Social networks have become the most used social communication medium in the world. It is the preferred channel for sharing content for both companies and individuals, especially the younger generations. And it is an easy way to reach a more global audience, without the need for intermediaries.

Many companies prefer to invest more in social networks than in traditional media. It has been seen that, compared to other media, social networks have evolved considerably in terms of notoriety and the impact they generate.

In particular, sports clubs and organizations show great interest in these channels to reach their own audience, without intermediaries, without schedules or restrictions. The most used social networks so far are: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Youtube.

In summary, social networks are a way to reach people from anywhere, being currently the most economical and effective means. But is everyone doing it right?

Although anyone can use social networks without prior knowledge, it would be incorrect to say that anyone uses social networks well. The way in which the content is uploaded, the content itself or how to address people is decisive when it comes to achieving ‘engagement’.

People often think that getting the most followers is the most important thing. In fact, for years it has been a competition on social networks, as if they were sports clubs. So much so that follower buying and selling businesses proliferated.

These techniques, however, far from working, harm the social profile. The most important thing is to provide quality content for your followers, get people to like you and that your content is shared and reaches more people.

Good practices in social networks

1. Be proactive
Be close to your followers, it is essential. You must have empathy and know their tastes in order to adapt to them. Being proactive also means replying to comments, giving a “like” or sharing content from your own followers to create a community.

2. Have a content plan
You must have a calendar for posts. In the same way, you should know what type of content works best and at what time you get the most interactions.
Normally, the best time slots are between 8 and 10 in the morning (time when we get up and go to work or school), between 1 and 4 in the afternoon (during lunch or just after) and between 8 and 10 at night (at dinner time or before bedtime).
However, every sector, business or profile has a different way of working. And it will depend largely on the characteristics of your followers

3. Use videos in your content
Video is the king of publications. They have been proven to have a greater impact than any other type of content. Two videos a day is ideal.
The duration will depend on the channel, since for some media such as Instagram Stories it is preferable that they have a short duration, while in others, such as YouTube, it is preferable that they be long. As on television, there is a ‘prime time’ in social networks.
However, keep in mind that making quality videos is usually more complex than text, infographic or image posts. Or at least, it will take longer.

4. Be active also on vacation
In these periods it is somewhat difficult to continue publishing content, since they are times of little movement in your sports club. But you should try not to stop for a long time, otherwise you will stop following you and people lose interest.
It may be very interesting that you use a tool to program publications like Hootsuite or Tweetdeck.

5. Choose well the content you talk about
Not just any publication is of interest to your audience. You must differentiate between content of your sports club and generic or transversal content. What you do have to be clear about must be entertainment publications and related to your sector: sports.

6. Create community around your social accounts
You should treat your community of followers on social networks as if they were members of your sports club. You must take care of them and give them what they ask for. This is the case of social networks, your task is to provide them with quality content.
Try to have constant feedback with your followers, generate participation with surveys, debates or raffles, create the need for daily information and have your content shared the opinion of many.

7. Boost your website
Use your social media profiles to link them to the website of your sports club. That will attract more sponsors and potential partners to your sports club.
If these potential partners or sponsors come to your website, and you have the website optimized for conversion, you will probably get new partners and deals without the need for interaction with them.
In this post we explain why it is so important to boost your website so that someone chooses your club over another.

8. If necessary, ask for forgiveness
As in real life, to err is human and ask for forgiveness is divine. If you make mistakes on social networks, it is well seen to acknowledge your mistakes and apologize to those you have been able to harm.

9. Have a Community Manager
You may think that having a Community Manager is not necessary in your club. But think about it coldly. You will spend hours and hours a month generating content and interacting with your followers. Probably, your role as director of the club is more related to management and administration tasks, or more related to purely sports.

Although social networks, while important, should not normally take precedence over other more relevant issues to manage your sports club. Learn to delegate, and find someone “expert” who does it better than you. An alternative is to hire a professional. Rest assured that he will do an impeccable job and that you will quickly begin to see results in the club.
However, if your club’s budget is more limited, perhaps the first few years a volunteer can give you a hand. Surely some athlete in your club has great management of the networks, which together with a defined strategy, can become a very powerful weapon to enhance the digital side of your club.

Bad practices in social networks

1. Don’t be boring
Don’t be monotonous or repeated on your social networks. This bores your followers and you don’t want them to unfollow you. In this aspect, you must be creative and look for different ways and means to choose from.
Avoid sharing a lot of statistical and data content. And if you do, try to choose between those data that are most relevant, not everything goes.

2. Don’t be reckless
Don’t share anything that you wouldn’t like to see yourself on other social media profiles. Do not get out of line and always respect the values ​​of your club, it is the most important thing for your followers.

3. Don’t go overboard publishing
You have to be constant on social networks, but that does not mean being heavy, or being every 5 minutes uploading a publication. In addition, some networks, such as Instagram, may penalize this practice and generate the opposite effect on your profile.

4. Don’t follow too many profiles
If you think that the more profiles you follow, the better it will be for you (because of the “ followback ” issue) let us tell you that you have a wrong idea.
You should know who to follow and why to do it. If you follow other profiles, it must be in order to interact with them, not simply to get their “ likes “.
In conclusion, social networks are a tool that every sports club must exploit to attract new ones members and reach more people. Take advantage of your own community of members to give voice to your club’s social networks and thus grow quickly

Use social media to reach those places and people that you cannot otherwise reach. Become a social media ninja! Subscribe to our newsletter to receive content like this, allowing you to improve different aspects as director of your club. And get to know our digital marketing service for clubs. We have helped many clubs like yours to achieve their goals.