, efficient engagement, resource efficiency, and agile evaluation. Prior studies have examined single platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) and proposed multi-platform content categorisation approaches. However, gaps remain regarding cross-platform, cross-region comparisons and theory-driven categorisations linked to organisational strategy. The study responds by proposing a five-dimension content categorisation (Sports, Institutional, ESG, Commercial, Marketing) and analysing engagement by dimension and format across Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to inform strategic social media use in elite football.

Design: Exploratory, descriptive, and comparative study using observational method and content analysis. Platforms: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram. Regions: Europe (UEFA), South America (CONMEBOL), North America (CONCACAF). Club selection: Non-probability sampling based on geographic relevance and rankings (IFFHS, Football World Rankings, FIFA club/league ranking, Transfermarkt). From an initial list of 24 clubs, a random draw yielded 16 clubs (6 Europe, 6 South America, 4 North America; max two per league). Observation window: 45 days per club per platform to capture regular posting cycles while avoiding atypical events. Data extraction: Post links and metrics collected via Fanpage Karma; final sample N=19,745 posts (Facebook 4,372; Twitter 12,575; Instagram 2,798). Instrument: A Microsoft Excel (.xlsx) observation sheet adapted from Solanellas et al. (2022), incorporating a validated codebook reviewed by nine domain experts (digital leaders in leagues/clubs, agency directors, academics, BI consultants). Codebook variables: Content dimensions—Sports; Institutional; Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG); Commercial; Marketing. Formats—Text, Image, Video, Link, Raffles/Trivia, Surveys; and combinations (e.g., Text/Image, Text/Video, etc.). Interaction metrics: platform-specific likes, shares/retweets, comments. Pilot and reliability: 225 posts pilot-coded (75 per platform); each post classified into a single predominant dimension. Intra-observer reliability with a 15-day gap yielded Cohen’s Kappa = 0.949 (very high agreement). Engagement calculation: Platform-specific engagement rates (per 100 followers): Facebook = (reactions + shares + comments)/followers × 100; Twitter = (likes + retweets)/followers × 100; Instagram = (likes + comments)/followers × 100 (adapted from Fanpage Karma, Rival IQ). Statistical analysis: Descriptive statistics; t-tests and one-factor ANOVA for engagement differences across dimensions within platforms (α < 0.05); chi-square tests and correspondence analysis to assess associations between dimensions and formats. Software: SPSS v27.

- Posting distribution: Twitter accounted for 64% of posts (n=12,575), Facebook 22% (n=4,372), Instagram 14% (n=2,798). - Engagement means: Instagram 1.873 (SD 1.091; min 0.002; max 5.528), Facebook 0.112 (SD 0.180; min 0.000; max 2.406), Twitter 0.045 (SD 0.071; min 0.000; max 0.457). Despite lower volume, Instagram produced the highest engagement. - Frequency vs engagement: No direct linear relationship; high posting frequency did not guarantee higher engagement. Clubs with moderate frequencies sometimes achieved higher engagement. - Content dimensions (frequency): Marketing and Sports were most frequent across platforms, followed by Institutional, Commercial, and ESG. - Content dimensions (engagement by platform): • Instagram: Highest overall engagement; Marketing (2.03) > Institutional (1.78) ≈ Sports (1.74) > Commercial (1.54) > ESG (1.41). Significant differences for Marketing vs Sports, Commercial, Institutional (all p<0.05). • Facebook: Moderate engagement; significant differences involving Commercial vs Sports (p=0.000), Institutional (p=0.001), and Marketing (p=0.000), indicating Commercial content can perform strongly. • Twitter: Lowest engagement; Institutional, ESG, and Commercial dimensions showed slightly higher means (~0.07) than Marketing and Sports (~0.04). Institutional differed significantly from Sports, Commercial, and Marketing (all p=0.000). ESG differed from Commercial (p=0.033). - Formats and engagement: • Facebook: Most used formats—Text/Image (n=2,031), Text/Video (n=1,265). Highest engagement—Image (0.23), then Text/Image (0.13), Text/Video (0.12), Text/Link (0.07). • Twitter: Most used—Text/Image (n=4,412), Text (n=2,499), Text/Video (n=2,239), Image (n=1,534). Highest engagement—Text/Video and Text/Image (0.07 each). • Instagram: Most used—Text/Image (n=1,986). Highest engagement—Image (2.20), Text/Image (1.95), Text/Image/Polls (1.93), Video (1.84). - Correspondence analysis: Marketing content aligned closely with video and image formats; ESG and Institutional associated with image and text; Commercial associated with link formats. - Regional/club highlights: On Facebook, Liverpool FC and Manchester United FC posted most among European clubs, but Spanish clubs (Real Madrid CF, FC Barcelona) posted less with similar engagement ratios. CR Flamengo posted most on Facebook and Twitter, yet SE Palmeiras showed higher Facebook engagement with fewer posts. On Instagram, SE Palmeiras, CA River Plate, CF América, and Atlanta United FC recorded the highest engagement (≈2.5–3.0) with relatively low posting frequencies (≈91–154 posts).

