Impala leads on the digital front / Ragahouse.com Impala leads on the digital front

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Impala leads on the digital front

By Eric Njiru | Fri 28 Sep, 2018 13:50

Impala Saracens tops the digital social media leader-board with biggest online audience in Kenya, a research by Raga House shows.

The Nairobi based Saracens command a following of 43,942 followers across Facebook, Twitter and Instagram where they keep their fans engaged every single day.

Just how active are Kenya rugby clubs on social media platforms? Can a fan who did not attend a game rely on their Twitter account(s) to get real time and credible updates?

Impala has 33,700 followers on Twitter making it the most followed in Kenya on that platform. Their Facebook numbers stand at 7,397 while on Instagram they have 2,845 followers- third in Kenya.

Mwamba RFC sit below Impala with 30,794 followers across the three platforms. They are however above Impala as far as Facebook is concerned where they have 12,294 likes on their official page.

Homeboyz lead with Instagram numbers where they have 3,980 followers as Mombasa have only 86 with 0 posts.

A number of these clubs are investing heavily in content and digital strategy to push their crest far beyond team limits while other have completely ignored social media, in 2018.

Quins are not far from Impala and Mwamba as they are third with 20,165 followers from 5,379 on Facebook, 13.2k on Twitter and 1586 on Instagram. Kenya Cup champions KCB are fourth with 19,388 followers while the national sevens circuit champions Homeboyz are 7th with 15,957.

A random check showed a number of clubs will only tweet or post on Facebook during match-days only while other forget to tweet even on the actual days leaving their thousands of followers not aware of how the club is fairing.

Both Blak Blad and Strathmore Leos have low numbers compared to their competitors. This is contributed by having not tweeted since October 2017.

Manchester City football club CEO Nuria Tarre was quoted in May saying that aside from the game itself, the team’s digital and content strategy is probably its most important product. A thing Kenyan rugby club can learn from maybe? Maybe.

Championship side Western Bulls was last season likened to As Roma football club due to their creativity and craziness on social media. This includes banter. Bulls have 9,618 followers on social media platforms which ranks them above four Kenya Cup sides.

Hiring new or dedicating an existing employee to manage your social media was almost unheard of a decade ago. In the present day, however, top clubs spend many hours per day on social media management and have dedicated budgets for it.

Beyond individual clubs there are rugby platforms that command good following. Not to escape mention will be Shujaa Pride, Ministry of Rugby and Kenya Rugby 24/7 and overseers of the game Kenya Rugby Union who have different platforms on twitter for their team clusters.

Summary of numbers as at 25 September 2018

1.Impala Saracens
Facebook: 7,397
Twitter: 33.7k
Instagram: 2,845

Total: 43,943

2.Mwamba
Facebook: 12,294
Twitter: 18.5k
Instagram: 3217

Total: 30,794

3.Kenya Harlequin
Facebook: 5,379
Twitter: 13.2k
Instagram: 1586
Total: 20,165

4.KCB
Facebook: 8,949
Twitter: 9,200
Instagram: 1,239

Total: 19,388

5.Nondies
Facebook: 3,430
Twitter: 12.8k
Instagram: 1123

Total: 17,353

6.Top Fry Nakuru
Facebook: 9,197
Twitter:6,007
Instagram: 1380

Total: 16,584

7.Homeboyz
Facebook: 5,547
Twitter: 6,430
Instagram: 3,980

Total: 15,957

8.Kabras Sugar
Facebook: 5,362
Twitter: 5399
Instagram: 1766
Total: 12,527

9.Mean Machine
Facebook: 4,503
Twitter: 432- joined Nov, 2017
Instagram: 827

Total: 5,362

10.Menengai Oilers
Facebook: 2,601
Twitter: 771
Instagram: 427 -last update Oct 2017

Total: 3,799

11.Blak Blad
Facebook:
Twitter: 2121 -last tweet October 2016
Instagram: 894

Total: 3,015

12.Strathmore Leos

Facebook: No official page
Twitter: 1,389
Instagram: 161

Total: 1550

KRU Championship
1.Western Bulls
Facebook: 5,615
Twitter: 3601
Instagram: 402

2.Kisii RFC
Facebook: 2,875
Twitter: 632
Instagram: 381

3.Mombasa RFC
Facebook: 1,537
Twitter: 645
Instagram: 86 0 posts