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THE BLACK AND WHITE OF THE @BLACKYELLOW – DORTMUND HIT 1M FOLLOWERS IN 10 MONTHS

Borussia Dortmund are well-recognised as a powerhouse in German and European football. From the atmosphere of the famous Yellow Wall of passionate Dortmund fans, to the silky football the team plays on the pitch, the club, its fanbase and their personality are highly regarded throughout the world of football. In the wake of COVID-19, having a strong digital presence is as important as ever, acting as a means to connect the club with the fans – Dortmund are a great example of a club that has relished the challenge and capitalised on the opportunity.

Launched in January 2020, Borussia Dortmund’s English-language Instagram account (@BlackYellow) has gained over 1,000,000 followers, in the space of 10 months. The account is now the 4th-most followed Bundesliga club account on Instagram behind only Bayern Munich, Bayer Leverkusen, and Borussia Dortmund’s German-language account. For every month that the account has existed, the account has had the highest monthly growth rate and engagement rate of any Bundesliga club account on the popular image sharing platform. On top of a rapidly increasing following, the account continues to have an incredible average monthly engagement rate of 25%. The strong growth and engagement on Instagram has come alongside similar success on Twitter for the club’s English-language account, which has seen 23 consecutive months of the most monthly total engagements of any English-language Bundesliga club account.

Global sports marketing agency SportFIVE oversee the running of @BlackYellow’s social media accounts, and we spoke to Harry McIntire – Senior Manager, Digital – about their Instagram strategy which has allowed the account to hit the ground running, surpassing the one million follower mark in under a year. The strategy includes:

  1. Culturally relevant content going beyond football
  2. Geographically targeted paid media campaigns
  3. Visually captivating graphic design
  4. Quick and bold decision making when addressing trending topics with an emphasis on being the first account/club/team to speak to it
  5. Engagement driven giveaway campaigns aimed at giving back to the fans and building a larger audience
  6. Creating content that is relevant and interesting to the club’s players to re-share with their large individual audiences
  7. Focused use of Instagram’s new features (Reels, IG Shopping etc.)
  8. Local and global influencer campaigns to target new and existing demographics
  9. Geographically targeted creative content that caters to different countries, religions, ethnicities, and cultures
  10. Going beyond covering American “hours” to make sure the account truly caters to the club’s international audience with around the clock coverage

With such a strong strategy in place, the @BlackYellow account is sure to continue the rapid growth in followers and engagement that has been apparent in the first 10 months since its inception. As the account’s reach and audience increases, the Dortmund fanbase worldwide is growing day-by-day, cementing themselves as one of the world’s top football clubs.

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