These are teams of amateur footballers, but they aren’t just any old bunch of friends who enjoy a game together: these are players who are all linked by their status as social media and YouTube Influencers. And their teams, like Hashtag United and United London, are changing the face of non-league football – especially when it comes to how they engage with their fans.
Football teams made up of digitally-native social media influencers clearly have a distinct advantage when it comes to social media reach. Indeed, they have a digital reach which some professional teams can only dream of. But putting that into practice, what is it that actually gives social media teams the ability to connect to younger fans more naturally than lower league football clubs?
Social media has become a huge outlet for football supporters, who now follow their teams on Twitter and Instagram more than they do from the stands, and fans are now used to engaging with the content their team provides. This allows fans to feel closer to their teams and the players.
It’s a trend which is strongest amongst the younger demographic, of course. It is said more than 45% of the UK’s 16-29 year-olds follow their team on social media, and this number is growing year on year. It’s also a demographic that brands want to get involved with on social, too.
And so these influencer football teams are an exciting prospect for brands and sponsors. For brands, a partnership with one of these teams allows them to access an audience with which they can communicate directly. Brands are always looking for a new way to communicate and interact with new audiences, and by partnering with influencers, barriers have already been broken, and fan communities have already been built.
Older, more traditional football fans are less connected, though. Much of the engagement they experience is when they visit to watch their teams live or when they read an article in traditional media. The advantage for influencer teams is that they provide millennials with a cheap and effective way to watch sport, but it’s also one which offers the chance to interact with players and buy sponsored goods in a way that no other traditional football club does. After all, each of the players has their own social media account with an established persona and a ready-made fan-base.
Lower league football clubs have, of course, noticed the power of new media, and are adapting their content to new platforms. But compared to these influencer teams, lower league clubs have a much less integrated following: their fans simply aren’t as engaged. The result is a less affected digital reach. For businesses and potential sponsors, this has a huge effect on brand awareness and fan engagement, making social media teams a more exciting prospect than traditionally established football clubs.
Another development in recent years is E-Gaming. Teams like Hashtag United and United London have recognised this and have brought the concept to life in yet another innovation which separates them from other clubs.
Esports has become a big money business over a short period of time, and one which is gaining more traction and recognition. Unlike a traditional Sunday morning football league, Hashtag United work in a format which is similar to one in which you find in a computer game, and this appeals to their already established social media audience.
Players who compete competitively in online games also build a following, just like in real life they work as part of a team over the course of a season to win their league in a set number of matches to gain points. Turning these types of leagues into real life events has allowed online followers to not only interact and engage through Twitter and Facebook, but offers them the ability to watch them live at football events and purchase sponsored team products.
YouTube teams film their content and play in an exhibition style. They interact with followers by setting challenges and use incentives to set out a productive format. Fans get to analyse player performances and choose who they believe to be the best on the day. Within the younger demographic, there is a lot of support for ‘real life’ content: but in this format, it is a much more attractive prospect than business-driven professional football which contains transfer fees and expensive match tickets.
Club generated content looks to be developing into an area of huge potential. With more traditional grassroots sides adopting new aspects and developments, it allows these teams to increase their fan engagement, providing friends and family with relatable highlight content.
One of the main advantages of this is people don’t expect the perfect, polished content you’d hope to find from a football club’s digital output. Having the ability to post the sort of videos that show a team working together and having a laugh has a better fan connection which helps to build an audience base.
Sport is inherently engaging, and there are clear areas for development in social media. At present, though, these YouTube teams already have established engaged audiences, and that helps with brand awareness and growth. Many of the younger demographic want to play for these teams and many business teams want to compete against them, due to their social following, not only does it have a great impact on the club it also grows engagement for businesses.
The gap between amateur teams and lower league clubs is widening, with more traction being put on domestic leagues. But amazing things are happening at all levels of sports. Fan engagement is a newly developing area which is seen to help brands and sponsors. Social media teams can connect with their fans, unlike league clubs. This makes the option of investing in domestic teams with a wide digital reach an attractive option over professional league clubs.
