Community-led social media strategy.
Repositioning a sporting club to drive community growth during COVID-19.
This project saw me reposition the West London Wildcats' digital presence during COVID-19, developing a social media strategy that balanced member recruitment, community engagement and brand storytelling across multiple digital channels.
Project snapshot.
Developed an audience-led social media strategy during COVID-19.
Repositioned the club's value proposition for a UK audience.
Delivered content strategy across Instagram and Facebook.
Increased Facebook reach by 100% in the first month.
Increased Instagram interactions by 161.8%.
Supported member recruitment and community engagement during lockdowns.
Read the case study.
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The West London Wildcats are an Australian Rules Football club based in London, connecting Australians and locals through sport and community.
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COVID-19 fundamentally changed the club's audience and recruitment challenges. With many Australian expatriates returning home, the West London Wildcats lost more than half of their playing group and community members.
Traditional recruitment approaches were no longer viable. The club needed to shift its focus from recruiting Australians moving to London to attracting an entirely new audience—people living in the UK who had little or no understanding of Australian Rules Football.
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The challenge wasn't simply growing social media channels—it was redefining the club's value proposition.
We quickly realised we weren't selling football. We were selling community.
The strategy needed to answer one simple question:
Why would someone who knows nothing about AFL want to join this club?
Audience insights highlighted that prospective members weren't necessarily looking for a new sport. They were looking for:
community
friendship
fitness
belonging
opportunities to explore London
meet new people
With uncertainty surrounding lockdowns and sporting seasons, the strategy needed to position the Wildcats as much more than a football club.
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I developed a community-led social media strategy centred around three pillars: community, fun and fitness.
Rather than focusing on the technicalities of Australian Rules Football, the content strategy highlighted the experiences and relationships that members gained by joining the club.
The strategy included:
recruitment-focused social content
community engagement initiatives
inclusive brand messaging
member storytelling
audience-specific calls to action
consistent tone of voice and creative direction
Every piece of content was designed to reinforce the club’s broader value proposition – that joining the Wildcats was about becoming part of a community, regardless of whether you’d ever kicked a football before.
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Increased Facebook reach by 100% within the first month.
Increased Facebook engagement by 148%.
Increased Instagram interactions by 161.8%.
Successfully repositioned the club's social media strategy to support domestic member recruitment.
Maintained community engagement throughout COVID-19 lockdowns.
