Chronicle Editor
Innocent Kurira, Sports Reporter
BULAWAYO Chiefs have become the masters of social media banter, which they use to engage with fans and followers.
The club’s success on social media has however, raised a number of talking points.
The biggest being, can banter work at big clubs or it’s only appropriate at a growing club like Chiefs? Modern day football has become a business and it’s imperative for clubs to be visible on social media to garner as much followers as they can. How to achieve that brand visibility is what varies.
“If you talk of the big three, they have established brands with an identity. Their digital platforms should reflect that identity to the outside world. Social media activity for such clubs should be run under a strict social media policy.
The world should not get the impression that they are banter clubs,” said Highlanders spokesman Ronald Moyo. He said the big clubs’ social media spaces should attract genuine followership.
“It’s pointless to have followers only attracted by your jokes without any interest in your core business. These spaces should reflect the character of the club. Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn social sites should be channelling traffic to sites that can be monetised,” said Moyo.
He said the clubs must portray a level of professionalism and at the same time maintain brand visibility that will attract big sponsorships.
Moyo said the social media sites are spaces they profile their partners and sponsors and as such they don’t want them to be involved in conversations that might be misinterpreted as deliberate attacks on other professional brands or group identities. There is, however, no denying that social media has changed the way in which the world views football and sport in general.
How one watches, discusses and reflects on the beautiful game, has in modern days been influenced by social media.
Despite not commanding a huge fan base, Chiefs showed innovation when they became the first club to have their Twitter handle verified, a feat they still do not share with any other local club. From memes to footy banter as some call it, humour has become a crucial element for football fans across the globe.
To give them a fair share of credit, Chiefs managed to lure an audience for the local Premiership.
The humorous tweets and images from Chiefs’ Twitter timeline at one time attracted Italian Serie A side AS Roma who went on to tweet: Chiefs have built on their social media popularity to become the first local team to set up an online merchandise shop.
Online Reporter