Only Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund have more online supporters in German football. For Holger Tromp, communications director at Bayer 04, this position is confirmation of the route taken: "We've been investing in the digital world for years and are following a clear plan with a focus on growth and building the brand. We are happy that this strategy, with its creative and valuable content, has succeeded and thereby shown constantly increasing numbers and support. It also serves as inspiration to continue to win over our supporters regionally and internationally for the long term."
On 20 August 2010 it was a case of 'Bayer 04 goes Twitter'. That was the start of the Black and Red social media journey. Bayer 04 started the club’s Facebook channel shortly after that and now have over 2.8 million fans on it. Instagram followed in 2014 and we broke the one million mark in the Bundesliga in 2020 and now have 1.8 million followers. The social media landscape for Bayer 04 was completed two years ago with the addition of Snapchat, YouTube, LinkedIn and most recently TikTok.
Above all, Bayer 04 developed a clear digital strategy internationally early on and has now been communicating to specific target groups for years in four languages – German, English, Spanish and Chinese (Sina Weibo, Douyin, WeChat). The Werkself English-language Twitter channel now has almost 400,000 subscribers and counts amongst the most quoted in international football online. The creative and bold content plus strong community management has seen Leverkusen develop a USP in North America.
Across all platforms and channels, Bayer 04 now has a billion digital contacts per year. 40,000 items are produced each year in the newsroom in Leverkusen and through international partners – including high-end productions like the TV documentary on Kai Havertz (now up to 2.3 million viewers on YouTube). Viral highlights including the flag quiz with Lukas Hradecky or short videos of players like Florian Wirtz, Jeremie Frimpong and Bayer 04 Legends have now been seen millions of times. In addition, Bayer 04 regularly creates and posts content on social media channels with almost all partners and sponsors.
The Bayer 04 social media channels including followers:
- Facebook: 2.84 million (since 2010)
- Instagram: 1.86 million (since 2014)
- Sina Weibo: 1.71 million (since 2018)
- TikTok: 685,000 (since 2020)
- Twitter DE: 429,000 (since 2010)
- Twitter EN: 398,000 (since 2015)
- Twitter ES: 145,000 (since 2015)
- Douyin: 77,000 (since 2020)
- YouTube: 57,000 (since 2018)
- Snapchat: 63,000 (since 2016)
- WeChat: 50,000 (since 2018)
- LinkedIn: 7,500 (since 2020)
Bayern Munich come to the BayArena this Saturday with an 11-point lead in the Bundesliga as they look to take a step closer to the title. As imperious as they may seem, a weakness has emerged of late that the Werkself proved they can exploit in Wednesday’s 1-1 draw with Arsenal in the Champions League. Leverkusen are also looking to make it four Bundesliga home games unbeaten against the Bavarians. Here’s all you need to know ahead of the 15:30 CET kick-off in our matchday news.
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Another home game, another top opponent - another marker? Three days after their convincing performance in the 1-1 draw with Arsenal in the UEFA Champions League round of 16 first leg, Bayer 04 continue their Bundesliga campaign with an equally high-calibre fixture. Matchday 26 sees league leaders Bayern Munich visit the sold-out BayArena. Ahead of the clash, head coach Kasper Hjulmand spoke about a comparison between Arsenal and the Bavarians, Bayern's high-scoring performance in Europe's premier club competition and a return to the squad for one Werkself player.
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High spirits and previously untold stories: Around 100 Bayer 04 fans packed the Schwadbud fan pub in the east stand of the BayArena on Thursday evening to be there in person for the first instalment of the new series of events entitled “Rudi lädt ein” (Rudi invites you). They listened intently as long-serving Werkself players Gonzalo Castro and Stefan Kießling chatted with record appearance-maker Rüdiger Vollborn and presenter and stadium announcer Tobias Ufer about their many years together at the club, shared amusing anecdotes and revealed dressing room secrets. Anyone who missed the premiere can already look forward to the second instalment – on 12 May, Rudi will be testing the expert knowledge of Bayer 04 fans during a quiz night.
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The Bundesliga home game against VfL Wolfsburg in the first half of the season was one of those classic ‘days to forget’ for Bayer 04 Women. It started with goalkeeper Charlotte Voll being shown a red card in the first minute of the game, and following a further sending-off, coach Roberto Pätzold's 9-women side ended up losing 5-1 to last season's runners-up. At 18.30 CET on Sunday, they'll have the chance to exact revenge at the AOK Stadium - and pick up valuable points in the race for third place.
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They're well on their way to becoming German champions for the 35th time and once again proved their incredible class in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday. This Saturday, 14 March (kick-off: 15.30 CET), Bayern Munich will be the visitors to the BayArena. It'll be a meeting of the two Bundesliga teams with the most dominant styles of play. A look at our opponents shows the visitors from the Bavarian capital have many strengths - but are also vulnerable.
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