by Jayson Schmidt, Preseason
Emails to your recruits are a tool.
You can choose to not have a tool at all, though I wouldn’t advise that.
Your tool can be a relatively blunt object, utilized only by your hands and only on days you feel like using it.
Your emails can be the equivalent of a power tool, where most of the heavy lifting can be done automatically with you as a guide.
(Or you can hire someone to do the work for you, like TCS.)
If you’ve read any of my prior fourteen entries on how marketing can be used as a tool to brand your program, you understand where I’m headed.
None of the things you can do as a coach to brand your program mean anything if they don’t drive results. You can pitch your program as the best place to play in America, but if you had a winless record last year, it’s hyperbole.
Our goal is to give you concrete “tools” to add to your tool belt so that you can get to winning more and enhancing your brand outside of what you do in the office.
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Are they listening?
Many of the emails coaches write are illustrative in nature––– and that’s not inherently wrong. Telling them about your school or program should be a necessary component of your recruiting process. But sometimes we get so excited to share a story, idea, or information that we can’t even say for certain that the other person is listening (ahem, welcome to my social life).
Maintaining order in your timeline looks like rating the interest level of your prospective student-athlete first.
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The number one tip for writing successful recruit emails in 2022.
As we talked about in October, your call-to-action (or CTA) is everything. Whether in emails or on your recruiting site, how you entice recruits to take the next step in your process is the most important thing you can do.
If you’re sending one of your first six recruiting emails, your goal should not be to exclusively share information. Rather, drive a conversation and get those interested PSAs into a conversation (via call, text, or Zoom).
Keep the content light and deliver your CTA in paragraph two; every sentence that comes after the opening paragraph decreases the likelihood of your prospect creating action. It’s not worth the risk.
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How to best deliver your call-to-action:
The simplest way to do this is right in the email (remember: paragraph two) with specific details––
We are excited to get to know you better and would love to hop on a 15-minute call. Can you text me if you’re available on Monday? (561) 877-1007
This CTA gives you the opportunity to engage via text message right away in the leadup to a phone call. The PSA stays in control (again, you’re gauging interest level here), but you’ve now added two more lines of communication if you haven’t already.
The downside is that you can’t mention a specific time (like Monday at 4pm) unless written by hand, which is less optimal when communicating with more than 20 recruits (let alone 200 or 2,000).
If you want to streamline that process, consider a service like Calendly, which allows you to calendar your availability and give others the opportunity to schedule meeting/call time with you. If you wanted to schedule a 15-minute call with me to learn more about Preseason, you’d click this link right here, just like a recruit would do for you and your program.
Everything within Calendly is customizable and syncs with your calendar automatically.
It’s easy for you and easy for them, which only further increases your likelihood of moving the next recruit through your recruiting process.
Need more tips on how to optimize your emails with recruits and others –– or just want to test out Calendly? Let’s schedule a call.
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This article is the fifteen in a series on athletics branding. Jayson Schmidt is a former NCAA Division II head coach and managing partner of Preseason, a creative agency that helps colleges win.
Struggling with your brand or just simply want an edge on the competition? Preseason can elevate your story and deliver it to recruits, fans, and donors.