It’s no secret that social media is a powerful tool to help boost your sports club’s presence, engage your community, and share useful information about your club. From Twitter to Facebook and Instagram, the list of ideas on how to optimise these platforms is endless but there are some key things to think about. We’ve compiled a few tips and tricks on how to beat the algorithm and get your audience engaging with your club!
What’s Meta and why does it matter?
Meta was previously known as Facebook but is now a collective of platforms including Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. Now, why does this matter? Well, with the new ownership of Instagram, there are certain functionalities integrated into Facebook that are important to be aware of:
- Meta Business Suite
This is where you manage your Instagram and Facebook at the same time. Meta is made to be your social media management platform for their collective. You can schedule posts, manage messages, and view analytics all within one platform. This is great for your club’s PRO/comms lead because it saves time managing activity across platforms. - Adding links to Facebook stories
The best way to add links to your Facebook stories is actually through Instagram! What a plot twist! But yes, it’s true. You can link your Instagram account with your Facebook account to allow cross-sharing. Once they have been connected, the links you add to your Instagram stories will translate to your Facebook stories. Now you can reach your audience on both platforms with links to your memberships, games, events, club lottery, or a funny video! Here’s a useful article on how to connect Facebook to Instagram.
Social media bios
Bio links have become increasingly popular over the years because they offer a solution to the problem: how can I tell my story in 180 characters or less? Bio link companies like Linktree, Bio.link, Link.bio, and more offer a landing page that acts as a mini website for all your social links. Unlike linking to your website, bio links offer a snapshot of all your relevant links in a single location.
They also offer a solution to platforms where linking within posts isn’t available, like Instagram. Add links to your memberships, videos, events, fundraising activities, club lotto, and more! Here’s an example from York City Knights Linktree landing page.
Running Facebook Ads for club lotteries
Some of our clubs like to advertise their biggest jackpots on Facebook Ads to gain bigger reach and participation. This isn’t necessary to drive engagement but it does offer a big boost in the right direction! Facebook ads cover both Instagram and Facebook since they’re part of the Meta collective.
The first and most important part of advertising your club lottery is having an updated licence! Starting a club lotto is easy with Clubforce but one of the first steps is making sure you comply with the law in your jurisdiction. Read how to get a club lottery licence before you proceed with paid advertising.
Our Account Managers have a guide they can share with you, reach out and they’ll run through the steps you need to run Facebook Ads.
Avoid posting too many links in your posts
As a social media platform, my goal is to keep you on the platform, so regularly posting links that lead outside of the platform can have a negative effect. One way to get around this is to post the link in the first comment on the main post and boost your content up the algorithm. See this example of Joe.ie
It’s important to know the hidden secrets of social media and how to work the algorithm so you can get the highest reach and engagement off social media as possible!
Track your performance
If your club does not have a consolidated social meida tool to schedule and manage your posts, you might think that there’s no way to check how your page is performning…think again! Here’s some quick links to your analytics pages for your socials:
- Check out the Creator Studio in X (what was known as Twitter) to check your performance analytics.
- Instagram has a specific “Insights” tab on their mobile app – if you’re looking at the desktop, it will lead you to the
Business Meta Suit that combines both Facebook and Instagram analytics.
Leverage the power of social media to foster growth and actively connect with your club members. Implement the following steps for effective management of your social media accounts:
Do…
- Keep your members in the loop by regularly using social media.
- Show off live action with videos of competitions or tournaments.
- Show-off your awesome club facilities through pics and videos.
- Spice up your posts and stories with emojis, stickers, and GIFs for some fun.
- Make your content easy to find by throwing in some personalised hashtags.
- Check out how your posts are doing by noting which ones are performing well.
- Get your members involved with polls – their opinions matter!
- Let your club’s personality shine through in your posts.
Don’t…
- Don’t go overboard with too many posts – quality beats quantity.
- Keep the good times rolling with consistent posts, even during quiet times.
- Double-check before posting pics or videos of your members – respect their privacy.
Clubforce membership registration forms capture media consent so you can easily check who has given consent to be used on your social media. - Shut down negativity by responding to harmful comments, or even hit that delete button.
- Don’t stress about what to post too much – you’ll figure it out as you go.
- Keep it relevant: stick to stuff that keeps your members united.
Don’t skip those insights – each social media platform has it’s version of insights.
If you’re thinking of new ways to structure social media and are looking for advice, contact your dedicated Clubforce Account Manager and they’ll give you some additional tips and tricks! Or fill in this form and one of our sales representatives will be in touch soon.
