Barça, leader on social networks during the Covid-19 period
FC Barcelona has continued to maintain a leading position on social media during the Covid-19 crisis. From mid-March to today, Barça is the club that has generated the most interactions on the main social networks, a clear sign of the interest of the fans towards the club and the power of the brand on a global level. The projection of the numerous actions of FC Barcelona in the fight against the coronavirus, where the innovative initiative of the title rights of the Camp Nou stands out, and a content strategy structured around entertainment, have led to spectacular figures.
Between March 12 and May 14, Barça generated a total of 178 million interactions on its social channels on Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and Facebook, above the results of its main competitors: Manchester United (160 million), Liverpool (140m) and Real Madrid (119m). If we analyse this led by platforms, FC Barcelona is still number 1 on Instagram and Twitter, it occupies the second position on YouTube, where the element of analysis is video views, and the sixth on Facebook, according to Blinkfire data.
With the suppression of sports activity due to the emergence of Covid-19, FC Barcelona clearly opted for a strategy to raise public awareness and support for health authorities, while a battery of content was deployed to maintain constant bonding with its partners and fans. As a result, the #Culersathome campaign was launched, which, in collaboration with the main sponsors of the club, proposes a daily action to do from home, with recipes, book and movie recommendations, physical activity exercises or challenges with the ball.
This multiplatform #Culersathome strategy was complemented by other successful actions, such as 'Live Calls'. Barça were the first football club to establish this live video conference interview format, which allowed players to be seen from a more personal point of view. First team players have participated (Ter Stegen, Rakitic, Sergi Roberto, Junior and Braithwaite), as well as the likes of Pedri and Iniesta. Reaching new audiences through entertainment have also seen interviews with YouTubers and even with Darko Peric, one of the actors of 'La Casa de papel', to talk about Barça and its relationship with the sport.
The situation of confinement has also allowed us to value the club's historical heritage, which has been reflected in the networks thanks to formats such as the goal of the day, the daily recommendation via the wide audiovisual catalogue on the club's website or the streaming of entire historical games. During this period of confinement, TikTok has emerged as one of the leading entertainment platforms, especially among the younger age bracket. Barça have picked up its growth in this social network, exceeding 4.2 million followers and well ahead of Real Madrid (2.5 million) and Liverpool (2.4). During this period of analysis, Barça have been able to take advantage of the content generated at home by their players and by enhancing the content of 'freestylers.'
It should be remembered that Barça already closed 2019 as a digital leader. No football club or any North American franchise got more interactions ('likes', shares and comments) than Barça, making it the most beloved team and the one that gets the most 'engagement' with its fans (1,417 million, in total), a challenge to which most organisations aspire in the digital field. Comparing these results globally with clubs in any sporting discipline, during 2019 FC Barcelona was ahead of Liverpool (1,161), Manchester United (1,044), Juventus (916), Chelsea (645) and Real Madrid (600).