The findings address the research question by identifying which platforms, content dimensions, and formats most effectively generate engagement for elite football clubs. Instagram, with its visual and interactive affordances, delivers the highest engagement using fewer posts, especially when posts emphasise Marketing content and visual formats (images/video). Facebook provides balanced performance and reveals opportunity for Commercial content to drive engagement, suggesting monetisation-oriented messaging can resonate if well-executed. Twitter’s microblogging nature and high posting frequencies correspond to lower average engagement, but Institutional (and ESG when linked to Commercial) content can stand out, likely due to informational and socio-political relevance. Overall, frequency alone does not determine engagement; platform-context fit, content dimension, and format strategy are critical. The results reinforce relationship marketing theory by showing that targeted, emotionally resonant content (Marketing/Sports), paired with appropriate formats, strengthens fan–club connections and can support commercial and social objectives. The multi-platform, cross-regional evidence offers managers actionable guidance to tailor content strategies by platform and objective, improving efficiency and impact of social media activities.

The study contributes a validated, theory-informed instrument and a five-dimension content framework to evaluate and compare engagement across Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for elite football clubs. Key conclusions: (1) Marketing and Sports content dominate in frequency; (2) Instagram yields the highest engagement with lower posting frequency—well-suited for emotionally engaging, brand-building content; (3) Facebook shows strong potential for Commercial content, indicating growth opportunities for digital assets and e-commerce; (4) On Twitter, Institutional and ESG (especially when linked to Commercial) can be effective; (5) Effective formats across platforms include Image, Text/Image, and Text/Video, though performance varies by platform. There is no straightforward frequency–engagement linkage; strategic content–format–platform alignment is essential. Future research should extend the instrument to additional platforms (e.g., TikTok, Twitch), incorporate club and seasonality variables, examine regional differences, and develop predictive models/AI tools for engagement optimisation.

- Sport and sample scope: Limited to one sport (football) and 16 clubs across three regions; findings may not generalise to other sports or broader club populations. - Time window: A 45-day observation per club/platform may not capture seasonal dynamics (preseason, in-season, playoffs, postseason) that affect content and engagement. - Platform scope: Only Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram were analysed; emerging platforms like TikTok and Twitch were excluded. - Measurement focus: Engagement operationalised via likes/comments/shares relative to followers; other outcomes (e.g., conversions, sentiment, watch time) were not examined. - Observational design: Potential unobserved confounders (e.g., match results, news cycles, ad spend) could influence engagement patterns. Suggested future work includes applying the measurement technique to leagues/other platforms, adding organisational variables (fanbase size, budget, trophies), studying season phases, modelling regional user behaviours, developing engagement prediction models, and integrating the framework into AI-driven recommendation systems.