By Nikita Geldenhuys

When did Soccer Laduma’s journey with social media start and what did your social media presence initially look like?

Social media is basically the ability to have a real-time conversation. Soccer Laduma had been doing this in the paper for years before the social media conversation started. At that stage, we were having to type out actual handwritten letters and handwritten faxes.

Social media was a godsend. It just meant we now had an immediate ability to have that conversation. We started Facebook and Twitter in September 2011, mainly linking to the
Soccer Laduma web and mobile site.

While we used visuals, they weren’t customised and it was only in the years to follow that we added a designer to our team, who stepped our platform up a notch in terms of custom-made graphics.

We started an Instagram page in 2013 and a Snapchat account in 2015. From the start, we embraced platforms as they emerged, but we always tried to follow some common philosophy across all the different platforms.

What are some of the major lessons your team learnt about social media since then?

The biggest lesson we learnt is that social media has its own legs. Readers will take in the content in our paper and maybe spread the stories through word of mouth. But with social media, and with Twitter, in particular, you can really see your stories spread. You can join in the conversation and your stories can end up taking on so many different forms.

Another lesson was not to try and force followers back into your space, but rather to accommodate the readers in the space they feel most comfortable. We, therefore, developed a social media-only content schedule, where our readers can get bespoke content on their platform of choice.

How do you currently run your social media? As in, do you have a dedicated team and do you follow a specific strategy?

We have a five-person team, including two designers. We also have a back-up team of six editors, the SL Radio editor, and the SLTV editor, posting their content to the relevant platform. We also have a dedicated after-hours team posting live match feeds to Facebook and Twitter, and covering breaking news.

All content posted is part of a larger strategy, with our key mandate being to grow engagement, create shareable content, and to lead more readers to the web and mobile site. In 2016, Facebook alone led to almost 30 million page views on the Soccer Laduma site.

At this point, it’s important to make it clear that we don’t simply regurgitate paper and web content onto our social media communities. We carefully craft content specific to the platform so that those on the platform are immediately accepting of it, want to engage with it, and don’t feel spammed.

Yes, of course, we give users of any specific platform a front door to our website as a service, and that strategy plays a huge role in the traffic on our website. But we engage with them on their terms in their preferred space and we find that strategy works best.

How valuable is social media in attracting audiences to Soccer Laduma’s news website?

It’s huge! All of our platforms work 360. They support and boost each other, and each one’s success relies on the performance of the others. But, ultimately, social media is where people have conversations these days, so it’s an invaluable tool for us.

Your Facebook page cannot be a mirror of your website. Yes, the same personality traits – the same DNA – needs to exist, but understand the tone and ‘culture’ of the platform you are on and extend a service or door to your readers to go elsewhere, whether Instagram, SLTV, SLradio or the website.

What tactics have been particularly successful in building Soccer Laduma’s social media following?

Planning content around top football events is key to our success. We cannot be caught unaware. Our social media planning diary is our lifeblood and we’ve recognised how crucial it is for our readers to get a constant supply of relevant content.

Our biggest tactic at the moment is to create visually rich content that our followers want to share, luring new followers by the strength of the content, which is still after all, king.

What are your future plans for Soccer Laduma’s social media?

We aim to remain relevant. In order to do this, we analyse the success of our strategy often. We stay on top of algorithm changes, study our analytics, and react to them. In short, we listen to our readers. We give them more of what they respond to, and we make changes to content lacking in engagement.

Our future will see more bespoke short videos for social media and, as data costs are expected to lower, we expect a boom in engagement with this content.

Does social media have the power to help build robust audiences for South African publications?

It plays a huge role obviously, but not by itself. Content always comes first. You need to have engaging content, which people find worthy of sharing and talking about online. If you’ve got that, then social media is your most powerful tool in helping to spread that content as far and wide as possible.

Social media is your ability to plug into the heartbeat of your audience. If the pulse is hardly audible and engagement is low, it means you are not talking to them about the things they want to talk about. Use it to listen and it’s the most powerful tool in your publications’ arsenal.

For more information, visit www.soccerladuma.co.za. Alternatively, connect with them on Facebook, Twitter or on Instagram.

Soccer Laduma is celebrating its 20th birthday in 2017. Read more in our article Soccer Laduma turns 20.