How Football Teams Are Utilising Twitter’s New Audio Feature

Feeling stuck with Twitter’s character limit but you’re not keen on recording a video? 

Last week the US tech company rolled out the latest in a series of new features with Audio Tweets, a new way for users to get their message out into the world. It sticks with the Twitter limit of 140 seconds (2min 20sec), as happens with video, but one thing that is different is that if you record over that threshold it will set it up into a new audio tweet within the same thread. So stories and longer audio threads could soon become the norm in your feed.

As with any new feature on the platform, it didn’t take long for the sports world to start experimenting with it. 

Bayern 04 Leverkusen saw an opportunity during their match with 1. FC Koln in the Bundesliga. Using the commentary from their second goal from Werkself Radio.

We at Samba took the opportunity on the Tottenham Hotspur Spanish account to test it for ourselves. One day before the game against Manchester United we took a message from a Spanish speaking player and fans had to guess who it was (can you guess?)

In Argentina, Racing Club announced the signing of a contract extension of one of its players, Ivan Alexis Pillud, with an audio tweet from the player himself.

We have also seen various other examples from the likes of PSG, Rangers and Everton. Even US chat show host Jimmy Fallon got into the act;

At the moment social media managers around the world are still finding out in what ways this is best going to serve their needs. Whether it is a pure fan engagement tool that can be used for quizzes, etc between games, or to provide fans with some excitement during a game, as Leverkusen did. 

It may also benefit podcasts, who have long used audio clips produced from the likes of Headliner and Buzzsprout to promote their shows. The hosts and companies behind them will certainly be tempted by the ease in which you can record a quick promo and put it out into the world. 

How this expands beyond these initial areas we will have to see, and much will depend on where Twitter goes with it. Does it allow for pre-recorded audio to be uploaded? If it does then this will change how it’s approached completely. 

If you have seen any great examples, then do share them with us on our Twitter – @SambaAgency