Manchester United hit the 11 million Facebook fans mark this week and are set to continue to rise with an astonishing 30k a day growth rate in fan followers. The Mancunian club are just 500k short of the current football and sports page leaders, FC Barcelona.

However, the Catalan side still look like they will remain in number 1 spot, with a growth rate of nearly 40k Facebook fans a day. Whereas Manchester United are using marketing tools such as official Facebook adverts, Barcelona have perhaps been a bit more adventurous and broader in raising awareness of their social media, as seen in the recent ‘Messi wants 10 million‘ call to action video.

In the last three months alone, United have attracted nearly 4 million fans worldwide and currently dwarf other UK based teams’ social media following, their nearest contenders being Arsenal and Liverpool respectively.

In the past week, both teams have passed the 5 million follower mark (With Chelsea currently 500k followers behind). Both clubs are to be commended for the way they operate and engage with their fans. Social media isn’t just about audience size, but the interaction between club and fan. A quick look at both shows that the clubs are actively using dynamic content such as polls, video, fan photos and discussion in order to build a better rapport.