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Viral Videos, Social Media and the Lesson for College RecruitersMonday, June 25th, 2012

This article is really all about a video made my the Harvard University baseball team that has logged over 13,000,000 views on YouTube, but we’ll get to that in a moment…

Let me address the big picture first:  College coaches are constantly trying to come up with an elaborate strategy to dominate social media, and thereby become beloved destinations of every five star recruit in the country.

Maybe you’re one of them.  Or, maybe you wish you were one of them – but truth be told, you’re doing good just to answer the email sitting in your Inbox every day.  Or, maybe you see the whole things as way too complicated for you, and better left to someone else in your athletic department.

Regardless or how you’d label yourself, one thing seems to be universally true in the minds of most coaches:  Social Media is a complicated puzzle that takes more planning, expertise and know-how than you could ever muster during your coaching career.

Let me show you why it’s exactly the opposite of the scenario I have just outlined, and why it’s easier than ever for you as a coach – Division I, small college, tech-savvy or social media dinosaur – for you to use easy-to-use free websites like YouTube, Facebook and Twitter to promote your program and connect with your recruits.

Which brings us back to that Harvard baseball team video I mentioned at the start:

This is the video they did.  They got the idea on a road trip, practiced a little, and then shot the video the next day.

It exploded online (approaching 14,000,000 views as I write this), went viral, and made them an Internet sensation.  Soon, another team challenged with their version.  Then another.  And another (all legs, no arms!).  All in all, dozens of college teams have joined in and recorded their version.  Harvard’s baseball team and one of their challengers, the rowing team from Southern Methodist, were featured on The Today Show.  All in all, not bad promotion for the teams, and the colleges.

So, what does all this have to do with you?  Everything.

Here are the lessons that I think every college coach can take away from my original points, and this amazing lesson in the power – and ease - on how social media can and should be used in recruiting:

  • All of what you just watched cost nothing. That’s in your budget, so invest in it.
  • All of what you just watched was done with no outside consulting, and no 50-page strategic plan. Not that there’s anything wrong with consultants that will help you with a plan; if that’s what you need to get started, then by all means use one.  But you don’t “need” one to be successful.
  • All of what you just watched was created by college athletes. Not many college coaches could come up with something so mind-numbingly simple and catchy.  My point, Coach, is that you don’t need to come up with the big ideas that will turn your team into the next online sensation…let your team handle that for you.
  • All of what you just watched showcases a team’s personality better than anything you or I could come up with. That’s what social media is all about: Fun, personality and interaction.  So if the majority of what is showing-up on your Facebook or Twitter team sites is electronic news releases or game summaries, I wouldn’t be waiting by the phone expecting a call from The Today Show, Coach.
  • All of what you just watched achieves for these teams something that most teams fail to answer for their recruits:  Why they’d want to play for you on your team at your college. And isn’t that one of the central goals of any coach who is aiming to bring as many great prospects in as possible?

All five of these end results can be achieved with no money.  Starting team accounts, if allowed by your compliance office and division level rules, can be done in about 10-15 minutes.  Still intimidated?  Bring one or two of your athletes in to help you…they’ll be happy to do it.

The big lesson for college recruiters is that this isn’t hard, and it’s the future of communicating effectively with your prospects in conjunction with the right mix of letters, emails and phone calls.

Ignore it at your own risk.

How Facebook’s Timeline Can Impact YOUR RecruitingMonday, January 30th, 2012

by Sean Devlin, Front Rush

Recently, Facebook went live with their new Facebook Timeline.

This is a total redesign of your own personal page (the page that people see when they click your name). Timeline essentially gives you more control over what people see, and how they see it.

We want to go into a bit of detail so that you are aware of what your recruits will see, especially because Timeline has gone from an opt-in to a complete roll-out, which means it affects all users.

From a distance, Timeline is just a running history of your photos, posts, events, apps, songs, and anything else typically associated with Facebook. However, due to its granularity, the first thing you should do is go through and remove anything and everything that does not put you and your program in a good light. This is a common sense best practice but because Timeline goes back to the beginning of your Facebook existence, its worth making sure nothing exists that would make your face red.

Secondly, you should go through and highlight anything that does make you look good and makes your Timeline more compelling. For example, a great photo of the University or team is worth “starring” which will make it appear widescreen and larger. People love photos and starring good ones will enhance your Timeline visually and make it more engaging.

