At Be Varsity we always talk to our prospects about the importance of social media to help your recruiting.
Today, social media has become such a big part of society. You either love it, hate it, or at least respect it enough to use it to your advantage!
Everyone talks about social media and why it’s important to be mindful of what you’re posting. But what are some practical things you can do on social media to help your recruiting?
Here are ten things you can do on social media to help your recruiting efforts today!
Be Easily Searchable
Even though you have a nickname, that doesn’t mean it should be your Instagram or Twitter handle. Yes, it might be catchy, and funny with your friends, but if it makes it difficult for college coaches to find you, then you probably shouldn’t do that. Additionally, if it’s not an appropriate handle, and a college coach sees it, you’re probably going to the bottom of their list.
Make your Accounts Public
If your account is private coaches are going to think you’re hiding something. Now, don’t disobey your parents if they want your profile(s) private for your safety, but you should tell them to consider what it means from a coaches standpoint. Also, the easier you are to find the easier it will be to build relationships with coaches. To make it even easier when you send emails to college coaches add your social media handles to the bottom so it’s easy for coaches to find you!
Clean it up
Take down all inappropriate posts. If a social post makes you think twice as to whether a college coach would approve of that post, then go ahead and take it down too. The same thing goes for comments, likes, shares, reposts, etc. You don’t want to become one of those recruits who gets dropped because of something they retweeted seven years ago.
Start Following and Interacting
This tip may seem strange, but start following, liking and commenting on posts from college coaches, and programs. This will help bring your name to their mind often, and potentially cause them to check out your profile as well! Don’t stop at coaches either, follow players, support staff, and the team’s account too. That way you can keep up with what’s going on and use that to start conversations later.
Create Good Content Regularly
Being consistent and posting good content is crucial. Your social media is your brand. Use it to portray who you are by humbly showing your accomplishments. Make sure to post your consistently and regularly. Try to switch it up with academic and athletic accomplishments as well.
Get Tagging
It never hurts to tag someone that you want to see your post. Be mindful of who you’re tagging though, and how often you’re doing it. Don’t tag a coach or a program when you get a hit or score a touchdown. Make sure it’s something they need to know and won’t be a waste of their time.
Insider tip: NCAA DI and DII coaches can direct message recruits starting their junior year of high school (specific dates apply). When this happens coaches can like, share, retweet or favourite a recruit’s post, but they can’t publicly communicate with them until the athlete commits to their program.
Use Hashtags
Use hashtags to get your posts out there on social media. Find the hashtags that coaches use a lot or the ones that are specific to a program.
Be Positive, but Real
Coaches use social media to get to know prospects. Be your authentic self. It’s okay if you’re struggling with something but try to highlight that positively. If you’re struggling with new skills highlight that you’re struggling, but excited for the challenge to get better. Coaches love to see athletes being positive about hard work and dedication.
Use Direct Messages Wisely
Social media is all about the direct message. Use it to build a relationship. But treat this as an email, be professional with what you’re sending, and make sure it has everything the college coach needs. Remember when sending a DM to share important recruiting information like your EVO link, highlight/skills video and potentially your recruiting resumé
Manage your Friends and Followers
Watch what your friends and followers are posting, commenting and tagging you in. If you’re putting all this effort into making the best out of your social media to help your recruiting don’t let others jeopardize that. College coaches will look at everything, and you don’t want something one of your followers posted to get flagged by a coach and hurt your recruiting.
College coaches are searching for athletes who are going to better their program both on the field, in the classroom, and in the community. Social media is one way to show that you can be one of the athletes a college coach wants on their team.
This post was tagged in: college soccer, instagram, scholarships, social media, twitter, student athletes, facebook, snapchat
