CASTLEFORD TIGERS have been ranked as the best users of social media in Super League – with only five top sporting clubs in the entire country ranked above them in a recent survey.
The Sport Social Media Index is an annual league table of all 148 British professional football, rugby and cricket teams, ranked according to the best use of social media by their official club channels.
Launched in 2013, the annual Index is compiled by measuring the social media performance of each club based on research from a team of seven people who looked at eight social networks. The data was analysed by a panel of four judges who presided over the final results.
And the Tigers sit not only above every other team in Super League, but ahead of sporting giants such as Manchester United, Liverpool and Yorkshire’s county cricket champions.
The Tigers’ superb 2014 on the field has been mirrored by an excellent one off it. Castleford have risen from 84th on the list last year all the way up to sixth on the ladder this time around – the highest non-football team on the list. Local rivals Wakefield are the next best placed Super League club, soaring from 106th all the way up to 11th.
The judges praised the Tigers’ use of community generated content – particularly through Twitter – and the club’s significant audience growth over the course of the year.
The panel also noted the wide variety of engaging content across the club’s channels, including live Twitter Q&As with players and caption contests.
Castleford were also praised for the use of bespoke digital assets, tailored for a multitude of different social channels.
“The Social Media Index is weighted so as not to give an unfair advantage to the bigger clubs,” explained Amy Byard, of the Sport Social Media Index.
“The scores reflect the number of followers clubs have and percentage growth is the key to their success.
“The judges praised those clubs that showed fleet of foot community management skills. If the fans tweet a question the club tweets back, and they respond on Facebook. In that way the smaller clubs stay close to their supporters.
“We selected a random number of posts and checked on how many of those the clubs responded to.”
The Sport Social Media Index 2014
Super League results (overall position on table)
Castleford Tigers (6th)
Wakefield Trinity Wildcats (11th)
Leeds Rhinos (49th)
St Helens (52nd)
Bradford Bulls (58th)
Salford Red Devils (64th)
Hull KR (70th)
Wigan Warriors (76th)
Catalans Dragons (84th)
London Broncos (85th)
Widnes Vikings (87th)
Hull FC (121st)
Huddersfield Giants (122nd)
Warrington Wolves (129th)
