Manchester United tops them all in social media

Bengaluru, March 21: They may not be Premier League title contenders anymore, but Manchester United still top the social media rankings for the 2017 season, according to a report published by social media research agency Newton Insight.

Manchester United still kings of social media despite poor performances https://t.co/4YaPUPLqz0 pic.twitter.com/5QB6OTtqsP

— P.M. NEWS (@pmnewsnigeria) March 21, 2018

United beat neighbours and prospective 2017-18 Premier League champions Manchester City in the social media stakes, with Chelsea third, Arsenal fourth, Liverpool fifth and Tottenham Hotspur in seventh place.

Huddersfield Town were a surprising sixth with Stoke City bottom of the pile.

Staggering numbers

United, who had also topped Deloitte's Money League in January, had 73.7 million Facebook followers in 2017, 16.5 million Twitter fans and 20 million Instagram followers.

City had 29 million, 5.5 million and 5.9 million respectively for the same categories.

The Old Trafford giants also had most followers of the 20 Premier League clubs on Chinese social media platform Weibo - 9.2 million.

Fans of the Red Devils made up 30 per cent of all Premier League followers and the club accounted for 40 per cent of all Premier League fan engagement on social media in 2017.

"The best way to describe Manchester United's approach to building its global fanbase is 'relentless'," the report said.

"The club is not sitting back defending its lead, it keeps pressing forward. They've more resources than most to support its ambitions but the club is also committed to producing creative content and driving fan engagement."

Criteria

The Newton Insight report ranked England's 20 top-flight according to eight performance indicators across various social media platforms.

The rankings were calculated using indicators such as fan engagement, growth, total number of club posts and the amount of days it takes clubs to add 10,000 new followers on a given platform.

"Smaller teams may struggle to compete financially with the top teams, but Huddersfield's digital performance should encourage other clubs looking to increase brand exposure," the Newton Insight report said.

While the combined 250 million Facebook followers of the Premier League made it the most used format for fans, that figure represented only a five per cent yearly rise compared to the 49 and 33 per cent increases enjoyed by Twitter and Instagram.

"Facebook appears to have reached maturity," the Newton Insight report added.

"Twitter's immediacy lends itself to the drama of live football. It feeds the endless appetite for gossip."

(With Agency inputs)