Social Media
Polishing Your Social Media
Social Media is the most enlightening view into a Student Athlete and their family.
This section will be fun. When you set out on a project, you should consider these foundational steps!
Who?
What?
Where?
When?
Why?
How?
The biggest mistakes Student Athletes are making today is that they’re forgetting about “Who” their audience is. Some Student Athletes have taken to twitter to “@” the College Coaches but they’ve forgotten the foundation. What if the College Coaches don’t want you tweeting at them? What if it is not an approved method of contact? It is different for every sport. You will see football highly utilizing tweeting to gain exposure. The difference is that they have media teams and specific personnel handling the messages.
In Softball, it is usually the coaches which only have 2 coaches (at max) on staff to handle the messages. We’ve heard College Coaches scream, (literally scream) “They’ve hijacked my Social Media”. We just came back from a Coaches Conference and all the coaches we interviewed said that they do not like being forced to watch your videos and forced to see what you have decided to send to them. They asked us questions like, “Why do they think that my program is a fit for them? Why do they think that I can respond when I cannot per the NCAA guidelines? One Coach said he has just stopped using Social Media all together because it was so overwhelming.
As a marketer myself, it seems reasonable just like being forced to watch TV commercials. However, when the audience you’re sending these tweets to is not your ideal fit or doesn’t welcome your tweets, then why would you want to leave a negative impression?
Sending video to Coaches rarely helps you but more often hurts you if you haven’t had an Advocate (or someone well trusted in the sport) tell you that the Coach or College you’re tagging is a good fit. Our best advice is to follow the NCAA guidelines. Ask for permission to tag or “@” someone on Social Media. Know that coaches will NEVER tell you why they didn’t recruit you.
It’s very difficult to find success if you don’t understand what the coaches are really looking for, when they are targeting your specific class, and why the player would be a great fit for their program. Continual posting of training or game footage (especially from overzealous parents) can create animosity and hate for their student athletes. It’s more hurtful than helpful. Protect your Student Athlete and seek an expert in the sport to help you.
When are you sending emails and Social Media? It’s a standing joke that the College Coaches have that, “If it is coming during the day, then it is obviously the parent writing the emails and not the Student Athlete.” College Coaches have also reiterated with us that, “You can’t take your parents to College with you… If you can’t handle the workload now, you will struggle in college.”
Our best advice is to have a plan and understand:
Who you’re sending it to?
Why you’re sending it?
What are you sending?
Is it what they want you to send?
Did they invite you to interact?
Where are you sending it?
Do they even answer the Social Media or Emails or is it someone else?
When are you sending your media, during the day?
When are the Coaches most accessible for receiving your messages?
Has someone told you that you have the appropriate talent for that school, play on the right teams, compete at the right level of the sport to add value when you go to school? Everyone communicates in so many different ways, shouldn’t you find out what is the best method?
Go check out what is posted on your Social Media, does it represent you as the Athlete you’re hoping to be. Does it show your positive/productive group of friends? Are these friends in your Social Media circle adding value to you as a Student Athlete or do you all look like bathing suit models or party kids? This is important as you will represent the brand of the University that you will attend so the College Coaches will really want to make sure that you will represent their brand in the way that they value.
Having positive chemistry on a team in College is one of the most important factors for a Coach and yet it is one of the most uncontrollable so they’re ultra-sensitive about the image that is portrayed. Your Social Media is an open book to who you are, who you hang out with, who your family is, and what value you’ll personally add to the team chemistry.
Quick, go make sure your Social Media shows the real YOU.
The biggest mistakes in the recruiting process still lie in Social Media. More Scholarships have been lost and yet the Student Athletes keep making these same mistakes. We are often asked should they just not have Social Media and my answer is always no, they should have it, but teach them how to be responsible users of this amazing tool.
Honestly, most of the parents are worse on Social Media because they feel entitled to their message and don’t face the same judgement from society that these Student Athletes have to deal with today.
