I was scheduled to host a social media workshop with the University of Utah Athletic Department on June 17, but my flight was abruptly rescheduled because of a big announcement that day: The Utes will be joining the Pac-10 in 2011! I started this post the next day and initially targeted it toward coaches in a similar situation, but really, this information is applicable to coaches everyplace.

Dear college coach,

Since your NCAA conference has recently changed, I imagine this must be a very exciting for you, your school, your alumni, and more. But with this change, the profile of the student-athlete you recruit may change as well. How can you reach that new player who wasn’t previously considering your institution for his or her education?

I suggest you consider Social Media. In an era where competition for recruiting the best players has reached a chaotic, expensive and time-consuming level, winning the game to get the most number of potential student-athletes on your website can be of infinite value. Here are three specific ways social media can help you:

• Rank for Search Results
• Differentiate Yourself
• Manage your Reputation

Rank for Search Results

How do you think student-athletes and parents learn about your program? Perhaps they will type into a search engine: ” [school name] [sport]“. That makes sense, right? Try it. See what comes up. Don’t like what you see? Is the content too shallow? Are other programs at your school (*ahem* football and basketball) ranking above your team’s homepage? Try different combinations of search terms and see what happens too.

Believe it or not, you can help influence what pages come up on a SERP (Search Engine Results Page) using Social Media. Generally speaking, the more links you can build using authoritative sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, Digg and Delicious, the higher a search engine like Google will rank your page. Instead of linking to your school’s main athletic page, start linking to your team’s specific landing page. You’ll see it will start to inch higher and higher up the list, especially for alternate search queries.

Let’s take it one step further. Say you’re trying to get Real Estate in a SERP for the terms “[conference] [sport]”. Wouldn’t it be great to rank above the most competitive team on the field, on Google? Muah ha ha ha. Who’s the REAL winner, now? ;-) Keep using your social sites to create inbound links and you may in fact take the lead.

Differentiate Yourself

Now that you’ve got people coming to your website, how can you convince them to come to your school as opposed to a competitor? Does your city offer something truly unique to your conference? Do you have a facility that sets your program? What makes you special as a coach?

If making a good name for yourself, and your program online is a priority, it’s time to take a proactive approach to getting this information out there the way you want.

First, if you’re linking into your team homepage from your social sites as we talked about in “Rank for Search Results” above, you’ll want to link back out to them as well. Enable visitors to easily navigate from the regular Press Release style information that your SID posts, to the color commentary you can push through social media channels. Your visitors will reward you by returning to your online community time and time again.

Build a Facebook page where you talk about the things that make you unique. On top of sharing your perspective, you’ll be creating a place where alumni can reconnect with old friends, parents can keep tabs on their child’s performance in real time and fans can celebrate your victories and share in your losses together.

Start a Twitter account and use it to update folks about what your team is doing, including community events, fundraising parties, team practices and games. Post links to videos, photos and press releases so prospects can easily get a feeling for the texture of your program – from your school’s facilities to your players’ personalities. Twitter is also a great way to keep alumni engaged and interested in the program.

Importantly, joining the digital age through social media will demonstrate your commitment to communicating with people in the style and fashion your prospects are accustomed to.

Manage Your Reputation

Okay, let’s go back to the Google search. Let’s try “[school] [sport]”. Take a look at what other people are saying about your program – beyond the safe confines of your institution’s website and your Facebook/Twitter pages. Are people out there saying good things, bad things, or nothing at all?

In performing this search, you may run across inaccuracies or incomplete statements about you, your school or your program. In sports, you’re bound to find people who think they know everything about your program and could “coach your team with their eyes closed” (ha!).

Social media offers you a public outlet by which you can amend any inaccuracies. And no, I’m not saying you should go and comment on the haters’ profile pages. Instead, take up blogging or integrate message points into your Tweeting. With these types of social tools, you can address the points you find on other blogs. Importantly, by keeping your content fresh linking your various social media profiles together with your blog posts, you can really influence real-time search results.

Leading By Example

Let’s take a look at the University of Utah, who recently announced that after playing one final season in the Mountain West this fall, they will join the Pac-10 in 2011.

What struck me in the ESPN press release about their move to the Pac-10 was this quote in particular: “The Utes also have strong programs in men’s and women’s basketball, and women’s gymnastics that could immediately compete in the Pac-10. In sports such as baseball and tennis, the Utes will be making a tremendous leap in competition.”

Never fear, Utes. You’re on the right track, and if you continue to trend in the direction you’re going, all your programs will be atop the Pac 10 in no time because you’re growing your recruiting pool exponentially every day.

I’ve recently spoken with Utah’s Assistant Soccer Coach Mariel Wilner and Assistant Athletic Director Zack Lassiter about the University’s digital strategy and have been so impressed with their commitment. Big props to the entire staff not only for embracing social media, but developing a truly integrated approach to marketing their programs through the use of digital channels. Read more about the work they’re putting in here.

To get the feel for Utah’s online campaign, take a look at their website, which recently got an awesome makeover, highlighting their social sites: http://utahutes.cstv.com. Utah’s social networking sites are listed in one easy place on their website and on their dropdown menu, where fans/recruits/alumni/prospects can access everything from Athletic Director Chris Hill’s Twitter to the Utah Gymnastics Program’s YouTube. The Utah Athetics Facebook page has nearly 25,000 fans, and after their post about the big move has already received 296 likes and 65 comments.

If you’re asking yourself if this stuff really does work, I challenge you to do a Google search for any of the University of Utah sports programs. What do you see?

Leave Your Keys at the Door

Hopefully some of these ideas have excited you to begin a social media campaign. But I do have a couple wise word of caution that we should all live by:

• Whether we like it or not, coaching is often a transient sport. Plan to relinquish control of any social media accounts you create for your team or institution once you move on. In other words, “leave your keys at the door.” (All credit to University of Utah Athletics for that quote.)
• Don’t allow social networking to become social NOT-working.
• Follow the same behavioral standards online that you would in real life. Be transparent about who you are, be respectful, be professional, be truthful and remember your audience.
• Don’t write anything online that you wouldn’t say to an ESPN television reporter. Anything in the public space today could end up on Sports Center ten years from now.
• Follow the rules. The NCAA doesn’t regulate the interaction between coaches and fans, but they have set rules for recruiting student-athletes through social channels. The NCAA recommends that communication between coaches and fans also comply with legislation prohibiting the discussion of recruits. Click here to learn more.