Facebook, the new grandstand for relationship marketing

Abstract

This paper aims to relate the marketing strategies adopted by football teams in social media networks with an increasing number of users and their interactions on the fanpage of each football club. Information was gathered from the top Brazilian football teams in the first and second divisions in 2013 on Facebook. The findings show that Authenticity, Disclosure and Information Dissemination are positively related to increasing the number of users. Authenticity impacts directly in the number of interactions, reinforcing the need for an active management of the fanpages. The findings show that the professional management of a Facebook page contributes positively to the increase in the number of fans on its pages. This allows clubs to model new relationship strategies with their fans and sponsors. Keywords: social media, social network sites, relationship marketing, marketing strategy, Facebook, sports management.