April 2022  |  Issue #54

Liz's Letter

Hi there,

Do you harbor some resentment towards your campus athletics program? Are you indifferent to what happens on “that side of campus?” I’ll admit that when I was on campus, I was.

Now, I know athletics matters for your brand. Your reputation. Your enrollment. Your fundraising. The data has been staring me in the face for years.

Only 5% of full-time college students compete on collegiate athletic teams—although in NCAA Division III it’s 25% on average. The impact athletics has goes beyond the players on the field—more than half of all the online conversation and news coverage about four-year colleges is related to athletics. The visibility and impact is undeniable.

When I started Campus Sonar, we segmented athletics conversation so we could remove it. Most often, our clients saw athletics as noise—taking away from the real brand conversation. Over time, we’ve developed a different opinion. Athletics generates human interest stories that resonate with an existing fan base as well as strategic target audiences. Each team maintains a valuable web of relationships with each other, the campus, and their communities. Marketing, admissions, and advancement have a lot to gain by partnering with athletics beyond game day.

Marketers: Because of athletics, people talk about your brand more often. What have you done to nurture your relationship with athletics to leverage that brand lift and tell stories beyond wins and losses?

Admissions: Athletes are more vocal about their consideration and decision process. What can you learn from them to increase influential peer word-of-mouth from non-student athletes?

Advancement: Do you know what percentage of your donors give to athletics? At one campus I recently spoke to, it’s 80%. How can you use an athletics affinity to spark donor interest in other funding initiatives?

It’s on you to develop that relationship with athletics, and the first step is thoughtfully considering how they align with your strategic goals. The data tells me there's an opportunity. Don’t let your assumptions or old habits get in the way of spotting it.

Liz Gross

CEO + Founder of Campus Sonar

Leveraging the Everyday Impact of Athletics

Have you heard of Saint Peter’s College? 

If someone had asked me that question before this year’s March Madness, I would have said no. But now? I can tell you where they’re located (Jersey City, New Jersey), their school mascot (a peacock!), the name of their athletic facility (Run Baby Run Arena), and their athletics hashtag (#StrutUp). I can identify guard Doug Edert—who capitalized on his team’s run by signing a NIL deal with Buffalo Wild Wings—by his mustache. This year’s ultimate underdog story from the men’s basketball tournament 100% captured my attention.  

I can also tell you that I wasn’t alone. We tracked Saint Peter’s conversation volume from October through their March Madness Cinderella run; in their Sweet 16 game against Purdue, they had more mentions per minute than their average volume for the prior five months. March’s mentions were 12,380 times more than that monthly average. 

Your campus probably won’t have a Saint Peter’s moment. But highlighting their story isn’t about preparing to leverage a once-in-a-lifetime explosion of attention, conversation, and engagement. It’s about recognizing the impact athletics can have on an everyday basis. A metric we frequently track for our clients is their farthest-reaching owned and earned mentions. It’s incredibly rare that conversation regarding athletics doesn’t factor into their top three mentions (on both sides of the coin) every week. 

Athletics are part of your campus. They make up a significant portion of the discussion when people talk about your school. If you’re not actively integrating that athletics conversation into your overall content strategy, you might want to think about why. Are you swimming against the current and neglecting opportunities to meaningfully engage with your community by doing so? Leveraging athletics content is about taking advantage of the opportunities you’re presented with—whether that’s a big win, a unique experience, or a celebration of human performance. 

Athletes give back to their communities. They excel academically while maintaining hectic schedules. They graduate and go on to use the experiences and education they received at your campus to succeed in the world. Their stories can help you tell even more of your campus’s story. Take advantage of the opportunity.

Meet people where they are—use the topics they’re interested in and want to talk about as a foot in the proverbial door. That story about sports? Use it as a jumping off point to spark engagement on topics and with people you may have never previously had a chance to reach. 

Open the door and see what comes through.

Darron Bunt

Social Media Data Analyst

Spring Ahead with STREAM!

April often sets a demanding pace for higher ed professionals. Yield, recruitment, and advancement efforts are at a crescendo against a backdrop of elevated campus activity before the semester ends and commencement begins. 

For me, while on campus, it was a time that required extra care and attention to support these multiple efforts and my mental health. When I slowed down amid activity to breathe and lean on the individuals and community around me, I found it easier to stay grounded and connected. 

The theme of community is in my heart as I step into the role of Product Marketing Manager for STREAM and announce exciting new options to plug into the resources and support STREAM offers.

• We have a brand new individual membership option that allows you to take full advantage of the reports, resources, and STREAM network with a single subscription.
• Our athletic-focused report releases at the end of April, and it’s all about Name, Image, Likeness and how to monitor this changing athletics landscape while supporting your student-athletes and marketing your campus with flexibility.
• And lastly, in-person STREAM coffee chats are coming! In addition to your virtual slack community, and digital resources, STREAM members will now have an opportunity to connect regularly with Sonarians over virtual coffee chats. I’m so excited to get to know our members deeper and see where the conversation leads!

Rebecca Stapley
STREAM Product Marketing Manager

Add Training to Your To-Do List

Our monthly on-demand training is free and easy to fit into your schedule and keeps you at the forefront of social media strategy.

The series offers best practices, guidance, and community to expand your professional development. Each episode explores a core topic of social media strategy and includes a discussion session with Sonarians and guest experts who provide insights into what makes social media so nuanced and fundamental on campus.

Upcoming Events

We hope to see you in person or virtually this year at an upcoming event!

Fraternity Communications Association's Annual Conference | April 29, 2022

Link to Event Page

Liz presents two education sessions on how social listening drives communication and marketing strategy and reporting social media metrics that matter. 

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