QPR Expand Social Media Innovation by Advertising Twitter Hashtag on Dugouts

Queens Park Rangers FC have looked to up the ante in the social media stakes after revealing they will advertise the club’s Twitter hashtag on the home dugout.

The move is designed to increase fan engagement between R’s supporters who use Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Google+ on a matchday, and is the latest in a series of social media initiatives launched by the club over the past two years.

The R’s have used dedicated matchday hashtags since the start of last season and have found the move popular in engaging with the QPR fans pre, during and post-match.

Adam Hulme, QPR’s Multi-Media Officer, said: “We are always looking for new and innovate ways to engage with our fans through social media.

“We understand that communication with our fans is crucial and our social media channels allow us to experiment with new technologies to help engage with our fans.

“In becoming the first club to add our matchday hashtag to our home dugout we hope to show our growing fanbase how to interact with each other to hopefully add an extra dimension to their matchday experience.”

The R’s social media presence has grown significantly over the past two years with over 147,000 followers on Twitter, as well as almost 230,000 Facebook fans – 108% growth during the 2012/13 season.

Alex Trickett, Head of Sport at Twitter UK, said: “Twitter brings people closer to the things they care about and for many in the UK, that means football.

“We are excited to see QPR thinking of new ways to use our platform to connect fans with the team and players.”

Last season, QPR were the first Premier League side to stream live pre-match press conferences through the social media channel Ustream.

Rangers also used their highly-popular Ustream channel to stream pre-season games in Austria, with fans able to watch a live football match within a tweet.

During the previous transfer window, the R’s have been praised for their innovative ways of announcing new signings though Twitter’s short video service, Vine, including the arrival of Loic Remy and Danny Simpson.

In August, the R’s were named as the most socially savvy football team in the UK outside of the Premier League and scooped the ‘Innovation in Insight-Driven Multichannel Marketing’ award for the #ForeverRs campaign.