So many coaches think that you only need exposure when it comes to recruiting season.
What is the difference between exposure and recruiting? That’s what we are going to clear up and dive into.
Exposure allows the coach to advertise and show off their team
Exposure is attained through marketing your team. Marketing your team can be tough, you have to think like a business owner, and your team as your product. You want people to know your team so when it comes time to recruit (sell) people already have a positive association in their mind when they think of your team.
Showing off who you are as a coach
Team exposure also gives you an opportunity to show who you are as a coach. A huge factor parents base their team choice on comes down to who is coaching that particular team.
In fact ESPN report that 22% of children who drop out of sports, is because they do not like the coach.
Team exposure can come in the form of you showing what makes you great. Are you the type of coach who spends extra time continuing your education, are you the type of coach who plans team bonding experience for your players, are you the type of coach who gives awards out after games or at the end of the season? Great, tell that story.
Future parents and players don’t know what you’re like as a coach, marketing your team gives you the ability to show yourself off as well.
Showing parents the tone of the team
Have you seen many photos of youth soccer team like this?
Probably not, but this is a team of girls who are all very close and met each other on this team. Looking at these photos shows you how much fun they have, how close they all are, and really helps to summarize this team in one happy, fun photo.
Don’t underestimate the power that photos of the team can have. When you need exposure for your team, having photos like this that really show the tone of the team can go a long way.
Can be done indefinitely
Team exposure is something can and should be done indefinitely. It’s an integral part of your business and something that needs to be ongoing.
No product-based business that is thriving stops marketing their products, it’s not something that’s ever completed and as such is ongoing. As previously mentioned, your team is your business and you need ongoing exposure and you need to consistently show your team off, so that when it’s time to recruit half the battle is already done.
Can be done digitally
Almost all facets of marketing can be done remotely and online,
Offers transparency
Recruiting
Recruiting, as we all know, is the process of adding players to your roster. When you have a full roster is can be easy to fall into the trap of thinking you don’t need to market your team, but having a full roster is the best time to market your team, you’ve got a team full of (hopefully) happy players that you can reference. When you’re looking for players to complete a roster is when you panic and scramble for players, how much easier it would be if you had already spent the season promoting your team, so that when the time comes to add to the roster it’s as easy because you’ve spent a good amount of time already marketing your team. It’s kind of like the old saying, it’s easier to get a job when you already have a job. The same can be said for recruiting.
Recruiting season can be a really challenging time of the year, knowing that your team could fold if you don’t get the players. How do you find players? Where do you even go? Post on social and hope a parent who sees your post is looking for a new team? Those are old school ways of recruiting, with all the online tools available recruiting has never been easier.
Tools like Sports Bridge give you a great way to market your team, so that when tryout season rolls around, you’ve already got a team profile listed that’s getting seen by parents. You can share your Sports Bridge profile link in your social media for even more visibility and Sports Bridge profiles are even searchable in Google meaning even more ways for parents and players to find you.
Having a Sports Bridge profile that you as an individual coach controls is crucial because it gives control back to you. Like we said earlier, having a team is like having a business, and you as the business owner want as much control as possible. Most clubs have a club website, and maybe even have a team directory on the website, but that’s about it for almost every club. You and your team have a lot more to offer than just your name and email listed somewhere on your clubs website. A Sports Bridge profile allows you to have your own online webpage that you control and edit and can share directly to parents.
Change the way you think about recruiting by changing the way you market your team. Recruiting isn’t just done once or twice a year, it’s an ever-growing ongoing task accomplished though marketing and creating exposure around your team.
