Why community-led video is key for sport social media content

The time is 5:21pm on 23rd August 2025. The location: The Emirates Stadium. Eberechi Eze is being unveiled to a raucous red and white wall. The protagonist is in the middle of the pitch, donned in the Arsenal number 10 and a pair of blue jeans, but the build-up has been a masterclass in storytelling.

Modern social feeds are flooded with content. Audiences have turned the infinite scroll into standard muscle memory. And because of that, depth of narrative is becoming as valuable as speed of production and as essential as the characters within it. When everyone catches up, how do you stand out?

91% of brands agree that video is essential to their marketing strategy, according to SQ Magazine. But ask yourself, does the same percentage know how to use it effectively to create fans, not just views?

Story-driven video lands when emotion sits in the right context – something critical to achieving impact, and only possible when you understand the platform and your audience.

Depth drives engagement

The For You Page has created thousands of microcultures, each shaped by personalised feeds. Sport is one of the few remaining monocultures, where millions focus on the same moment simultaneously. So when brands tap into that collective energy and layer in deeper storytelling, the content becomes much more powerful.

Video content plays an essential role in extending fan engagement beyond existing supporters, drawing people in through personalities highlighting moments that truly matter. 

F1 is an obvious example. In 2021 it recorded the highest social engagement of any major sports championship with a 40% growth in followers to 49.1 million and a 50% rise in video views to 7 billion. Social works as part of the media and content eco-system the sport has created. It is as supplementary as it is unique; the perfect example of character building through multiple touchpoints over time.

Learn from the pros

Sport’s biggest advantage is its cast of characters. Players are an extension of traditional team marketing tools, helping to drive deeper connection. Take Ollie Lawrence, the England rugby player who documented his recovery from a torn Achilles in a raw, honest way. Authenticity is what made it cut through. It’s the sort of story-driven video that gives fans an intimate look at the journey players face off the pitch regardless of whether you are a rugby fan or not.

Returning to Eze, not only was his story one of homecoming, but it also perfectly laddered back up to Arsenal’s overarching narrative of being a family club. “Once a Gunner, always a Gunner.” And all that.

Every element reinforced the idea of family and continuity, from Ian Wright conducting his first interview, to the choice of music and messaging. Every element pulled in the same direction and said the same thing.

This is how social content should operate. Not in a promotional way, but as a vehicle to provide unique context and emotional resonance that the audience cannot get elsewhere.

Video content generates 1,200% more shares than text and image content combined in sports marketing campaigns, claims WifiTalents, demonstrating the power of an emotionally invested audience.

We use a metric we call our Premium Engagement Ratio – the percentage of total engagements that come from shares and forwards. If content is truly resonating with an audience, they’ll share it directly with friends or followers. This is a bigger endorsement than a ‘like’.

The future of fan engagement

The future of social marketing isn’t about having a larger social presence but about making storytelling a central part of your brand. 

It’s about uncovering the narrative layers beneath what is happening in real time. It provides a form of broadcast that satisfies fans’ curiosity and draws in new audiences beyond traditional followings.

The consistent thread across everything, from Ollie Lawrence’s raw injury rehabilitation journey to F1’s off-the-cuff driver moments, is that depth creates belonging. Video content is most effective when it gives audiences emotional access they cannot get from a broadcast. Brands need to shift from simply producing content to crafting context and creating materials that feel intimate and driven by community. 

Joe Battimelli is COO and co-founder of GH05T