Clubs outside of football’s elite have "traditionally shied away from creating content for foreign audiences," according to Seb Joseph of DIGIDAY. But for Premier League side West Ham United, the arrival of Mexican Javier Hernández in the summer "was a chance to specifically target the popular player’s Spanish-speaking fans who had followed him from his previous team." The team estimated it has "gained around 270,000 new Spanish-speaking fans" across its social channels since Hernández joined the club on July 24. Its Facebook page has "benefited the most," attracting 225,000 followers from Mexico in that period, up 11.5%. Its Twitter accounts saw a 15% increase in followers, "due in part to the separate Spanish-language account the club launched after Hernández joined." The club’s Instagram audience rose 15.8%. In response to the increase in Spanish-speaking fans, West Ham hired Mexican journalist Martín del Palacio, who "started producing five original pieces of content in Spanish a day" to post across Facebook and Twitter. West Ham does not "just translate English-language posts into Spanish." Madrid-based del Palacio works with the club’s 12-person content team in London "on ideas that will appeal to Hernández’s fans" (DIGIDAY, 9/27).
