Santos Laguna’s social media strategy continues to be ahead of the curve

For the past several millennia, the ways that humans communicate have been constantly evolving. The transmission of ideas has gone from paintings of buffalo in the caves in the Cantabrian region in northern Spain and babirusa in the Bantimurung district in Indonesia to the estimated 500 million tweets sent every day from every region of the planet.

Twitter has become one of the world’s most used tools of communication, with everyone from DJs to dictators using the platform to spread their messages to the masses. Sports teams have become especially adept at using the platform, using it to connect to existing and potential fans in ever more creative ways.

I spoke with the recently promoted President of Club Santos Laguna Dante Elizalde about the twitter hashflags for Santos, making them the first (and so far only) club in Liga MX to have their own. I was curious why they decided to create these, and Elizalde cited Twitter’s enormous reach both in Mexico and worldwide, saying “with more than 20 million followers together among the Liga MX teams... it was highly relevant to participate with these hashflags to enrich the experience of our fans. The creation process was according to the talent and creativity of the marketing area of ​​Orlegi Sports and Santos Laguna, who achieved this synergy with Twitter and hand in hand created these hashflags.” Elizalde also noted that the hashflags generated a good amount of engagement, saying it “was well received by our fans, generating more than 20 thousand messages on the day of its launch.”

Santos has always been on the cutting edge with how they communicate. They were the second club in Mexico to have a stand-alone English-language social media presence, and they are constantly looking to stay at the forefront of connecting with their fans. “The alliance with Twitter sets a precedent in Mexican football as it is the first of its kind, and of course it fits in perfectly with our social media strategy,” Elizalde says, adding that it “gives the club a place inside of the international elite, since only the sports teams of the United States use them. Us being the first Mexican team to do so puts us at the forefront of social media use.”

I also asked about utilizing Twitter to broadcast matches, be they first team, Femenil, Fuerzas Basicas, or more, and Elizalde said “Of course. Twitter will always be the perfect way to communicate with our fans. Now, the issue of the transmission as such is transferred from July 1 to Fox Sports. However, as I was saying, surely this platform will be used for connection purposes with our Guerreros and football fans in general.”

Elizalde concluded by saying that “Being a pioneer is part of our DNA. Santos Laguna as an integral part of Grupo Orlegi, is a company committed to innovation, meaning that we always seek to provide our fans with novel experiences that enrich the passion they show for our colors. Today we are talking about this alliance with Twitter but it is important to point out that in all the areas of this institution we are always looking to win by serving, which is our motto.”

#GanarSirviendo is one of the hashflags, which references Santos’ motto “Ganar sirviendo es la único opción” or “Winning by serving is the only option”. Santos also got hashflags for #SinGuerrerosNoHaySantos (Without Guerreros there is no Santos), #Santos, and #GuerrerosSinFronteras (Guerreros without borders).

As communication methods continue to evolve, expect Santos to also evolve and adapt to be able to spread their message of service.