Thanks to Olivier Spaeth Web and Social Media Manager for FC Grenoble Rugby based in France for doing an awesome job in answering all the questions in Sports Geek Nation AMA.

Full Transcript available in the Sports Geek Nation Member's Area.

Here's the highlight question from the Sports Geek Nation AMA with Olivier Spaeth.

About Olivier Spaeth

Olivier Spaeth is the Web and Social Media Manager for FC Grenoble Rugby based in France. Olivier has worked with different media companies and also handled social media for Liverpool a way back. Now with FC Grenoble Rugby, he handles content creation and distribution for their websites and social media channels that amplifies the team’s branding and fan engagement.

Connect with Olivier Spaeth on LinkedIn and Slack @Olivier Spaeth

Find out more about FC Grenoble Rugby at http://fcgrugby.com

Q&A Highlight

David Mackay Question for Olivier Spaeth

Olivier Spaeth:

Hi David, indeed we struggle to stay at the top level.
Due to financial issue, the Club was relegated to the 3rd level in 2005, was back at the 2nd level in 2006 until 2012, where it got promoted to the 1st level (Top 14). A new relegation in 2017 and promotion the year after.

In term of finance, we lost about 40% of our revenues. The attendances went from 12500 to 8500. In the back office, we lost some colleagues, but they were not fired, as they wanted to leave anyway. But we had to work with a lower workforce.

It is obviously harder to keep the fans interested and build a following at the second level, as we have less natural visibility, but I think it makes my job even more important. We were able to be closer to our fans, give them more insights: our engagement rates were very good.

And, in rugby, the play-offs are very important. They are a good way to engage with our fans, especially when you get promoted at the end. For example, I was able to curate a lot of videos made by our fans, add ours and publish this video after our promotion game.

The numbers might not be huge for a lot of big franchises and clubs, but it was one of our best video ever.

When we have a bad season, we try to put more focus on the performance of our youth or women teams.

More Sports Geek Nation AMA Questions you missed

  • Can you give us some insight into the current social media trends you are seeing in France in your role at Grenoble Rugby?
  • What platform most excites you in 2019?
  • When you are short on time and resources?
  • How do you choose where to put your effort?
  • Is there anything that has priority over anything else, or is it a decision based on the specific moment?

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