Every football player should have a social media presence and get your fans to follow you. Ricardo Kaka has 5.8 million people on his facebook fan page and another 12.2 million followers on twitter. Leo Messi has even more - 6.7 million people on his facebook fan page and 18.3 million followers on twitter. You may say these are super star players. But why should a player like you need a fan page? Why should your fans follow you on a social media page? I will tell you why.
First, I want you to know that most football players already have twitter account, Facebook fan page, LinkedIn connections and most recently, Google+ presence. Social media has become a great promotional tool for football players. And if you ever thought that you have one fan somewhere that you may not know, then you have every reason to create a fan page.
- Your social media presence connect you to your supporters, those who will back you up and encourage you even in times of trouble.
- Your social media presence connect you to scouts, club managers, advertisers and those who might want to do business with you.
- Your social media page give you a voice, so you can speak your public opinion and allow the press have access to your views. it's all about your personal brand building that will position you in the mind of your fans and make them perceive you the way you want.
Four things Fan Page Will Do For A Player Like You
1. Help You To Know Your fans: It's important to know the people that has some kind of interest in you. Who they are, their demography, lifestyle and even find out why they are interested in you. For instance, on kaka's fan page, he has a lot of football fans, fellow football players, managers, scouts, club presidents following him. There is a saying that a man who has much people behind him is wealthier than the one with just money.2. Give You A Platform To Engage Your fans: Social media is an interactive platform that allows for discussion on any issue. Your fans could make comments and allow you reply them. You can even have opportunity to chat (instant messaging) with any of them on Facebook, Google talk... This gives you opportunity to explain your actions ans as well understand what their expectations are. With such engagement you can plan out strategies to satisfy them better.
3. Give You A Platform To Promote Your Personal Brand: The press may not promote you so well, especially if you're not a well known player. But you can promote yourself with the social media and allow the press to access your information. For instance, when you did so well in a match. Maybe you scored a goal. You should talk about it on your fan page. Maybe, you embark on a charity or community project or maybe you won an award, you should let your fans know and celebrate with you.
4. Give You Opportunity To Clean Up Your mired Image: You may get into trouble, maybe with a match issues or with your club management or even paparazzi may try to your image in the mud. You may not be having your way with the press, this is when your fan page become handy to explain and express your views on the matter to your fans.
WARNING: The social media is not a place to be trading words. It's not a platform for warring or criticizing others. It's a forum that gives you opportunity to build good will.
