As the 2017/18 Ghana Premier League gets underway, Accra Hearts of Oak top the social media rankings of clubs in the topflight.
A survey conducted by Footy-Ghana.com analyses how the respective clubs who join defending champions Aduana Stars in the race for the title in the new campaign are utilizing digital media tools to market their brands to core fans and new audiences.
The survey is premised on the commonest channels most, if not all, clubs are utilizing – Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
Overall, the 16 clubs in the Premier League have attracted a combined 546,966 following from the reported 5.6 million active social media users in Ghana.
From these three platforms – Facebook: 307,290 likes, Twitter: 211,620 and Instagram: 28,056 following.
All figures are as current as midday Friday March 16, 2018.
Away from the top two traditional clubs are emerging force Dreams FC who gazumped Inter Allies with superior Facebook numbers to sit third on the rankings. The Kweiman-based club’s digital media activities, especially since their return to the topflight, has been undoubtedly impressive. They have enhanced their digital reach with a number of innovations via the respective platforms.
Newly-promoted Karela United and Techiman Eleven Wonders occupy the last places with the latter rock bottom.
Facebook Kings:
Asante Kotoko command the biggest numbers on Facebook with 85,439 people liking their official page. They edge arch-rivals Hearts of Oak by 2,648 more likes.
With 32,020 likes, Premier League returnees Dreams FC rank third followed by WAFA SC – 25,333 and Berekum Chelsea at 5th place also with 20,168 likes.
New boys Karela United boast of 2,857 likes while Techiman XI Wonders are yet to own a Facebook page.
Clubs like Medeama and Ebusua Dwarfs have less than a 1000 likes on Facebook – the Mauve and Yellows have not been frequent with updates on their page while Dwarfs not too long ago came up with an official handle. Both clubs have multiple handles bearing their names on the site.
Hearts of Oak rule the numbers on the image-sharing social media verse with 12,300 follows.
Inter Allies come second with 7,632 followers – more than twice the numbers Asante Kotoko have in third place.
As many as five clubs – champions Aduana Stars, Liberty Professionals, Wa All Stars, WAFA SC and Techiman XI Wonders are yet to explore the use of Instagram in enhancing their brands.
The Premier League clubs are reaching out to their fans and the rest of the world via microblogging site Twitter the most. All 16 in the new campaign have their Twitter handles giving updates.
Again, Hearts of Oak lead the pack on the Twitter verse with 51,190 follows – with Kotoko, Inter Allies, WAFA SC and Medeama trailing them in the Top 5.
