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The 4 Most Fan Engaging College Football Teams on Social Media

college-football social media
college-football social media
A map of the many passionate College Football fan bases in across the country (photo via Social News Daily)

Social media continues to grip everyone’s attention during the games. When a big game is on, Twitter feeds fill up with updates and fan reactions across the country. This season, college football teams have shown strong fan engagement across all social media outlets, as universities are doing whatever they can to pull in fans and keep them invested in the program.

This season, Texas A&M University, University of Oregon, Louisiana State University, and the University of Miami have done a particularly great job not only engaging fans, but also providing creative and unique content that stands out from the usual tweet or Instagram post.

Texas A&M

Texas A&M has practically taken over the state of Texas with their priority on fan engagement and up-to-date social media posts. Their 111,000 followers on the @AggieFootball Twitter account doesn’t even begin to describe how engaging A&M has been this season on social media.

Texas A&M does a great job of providing fans what they want: The inside scoop on what is it like to live the life of an Aggie football player. A&M also has a student-run account, @AggieFBlife on Twitter and Instagram, that goes inside Aggie life and shows more than what an official account would. The 33,000 Instagram followers that @aggieFBlife has gives a true look into what the A&M experience is like.

AggieFBlife, which was created by global sports branding agency FusionSports Group, has become so popular for Aggie fans that they are revamping their entire site along with an iPhone app launch. This is guaranteed to engage fans and provide the Aggie nation with quality, real-time updates.

Texas A&M also has shown effective fan engagement through their use of the #12thman hashtag. This goes across all forms of social media, including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. During signing day, fans knew exactly when a recruit committed to A&M.

Aggies’ Head Coach Kevin Sumlin was a very active and positive presence on Twitter during national signing day, tweeting exciting responses every time a new commit chose A&M. This engagement on important days like signing day is crucial, not only because fans are dying to know who is choosing what team, but because new recruits get hyped when they see their team and coaches are involved with the new players. A&M had a widely noticeable presence on Twitter during signing day, and it showed by how their 2014 recruiting class ranked overall.

Oregon

We all recognize Oregon as the flashy school with next-level uniforms, and their social media accounts do not disappoint either. What Oregon does well is not only provide frequent live updates throughout their football games, but also providing innovative infographics which bring something extra and creative to their gameday tweets.

Their tweets are engaging because the keep fans updated on the field, post players on the field, and always provide half-time and final scores for their followers. Of course, Oregon doesn’t just provide a 140-character tweet of what the final score is. They have entire game breakdowns in some of the most aesthetically appealing infographics in all of college football.

In weeks one and two this season, #GoDucks was the most tweeted team hashtag across all teams. It is clear Oregon is engaging fans; and making their presence known all over the social media powerhouse of Twitter. Oregon also has the top ranked YouTube channel in NCAAF, with 29,000 subscribers. Their most recent video features Matt Kearny, a singer song-writer. While the Kearny sings, “I left my heart in Oregon,” there are vintage clips of Oregon football mixed with recent footage as well. Finally, the Instagram account of the Oregon Ducks towers above all other NCAAF teams. With 187,000 followers, other college football Instagram accounts don’t come close to Oregon. They post exclusive looks at new Nike uniform designs every season; and fans follow just to see what will be released next, which is key to engaging fans.

LSU

LSU is a constant presence on all social media outlets. After the 2013 season, they had the second most Twitter followers of any NCAAF team, the second most Facebook likes, and the second most talked about on Facebook. Their Twitter following is enormous, featuring 163,000 followers this season. However, LSU provides a completely new way to engage their fans aside from their successful Facebook and Twitter accounts.

The LSU Geaux Zone, run by the LSU athletic department, provides an outlet for students and fans to submit fan videos to the Geaux Zone that are reviewed by LSU Athletics. Approved videos appear on the Geaux Zone #1 Fan Channel, so dedicated fans can tune in to see if their shout out was included. This is a great way to engage fans because they are getting out to games and taking videos, displaying true LSU pride. lsu ncaaf social media digital tech Miami

The Miami Hurricanes’ fan engagement and social media presence does not miss a beat. This team has a high level of engagement on all their social media accounts, specifically Facebook and Instagram. The Miami Hurricanes Instagram account has 88,000 followers, second most to Oregon; and posts at least one picture a day, sometimes more. These posts are visually appealing and feature player edits, with stats and hashtags embedded on the photo for fans to hashtag as well. Of all these teams, Miami has the highest percent of Facebook fan engagement, with 20 percent total engagement based on weekly Facebook likes, shares, and comments divided by total likes.

Their 16,000 subscriber YouTube account gives Miami fans an inside look at player life at The U, with inside camp videos and interviews frequently posted. Even their Twitter account is impressive, as they are constantly replying to fans, retweeting fan tweets and pictures, and getting their fans invovled with their weekly trending hashtags featured on their Twitter cover photo and tweets.

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