Social media is the new battle ground for sports competing for athletes, and for sporting clubs wanting to differentiate their club from others. Read on for 5 tips for sporting clubs about how to use social media.

As a teenage boy growing up the 1980's there was really only two sports in Australia - football in the winter, and cricket in the summer. These two sports dominated the media landscape for sport in Australia, and it wasn't easy for minor sports to attract the attention of potential players. This has all changed today with the widespread use of social media as a cost effective medium to communicate the activities of your sport or your club.

Many people running sporting associations and sporting clubs are aware of this, but are unsure how to capitalize on the opportunity. Here are 5 tips for sporting clubs about how to use social media.

Tip #1 - Make Social Media Your Primary Communication and Promotional Tool

I see many sporting clubs dabbling in social media. My local basketball club posts occasional images on both Facebook and Instagram showing action shots of games. Unfortunately the content is sporadic and low quality. Tip #1 is to take social media seriously. Treat it as your primary communication and promotional tool. What does that mean? There should be a single individual who has responsibility for social media posts. Who does that for your club? Is there a single point of accountability?

sportsphotos_027Social media content needs to be high quality and regular Tip #2 - Post Regular Content

Please read this tip in conjunction with Tip #3 as a regular flow of poor quality content is not going to enhance the reputation of your club. Before we get there though, social media is different to traditional media and advertising. It is dynamic. It is varied. When you commit to a social media strategy for your club, you are committing to posting regular content.

Tip #3 - Post High Quality Content

Random, unstructured low quality content is likely to present your club in exactly that way. If you are wanting to make your club attractive to potential players or sponsors, your content needs to be of high quality. What does that mean? It means photo or video content which is well executed. It doesn't mean a blurry distant image taken on a smart phone. How do you do that? Is there someone in your club who can shoot high quality video or photos? Can you partner with a local videographer or photographer? Don't fall into the trap of asking your club administrator to shoot random content on their phone and then wondering why people don't follow your social media accounts.

Tip #4 - Make the Players the Stars

Ok, here is where we move from getting our heads around social media to accelerating. If you want to really grow, start providing content which makes the players the stars. They will share quality content on their social media channels, and suddenly your reach in the local community is rapidly expanding. Get the idea? Generate content which makes them the stars, and let them share it on their social media channels. Ask them to use the clubs hashtag so that you can follow and re-share the content. Players won't share content where they are in the background of a blurry action shot. They will share an image which is a close up and makes them the hero.

Tip #5 - Follow Your Players Social Media Accounts

How many clubs ask for players addresses and phone numbers? All clubs do, as that's how we have traditionally contacted players. How many clubs have their players social media account details? Why not? Social media is the way your players communicate in their local community. How do you know your social media strategy is working? The answer is you can see it working in your players social media accounts. They are sharing their great experiences (and content) with their networks. Do you have the social media account details of your players?

Done well, social media is an highly effective way for sporting clubs to communicate and promote in the local community. How well is your club doing?

For further information please contact Craig on 0419 010993 or [email protected] Thanks for reading 5 tips for sporting clubs about how to use social media.