Another item you may want to star would be great events in your history. Teams hang banners when championships are won so use this opportunity to make your own “banners” standout while people scroll through your page. One other thing to take note is that Timeline is going to group things together. An example would be if you have “liked” a lot of things in a particular time frame…Facebook will keep those items in a close proximity.

Now that you have most of the content set-up, the next thing to do is choose a Timeline picture. To clarify, you have your profile pic, but Timeline starts off with a “header” picture that you can choose as well. This choice is really important because its the first thing a visitor sees when they come to your page. Its a good idea to play around with different images and test through your friends to see which one they like most. This image is a good opportunity to show off your personality or the character of your University or team.

Lastly, go through your Timeline from start to finish and get into the habit of checking it with some consistency. Remember, more third party apps will have access to it so you should just always be aware of whats being posted on your site.

Timeline is an opportunity for you to showcase your website to an entirely new audience, Coach.  Take advantage of it!

Sean Devlin is the technical brains behind the best selling web management tool for college coaches, and a trusted advisor for recruiters looking to use technology to become more effective recruiters.  We highly recommend Front Rush for any coaching staff who is looking for an organizational web tool to track their prospects and creatively brand their programs.

The New Facebook Tool Every College Coach Should Know AboutSunday, September 18th, 2011

by Sean Devlin, Front Rush

Facebook released a new feature last week that is very similar to the Twitter ‘follow’.  And as a college recruiter, you should be interested in learning more about it.

The new feature gives users the ability to ‘subscribe’ to other users.  So, imagine a recruit ‘subscribing’ to your feed.  Anything you post publicly can now be seen without even having to ‘friend’ you.

The import point to note here is ‘anything you post publicly’.  You now have the ability to choose where and who you post to.  The way it works is that when you type out your post on Facebook, there is a drop-down in the bottom right where you can choose ‘public’. This way…anyone subscribed to you can read it.

Its still too early to tell how this will impact Twitter, if users will jump on board, or if instead they will suffer from ‘post exhaustion’. Regardless of its infancy, its still another medium to communicate with recruits, alumni, etc and the beauty is that they are already there.

The only concern?  You should double check who you are posting too to avoid any embarrassing comments.  On the other side, you might want to consider “subscribing” to the prospects you are recruiting…you might find out some interesting details about their character, and even their college leanings if they have allowed subscribers to follow their comments!

To set-up your account so that you can have subscribers:

1) login to facebook
2) go to your profile
3) click ‘subscriptions’ on the left hand side
4) click ‘allow subscribers’

After that, you will then be prompted with some settings options.

Enjoy this new recruiting tool from Facebook!

Have questions about implementing this technology strategy into your recruiting campaigns?  The experts at Front Rush are here to help.  Whether you’re a client or not, Sean Devlin and his team at Front Rush can answer your questions.  Email him directly at sdevlin@frontrush.com. 
 

Six Surprising Ways YOU Can Be More Interesting to Your RecruitsMonday, September 12th, 2011

The majority of college coaches have now embraced social media, creating better messages for their recruits, and a host of other writing challenges.

The biggest challenge in the process?  Coming up with something interesting to say. 

Furthermore, there’s the challenge of writing things in a way that actually connects with this generation of teenage prospect.  Both hurdles are extremely challenging for today’s college recruiter, who is being asked to do more  – with less time and less money - than ever before.

So today, we are going to pass along some proven ideas on how to actually be interesting to your prospects, specifically with what you write about in letters, your emails, your blog or social media site:

