Blog 4 Engels | Professionele Websit

Football clubs and social media: in the Netherlands and Belgium, that combination is still somewhat of a thing.

Social media, including YouTube, X, Instagram, and Facebook, are fantastic platforms for football clubs to build their digital revenue streams and digital identity. I understand that the digital market in both countries is not yet at the level of countries like England, for example, but one has to start somewhere. Football clubs can ultimately earn a tremendous amount through social media. When building the digital aspect, patience and consistency are key. As a club, you cannot expect results within a year. Your digital presence, identity, and marketing must be seen first. It also depends, for instance, on the club's performance. The better the performance, the higher the online interaction via the platforms being utilized. A digital identity is important on a national level, which I will explain shortly, but it is also enormously important from an international perspective. This primarily applies to clubs playing in Europe, but it is just as relevant for all other clubs.

Imagine that as a mid-tier club in the league, you suddenly become successful and start playing European football. The only way to capture international attention and funnel it into identity, marketing, and consequently revenue, is through social media. Major clubs like Ajax, PSV, and Feyenoord already possess international allure. This is largely due to their history; they have a relatively rich legacy of national championships, domestic cups, and European trophies. That factors significantly into a football club's online presence. This is why smaller clubs that are already consciously working on social media may sometimes feel like there is no progress at all. For the smaller clubs among us, building online followers/subscribers and increasing reach is the most important thing. Please do not underestimate the power of the internet.

In 2024, I was bored, so I thought: let me try to build a YouTube channel. Be sure to check out "my story" in the menu. You will see that I have done a bit more with social media. Anyway, I wanted to build a YouTube channel with Formula 1 news. The concept was and is simple: You have a topic, say Verstappen, and you have the news about Max. I did nothing more than write a script about the news item and record it in video format. I added photos of the subject, using Max as an example. With that, the video was ready. I made one video per news item on a topic, which kept the videos short and to the point. Most videos are no longer than three minutes maximum. In just under eight months, I became a partner with my YouTube channel F1World, and as a result, my videos generate money. Videos where I give my personal opinion on F1 matters generally perform much better. Especially if it is content that is a bit more in-depth and refined. These videos are at least 5 and at most 8 minutes long.

That is also how it works with a football club's content. The more exclusive the content is, the more views you will eventually achieve. Think of podcasts, livestreams, and videos of training sessions, pre-match previews a day before the game with several players and other officials, at-home visits, and so on. Most fans are represented online, so serve them accordingly. Life online will only increase and become more extensive. Thanks to blockchain technology, a true revolution is coming in the field of finance and interactions with supporters and fans. But that is a subject for another blog.

Because you, as a football club, have built a digital identity and platform, and continue to grow by constantly posting content, a new revenue stream is created. The more followers/subscribers, views, likes, and comments, the more you can ask of a sponsor. In addition, you can also create content with sponsors if they have something to sell, let's say cars. You can devise a script around that, deploy a footballer, and together with the car company, record a playful and funny video where the sponsor sells their product. It is best to post content three times a day. Morning, afternoon, and evening, after dinner. The easiest way is to cut that content from a "base video." Suppose you have recorded a podcast. You upload that video only to YouTube, nowhere else. YouTube is the base, and you will read why in a moment. That podcast contains highlights such as spoiler alerts and funny moments. Use those kinds of moments for the other platforms. YouTube is the base, and you use X, Instagram, and Facebook for the distribution of the video on YouTube. Cut those highlights to a maximum length of one minute. This allows you to apply it everywhere, including stories, without having to cut and edit again. Make sure that the highlight fits entirely within the one-minute video; otherwise, you lose the thread and the trigger for watching the original video on YouTube. You post those one-minute videos on the aforementioned platforms with a description and a link to the original video on YouTube. Real fans click through, especially if they are entertaining highlights.

It is possible to become a partner with the mentioned platforms, and the requirements vary. It often involves the number of followers/subscribers in combination with watch time. At least, that is how it is with YouTube. If you use my model, you will automatically become a partner everywhere and pick up money through the loyalty of fans and supporters (followers/subscribers). Because they spend their time on the content, the club is rewarded with partnerships. Ultimately, watch time is converted into revenue. Through partnerships with the mentioned social media platforms, you are paid for views. As a partner, you are paid based on the number of views. Likes and comments automatically ensure that the algorithm works in favor of your content. Therefore, handle content creation professionally and carefully. Quality over quantity. You want the viewer to have interactions with the videos.

YouTube pays out per thousand views. The average RPM (Revenue Per Mille - earnings per 1,000 views) on YouTube in the Netherlands is globally between €4.00 and €8.50 (or approximately $5 to $18), depending on the target audience and content. Are you starting to understand why it is extremely lucrative to invest in social media and use it the right way? X, Instagram, and Facebook generate income in a similar way through the one-minute teaser videos with which you draw fans and supporters to YouTube. I think clubs like Ajax, PSV, and Feyenoord can easily pay at least one FTE from this income. Then the model is already profitable; that is how you should see it. One FTE can create this content, and the moment you want to scale up, one or more FTEs are added. Eventually, you build your own media arm of the club, and that in itself as a whole is value that you take with you in the overall value of the club.

As a football club, has this blog triggered you to take action in the field of social media, and do you need help and/or advice with that? Then please get in touch.