How Nigerian Football Clubs Can Use Social Media To Engage Their Fans

@akinnzo

Most Nigerian football clubs, if not all don't have a proper data base of what their fan base looks like neither do they have that established connection or communication with their fans.

Let's focus on clubs in the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL).

It's very easy to claim that Kano Pillars do have massive fan base but it becomes a huge task when there isn't proofs to that effect. The Internet is no doubt a good platform to leverage on but at this time most clubs haven't done enough. What we have now is just clubs doing something on the Internet because other clubs are there too.

Social media has most definitely taken over the Internet but Nigerian clubs are yet to make the most of this opportunity even when most Nigerians access the Internet through their mobile phones which they take along with them every where they go to.

"Statistics from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) puts the number of active telephone subscriptions at 142 million and said 83 million Nigerians are now on the Internet, as at February 2015"

The relationship between Nigerian clubs and social media platforms can become a beautiful thing if these clubs use this opportunity effectively to get closer to their fans who though might be busy but are waiting to express their love for football by identifying with a club probably from their state of origin.

According to reports, Internet users in Nigeria mostly perform online activities on their mobile phones and 94 per cent of these use social network sites while 93 per cent browse the Internet on their mobile phones.

This has clearly shown that the traffic these clubs can work with is waiting and the social network sites are waiting to used properly.

It's a global phenomenon that access to relevant information at any time and location has become an integral part of everyday life and Nigeria is no different. With a population eager to explore new ways of performing different activities on the Internet, these Nigerian clubs must set up a new media plan on how best to sell their clubs to the traffic on the Internet.

Having a website shouldn't be for show off neither should it be just there instead it should be a platform to sell and connect to potential fans and the social media platforms can serve as that place where you can easily connect and keep your fans updated of activities in the club.

To Start With: Interested clubs should keep it simple while they encourage participation. It's an all day thing so it should be a real time engagement. By extension they should also reward fans dedication and promote important discussions. Though some clubs do live update of their matches which I think is very commendable but the fans want more than that, they want to be involved if the clubs allow them to.