  • Don’t be afraid to be wrong (within reason, of course):  This is part of an overall strategy of being transparent, which is essential if you are going to write anything on your social media or a blog website.  Being wrong means you’re human, and that’s a quality that our research says today’s recruits are looking for in a coach.  Write about something that could have done differently, or something that went wrong, in your program.  The honesty will be refreshing to your recruits.  Of course, exercise reason…I’m talking about showing that you’re human, not opening yourself up for an NCAA investigation.
  • Don’t be afraid to be right.  Build yourself as an expert, and give away your knowledge to your prospects.  We’re all drawn to people we believe can get us to where we want to be, and your prospects are no different.  Write about your expertise as a coach in your sport, and use it to build your credibility as a college coach and recruiter.  When your prospect accepts you as an expert in your sport, it goes a long way towards erasing other doubts that may exist about your program in their mind.
  • Surprise your prospects.  Chip and Dan Heath, authors of the classic business book “Made to Stick”, say that one of the best ways to set yourself apart is to break people’s “guessing machines.” Take a surprising position, making outlandish analogy, or otherwise do the opposite of what you normally do. As long as it’s unexpected, people – including your prospects – will stop and pay attention.  And in a marketplace overflowing with programs that look and act the same, setting yourself apart from the competition is a key factor in winning a recruit.
  • Make your prospects laugh.  Coaches get so busy trying to coach and teach that they forget to entertain. As a result, large portions of your prospects might fall asleep. And what’s the best way to wake your prospects up? Humor. Successful communicators have been using it for ages, and as long as it’s appropriate for your recruit, humor can wake your prospects up and get them paying attention to your recruiting message again.  Easier said than done, of course, but look for ways to get your recruit to smile and laugh.
  • Make a prediction about the future.  Every once in awhile, use your expertise to make a bizarre or risky claim about the future. Your program’s future, the future of your sport…remember, you’re doing all of this to set yourself apart and differentiate yourself from your competition.  If you have any authority at all, people will take notice. When experts make a surprising prediction, it gets talked about.  As a coach, you aren’t looking for media attention…just for your prospect to take notice and pay attention to your message.
  • Make sure you are ALWAYS telling a great story.  I’ve talked about this over and over again, and use it as a foundation for creating our Total Recruiting Solution plans for our list of college coach clients.  At their core, stories support your key recruiting points, make solid openers, and teach your prospects while entertaining them.  And, a good story can make you a legend in recruiting. I’m not talking about the little anecdotes that pepper Facebook and Twitter and the occasional recruiting letter. I’m talking about the story that haunts you on your deathbed or gets told over and over again at parties. Forget about all the others…tell me that one.  As a coach, tell me great stories about you and your team and your program, and how I fit into that story as a prospect.

Being interesting isn’t easy if you’re a coach, and converting that interest to your writing is even more challenging.  But for those coaches who master the art, there is almost nothing that they won’t accomplish in the competition for the best recruits.

Strive to be interesting creatively, and watch what happens to your recruiting results!

Need help developing your story?  From our customized On-Campus Workshops for athletic departments, to one-on-one personalized recruiting message creation as a part of our Total Recruiting Solution plan for coaches, we have a lot of resources that can help coaches become more effective recruiters.  To visit our website, click here.  Or, email Dan Tudor directly at dan@dantudor.com.

Is Google+ the Next Big Social Media Recruiting Tool for Coaches?Monday, July 18th, 2011

by Sean Devlin, Front Rush

Google+ has been the recent topic of many conversations, news articles and blogs so we wanted to chime in and give you an overview of what it is, what it can do and what it means for you as a college coach.

Google+ is Google’s 3rd…4th…5th (lost count) attempt at building a social network application, like Facebook or Twitter. On the surface it is sort of a mix between those two popular networks, in that you can add friends, post messages, “follow”, gather content, and more. It allows you to add people to “circles” (Google’s equivalent to Facebook “groups”) and add people that you are not even “friends” with…so sort of like the Twitter “follow” model. It also has some unique features of its own like “hanging out” which means you can have a video conference with multiple people at once. However, if you dig deeper Google+ is not Facebook…its very, very different.

Google put a lot of engineering muscle into this project and has been releasing new features and updates on a daily basis. Its only going to be a matter of time before its true potential shows, in my opinion.  At some point, Google+ will be fully integrated with your Gmail, Google Docs, Google apps, Android devices, and more.  So imagine building a document in Google docs and then just sharing it with one of your circles. Or being logged into Google+ and having a notification pop-up right in your feed that alerts you that changes have been made to a spreadsheet that you have been sharing. Or picture being able to sort your inbox by your circles and being able to reply to all at once instead of having to go in manually like you do now. These ideas are just top-of-head ideas that I came up with when writing this article…the reality is that the integration potential is soooo much more.

So as a coach and a recruiter, should you care?

Well, as a college coach who is staying on top of technology trends to use them to your advantage, the answer is absolutely.  However, will you even remember Google+ in 6 months? That is still yet to be determined. Google has bombed with its previous attempts in the social world but I must admit, this product has legs and feels different.

So, how can you use Google+ to benefit you right now as a college recruiter?  Well, you first need to wait until more people get on it…specifically, recruits.  The problem is that most early adopters of Google+ are also Gmail users. The issue there is that fewer and fewer recruits are using email, so its uncertain when and if they will get on board. In addition, most of the early adopters tend to be males which means coaches of women’s sports will have to wait even longer. The nicety is that by the time recruits are on the system, a lot of major functionally and bug fixes will have been released; enough functionality to help clarify its true use case in the recruiting world.

