Being a rugby head, naturally, I have paid a lot of attention to how various rugby teams use (or DON'T use, tut tut!) social media as a way to connect with their fans. Let's face it, in this day and age, if you don't use social media you are on the back foot. The teams that have a wider social media presence seem to be the ones that fans take a wider interest in, and get behind them even if it isn't 'their team'.
The two Super Rugby teams that utilise social media the best, are, in my opinion, the Melbourne Rebels and Highlanders. OTHER teams also use it well, but these are the two teams that I have paid the most attention to, as far as their social media presence goes. I plan to do a more in depth piece about all Super Rugby teams, in the near future.
The Melbourne Rebels tweet a lot, including live score updates, they also make an effort to directly reply to fans. It is the same on Facebook, they are regular posters and always interact with fans, replying to comments, answering questions, etc. Photos are often posted, as well as information about Victorian rugby in general, women's news, age group news... they keep the fans informed about things happening not just in the club, but in the state. They have a presence on YouTube, and frequently upload photos to Instagram. It's not just the franchise itself that has a strong social media presence, a lot of the players are on Twitter and Instagram, and they too seem happy to interact with their mere mortal fans!
Check them out on:
YouTube
The Highlanders are another Super Rugby team that has an impressive social media presence. They have produced regular 'Highlanders TV' episodes in the last two years, the 2014 series has been particularly fun to watch. Headed by Joe Wheeler, Highlanders TV gives fans a chance to see another side of the team members, as they partake in various challenges and events. It's always worth a good laugh! Their Twitter presence may not be quite as big as the Melbourne Rebels, but they regularly post, particularly in the couple of days leading up to a game, and as with the Rebels, they do live score updates. They also have a presence on Instagram and Facebook, and much like the Melbourne Rebels, make sure they reply to fans comments and questions.
Check them out on:
YouTube
Looking a bit further than New Zealand and Australia, it seems the USA rugby team (the Eagles) are also pretty onto it when it comes to social media! Each representative team (women's 15, men's 15, women's 7s and men's 7s) has their own Twitter account (something NZRU could learn from, there are NO women's rugby related Twitter accounts!). Their Twitter accounts are regularly used, but the social media avenue I think they utilise best is YouTube... their videos are too funny not to share! (The three videos below are all different videos)
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