The Vikings are running "separate social strategies for the U.K. and Germany, where the sport is most popular in Europe, in a bid to become one of the first of the 32 franchises to build an international audience it owns," according to Seb Joseph of DIGIDAY. Localized accounts on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter have been "active for the team since August in both markets," making the Vikings the first NFL team to "tackle both markets at the same time with localized content that ranges from memes to influencers." The team posts "between two and three times a day to each account regardless of the market unless it’s a game day when there’s more content to share." On Facebook in the U.K., the focus is "more on community engagement and reach, with most of the posts aimed at sparking discussions around games and players alongside reposting content from fans." Unlike in the U.S., the Vikings have "chosen to build" their audience around a Facebook Group "rather than a page." The Vikings group in the U.K. had 430 members as of Friday. It is a "similar approach" to Germany, where the team has launched another Facebook group. A local moderator is used to "manage the group and localize the content with memes and pics more suited for a German audience" (DIGIDAY.com, 10/3).
