Social Media Commitments You Should Make in 2022

Girl with their mobile phone

#1 Why Are You Doing Social Media?

Executing social media on behalf of your program should not be about keeping up with the cool kids. It’s about making your program better. Ask yourself these three questions and adjust your social media plan accordingly: 

  • Is your social media increasing your program’s exposure, traffic to your webpage, or generating ‘“leads” (aka recruits)? (Don’t answer this with your opinion, answer it with cold, hard data.)

  • Is your social media developing or keeping (aka engaging) “fans” like alumni, parents, and others?

  • Is your social media generating INSIGHTS and educating you about your people (players, prospects, alums, others)? (What they click on and engage with is what they are passionate about!)

Tiktok Logo

#2 You Can Wait No Longer on TikTok

If you (or your institution) thinks that TikTok is only a place for dancing, it’s time to get up to speed. Your resources and time you can spend on social media marketing is limited. Which is probably why only about 10% of coaches and athletic departments are prioritizing TikTok, or using it at all. 

But you cannot delay any longer. TikTok is the #1 social media for student-athletes. That’s right. Last Fall, after holding steady at #1 for the last few years, Snapchat finally tumbled from the top spot, overtaken by TikTok.

Ugc and Influencer Marketing

#3 Become a UGC/Influencer Marketing Machine

98% of your student-athletes are on social media. Nearly 80% of them enjoy social media and feel that they maintain a healthy relationship with it. While I’m sure you make student-athletes the central figures of your social content, there is a tweak you can make that will make your social media more successful - “UGC/Influencer Marketing.”

You may not know what UGC and influencer marketing mean. Or you may be downright sick of social media buzzwords like these. That’s ok. We don’t need to use those words. You only need to realize that your program IS or can be a social media marketing machine if you let it be.

Your student-athletes are the “celebrities” (that’s the influencer part here) within your program’s community of prospects, families, alumni, and fans. So let your student-athletes develop more of your content (that’s the UGC) in 2022. The UGC/influencer model won’t just build social authenticity and relevance, it will increase your social media engagement.

 
Bill CarterStudent-Athletes