What is the school really about?
That’s the big opportunity that sits in front of us all when it comes to telling stories inside social media. Yet few of us do this in a way that cuts through. I think that, perhaps, we lose sight of the bigger picture when we get trapped in the day-to-day realities of our worlds. But today I want to show you two examples of schools in the ACC who are approaching this in pretty intriguing ways.
First up, Virginia. Virginia uses simple quotes from current and former student-athletes to sum up the reasons each player chose to attend UVA. To see this for yourself, click here and then choose “Recruits” and “Why Virginia.” As you can see below, the result of simple, honest reasons other people chose to make this a part of their future can play a big role for recruits weighing this choice.
Testimonials still cut through
But to really see the impact of words, I find it helpful to create a word cloud of the words being used to describe Virginia. The bigger the word below, the more often people used it when describing their reasons for attending Virginia. Take a look at this image and see what really is cutting through as the storyline:
A Worldle cloud of the reasons to attend UVa
What pops out? Great. Coaching. ACC. Opportunity. Staff. Education. Atmosphere.
Pretty interesting.
If you wanted to go higher-production value, you could bring elements like this out through a video series. Enter the U. Miami brings the recruiting journey to life through this Recruiting Official Visit video. The video shows coach Golden selling you on the “Most Players in the NFL”, “Most National Titles in the last 30 years”, and an “intimate atmosphere near a world class city.” You see the connection of the President of Miami, who wants to meet every recruit. It is examples like this that really show us just how much is changing, how quickly. In my opinion, schools should illustrate their philosophy and how they present themselves to recruits in a public way — as it really does add even more prestige into your program!
Walk through a weekend as a recruit
What is important to the coaching staff?
All that said, I wish these videos were easily embeddable and sharable so I could more easily watch these “with” you!
That’s it for today. As always, tune in for more on this blog. Or follow along on Twitter — I’m @andypawlowski, or on Facebook, here.
Thanks for reading,
Andy