The current state of Google+ is that its still in “invite” mode which means that you have to be invited to join.  As these things go, the main topic of conversation within Google+ right now is about Google+.  However that conversation is slowly starting to shift as 20+ million users are expected as of the weekend preceding this article (late July, 2011).  The more users the system has, the more value each individual user gets out of it. An Android version currently exists, and and iPhone app is expectedly shortly.

So hopefully that helps clarify Google+ for you. We have invites to it internally, so let us know if you need one…we’ll get you on the list and let you test it for yourself.

Front Rush is the nation’s leader when it comes to technology expertise for college coaches and their athletic departments.  Their cornerstone service is their revolutionary web-based recruiting contact management tool.  If you’re one of the handful of coaches who don’t yet know about this incredible recruiting tool, click here.

How to Use Headlines to Keep Your Prospect’s AttentionSunday, June 12th, 2011

In the give-it-to-me-quick-just-the-facts world that we (and your prospects) live in, what and how you communicate is crucial.

Think about it:  How easy it to tune something out that isn’t worded just the way we want it?  Or skip reading something that isn’t easy to read visually?

Most recruiting letters and emails we see when we begin working with a new client ignore this common sense rule.  And the price to those who send letters that look and sound the same as they did in 1983 is heavy:  This generation of athlete will tune out a coach quickly if the message doesn’t match their need for fast, accurate, interesting information.

The fix?

Something they did really well back in the 1930′s:  Creative, bold headlines.

No, you don’t want to make your recruiting letters look like an old fashioned newspaper…that’s not what I’m getting at.  What I mean is that your text needs some guideposts to keep your reader (the 17 year old impatient kid that you’re trying to recruit) engaged in what you’re saying, and not bailing on your message ten seconds into it.

The best way to do that is to insert a headline every once in a while.  A statement, in bold type, to give your reader and idea of where you’re going and what’s in it for them if they stick with you.  Something like this:

There are some AMAZING benefits to coaches who write with headlines:

Does that make you want to read more?  Does it give you a little taste of what’s to come?  Does it create a little bit of curiosity?

That’s the power of a well placed headline.

So, if you think you’d want to start to use these powerful, easy-to-use weapons in the war of attention you’re fighting with your recruits, here are some tips that we see working for the coaches who are beginning to use them:

  • Try a “How To” Headline.  They work.  We all want to know how to do something, and if there is one group of people who are looking for how to do something (namely, play college sports) it’s your recruits.  Whenever you want to highlight an action you want your prospect to take, start with “how to” to do it.
  • Give them a promised result.  If you are tempting them with a “how to”, don’t stop short…finish it off with a result they can expect once they follow your recommended action.  Let them know what will happen next, what they’ll get from it, and why they should follow your direction.  It’s critical that you give them an idea of what’s in it for them when you if they stick with you.
  • Visually, they help guide your readers’ eyes.  Headlines in the middle of text will cause your reader to jump down the page and stay engaged with what you’re saying to them.  For this generation of teenager, they need all the visual cues they can get to tell them what to do.
  • We remember headlines.  They are a short summary of what we want the reader to know about our topic.  If they don’t happen to read your entire message, the headlines have a powerful way of helping them to remember your take-away from that message.  That’s really crucial as you fight to get your prospects to remember your message instead of your competition’s.
  • They break up your message into logical sections.  Not only does that help your prospect “digest” your message more easily, we find that it helps coaches stay on topic and keep their message simple and on point.  So, if you’re a coach that struggles with what to write, this trick should help you to stay on topic.

So, what should you do next?  Simple…

 Take a current recruiting message and break it up into sections.  Then, add a quick ”headline” to each of those sections.  If you find that it’s too long of a message, or jumps around from topic to topic, break it up into shorter, multiple messages.

Take a fresh look at your overall recruiting message using this proven, easy-to-use strategy.  The result should be a more engaged, interested recruit reading – and understanding – your letter or email.

Are you one of the growing number of college coaches that use Twitter to promote you and your program?  We have a bonus article to give you…it’s all about writing the right headlines when you tweet on Twitter.  All you have to do is click here, “Like” our Facebook fan page, and get these great tips for carving out your place in the Twitterverse. 