Consider the effects of everything that is written, in today’s world everything is permanent.
This section will be fun. When you set out on a project, you should consider these foundational steps!
Who?
What?
Where?
When?
Why?
How?
The biggest mistakes Student Athletes are making today is that they’re forgetting about “Who” their audience is. Some Student Athletes have taken to twitter to “@” the College Coaches but they’ve forgotten the foundation. What if the College Coaches don’t want you tweeting at them? What if it is not an approved method of contact? It is different for every sport. You will see football highly utilizing tweeting to gain exposure. The difference is that they have media teams and specific personnel handling the messages.
In Softball, it is usually the coaches which only have 2 coaches (at max) on staff to handle the messages. We’ve heard College Coaches scream, (literally scream) “They’ve hijacked my Social Media”. We just came back from a Coaches Conference and all the coaches we interviewed said that they do not like being forced to watch your videos and forced to see what you have decided to send to them. They asked us questions like, “Why do they think that my program is a fit for them? Why do they think that I can respond when I cannot per the NCAA guidelines? One Coach said he has just stopped using Social Media all together because it was so overwhelming.
As a marketer myself, it seems reasonable just like being forced to watch TV commercials. However, when the audience you’re sending these tweets to is not your ideal fit or doesn’t welcome your tweets, then why would you want to leave a negative impression?
Sending video to Coaches rarely helps you but more often hurts you if you haven’t had an Advocate (or someone well trusted in the sport) tell you that the Coach or College you’re tagging is a good fit. Our best advice is to follow the NCAA guidelines. Ask for permission to tag or “@” someone on Social Media. Know that coaches will NEVER tell you why they didn’t recruit you.
It’s very difficult to find success if you don’t understand what the coaches are really looking for, when they are targeting your specific class, and why the player would be a great fit for their program. Continual posting of training or game footage (especially from overzealous parents) can create animosity and hate for their student athletes. It’s more hurtful than helpful. Protect your Student Athlete and seek an expert in the sport to help you.
When are you sending emails and Social Media? It’s a standing joke that the College Coaches have that, “If it is coming during the day, then it is obviously the parent writing the emails and not the Student Athlete.” College Coaches have also reiterated with us that, “You can’t take your parents to College with you… If you can’t handle the workload now, you will struggle in college.”
Our best advice is to have a plan and understand:
Who you’re sending it to?
Why you’re sending it?
What are you sending?
Is it what they want you to send?
Did they invite you to interact?
Where are you sending it?
Do they even answer the Social Media or Emails or is it someone else?
When are you sending your media, during the day?
When are the Coaches most accessible for receiving your messages?
Has someone told you that you have the appropriate talent for that school, play on the right teams, compete at the right level of the sport to add value when you go to school? Everyone communicates in so many different ways, shouldn’t you find out what is the best method?
Go check out what is posted on your Social Media, does it represent you as the Athlete you’re hoping to be. Does it show your positive/productive group of friends? Are these friends in your Social Media circle adding value to you as a Student Athlete or do you all look like bathing suit models or party kids? This is important as you will represent the brand of the University that you will attend so the College Coaches will really want to make sure that you will represent their brand in the way that they value.
Having positive chemistry on a team in College is one of the most important factors for a Coach and yet it is one of the most uncontrollable so they’re ultra-sensitive about the image that is portrayed. Your Social Media is an open book to who you are, who you hang out with, who your family is, and what value you’ll personally add to the team chemistry.
Quick, go make sure your Social Media shows the real YOU.
The biggest mistakes in the recruiting process still lie in Social Media. More Scholarships have been lost and yet the Student Athletes keep making these same mistakes. We are often asked should they just not have Social Media and my answer is always no, they should have it, but teach them how to be responsible users of this amazing tool.
Honestly, most of the parents are worse on Social Media because they feel entitled to their message and don’t face the same judgement from society that these Student Athletes have to deal with today.
Consider the effects of everything that is written, in today’s world everything is permanent.