By Ciaran Duffy

Most major football clubs worldwide are taking social media seriously enough to invest in it to deliver what the fans and sponsors desire.

The key is focusing on the passion of the fans,clubs who do not and are only investing a marginal amount of time and money into social media and are failing to take full advantage of its power to connect and bond with fans. Most major clubs are on top of social media and have tens of people working on social media projects.

The potential is staggering, it costs next to nothing to open an account on Facebook or Twitter (you just need someone to build followers). But given time you could have 700,000 followers that the club can promote sponsors, tickets and merchandise and also offer it to sponsors as an outlet for promotions.

Because of the high cost of sponsorship, particularly in the English Premiership. Sponsorships are more than ever about ROI rather than awareness, this makes engagement via social media even more vital. If Bayern Munich have 700,000 followers on Twitter, I-Mobile has a chance to promote a new phone to all of them in one message. Even if just a small percentage of followers buy the phone, it’s still pure profit.

One could argue that club websites should be the platform.

The clubs can also use social media as a new distribution avenue for merchandising at a very low cost. For example Liverpool FC promoted their new jersey launch via Facebook.

But clubs need to be careful not go overboard on sales, it's not always what the fans really want from their club. The fans care about a whole range of things, but mainly they want to feel part of the club, not just a money making option. They want to know what player is injured, who is signing for them and what the team had for dinner. Interaction via social media is an ideal method of doing this.

About the author Ciaran Duffy is Web Editor at MeetTheBoss TV. This note has been first published on MeetTheBoss. See the link to find more details and related videos.