Much has been said about the importance of Facebook 'Likes." It is, for all intensive purposes, the easiest way to evaluate social media 'relevance.' It's a public number that is very easy to track and compare.
However, social media marketing analysis should not be that cut and dry. As touched on earlier in this blog, Facebook following is only one element of a brand's social media presence and only reveals so much. The following graph, which charts the number of Facebook fans and average attendance for each NFL team, reiterates this ambiguity:
As you can see, there is a very weak correlation between Facebook popularity and attendance at games. Both curves are generally downward sloping, but the number of outliers (note the New York Jets, Washington Redskins, and Carolina Panthers) reveal a weak tie between the two data sets.
Facebook following is significant, but it can not be the have-all end-all when it comes to analyzing social media marketing. Teams that can effectively market to their core followers (regardless of size) on a consistent basis will see the highest returns. As evident by these figures, Facebook following is important, but it is only one aspect of a team's social media marketing makeup.