Using Facebook to Engage with Your Fans, Alumni…and Your Recruits!Monday, February 28th, 2011

by Mark Drosos, Lodestone Social Media

We have heard it hundreds of times in our conversations with athletic directors and coaches. How can we get more people interested in our teams and people coming to the games?

In todays noisy, media everywhere, social connected world the old school methods just don’t work. Posters, Free Pizza Night, Free T-shirt Night, e-mails, Media Guides, radio spots, etc. will not cut through the noise and get you new fans or remind your old ones that you are there.

They will get you what you have always got and do nothing to spread the word to new people. So why not try something new?  Something that is relevant!  Something that can allow you to target the fans you seek.

That something is using Facebook to target your local fan base, which is what we are helping college athletic departments do across the country. That fan base is not just people who like your college. You have people who may like your sport, like a player or coach, a local business, college students and media. All of whom have their own reasons for wanting to potentially support your team and they are all on Facebook waiting to be engaged.

We look at the local fan base world in three key areas:

  1. Sports Specific Fans
  2. College Organizations
  3. Media/Business Owners

First – Sport Specific Fans

Social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter provide you an opportunity to target specific groups of people with ease. Facebook allows you to target demographically, geographically, by interests and behaviors to reach the right people.

Let’s take for example TCU Volleyball and Facebook www.facebook.com/tcuvolleyball a quick look on Facebook showed there were over 50,000 people within 50 miles of the Fort Worth campus on Facebook that stated in their profile they liked volleyball. Not TCU, just the sport of volleyball.

A person may not care about TCU but if they like volleyball and are local you can bet they would come see a game. Either because they want to support volleyball as a sport or perhaps a youth who likes volleyball and see’s your team as a pro sport and something they aspire to become.

So TCU started to target those 50,000 volleyball fans and in one year generated almost 7,000 fans on Facebook. This has resulted in an attendance going from 700 per game average to over 1,300 and a 30% increase in camp registration.

So, use Facebook to find your local specific sports fans and turn them into your fans.

Second – University Organizations Such As Sororities, Fraternities or Groups

I have been on a lot of campuses and I always see the signs in the ground or posters in the student union, game today!  I think these are good, but if you look around just about every kid has their headphones on, looking down using their cell phone or engaged in a conversation and usually miss the sign or forget about it later.

Most school groups are looking for ways to connect to the school and some even have charters requiring it. But the once a year swing by the Fraternity House by a coach or an email to the Sorority President is not enough. You need to engage them where they are spending their time.

A good majority of them have a Facebook Page too and with the new changes to Facebook you can post and engage them as your team using your Page as person.

This provides a direct link into the life blood of your college athletic programs, the students!  An example of this is San Diego State Volleyball, who follows 18 different programs giving them access to over 15,000 of their followers.  Simply congratulating the group on their accomplishments, promoting their events and asking them to come to a game will keep you top of mind and cool!  You could even go as far as having contest or special sections and promotions for them via Facebook.

Third – Media and Business Owners

I hear it a lot from Olympic sports or from the non-dominate college in town that they don’t get their fair share of press or support from local businesses. Well with 24 of the top 25 publications failing and major magazines declaring bankruptcy most have moved to social media to get their news out.

The fast pace, media snacking world of social media has left them needing more stuff to talk about.  That’s where you come in. Simply emailing or posting your game notes will not get you the press you desire. Just about every local news outlet is on Facebook and/or Twitter. Engage them and the rewards will come.

Take TCU Women’s Basketball for example.  After simply following local Fox News and ESPN Dallas and re-posting their articles about sports they had ESPN Dallas tweeting and blogging about their program. They had Fox DFW promoting their Pink Zone game to their viewers.

Then there is local business. Local businesses have flocked to social media to reach the local market because newspaper ads and radio spots aren’t cutting it. Most understand the benefit to promoting local sports and would welcome the chance to cross promote with your team.

If you are not following your local coffee shop, sports bar, pizza shop or even dry cleaner you are missing the chance to create a buzz. You will also find they may give away specials just to your Facebook fans.

To recap, remember if you really want to market your team, find new fans and get more exposure.  Use the power of Facebook to target your local market. Focus on ‘Sports Specific’ fans, School Groups and your local media and businesses.  Follow and engage them and the rewards will come.

Lodestone is a recommended resource for college athletic departments, and the official social media experts for Tudor Collegiate Strategies.  If you want to know more check out this summary video or feel free to reach out to the author at mark@lodestonesocial.com with any questions.

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