Tennis Recruiting Video

A well thought out recruiting video can greatly increase the chances of an NCAA tennis coach to respond to the email messages you send out to coaches and schools you are interested in playing and applying for.

Coaches want to see what you are able to do on the courts right now, while at the same time get a very good idea of what it is they could expect from you in the future.

Over the last 18 years as a digital marketing entrepreneur, I realized that getting noticed by an NCAA tennis coach is very similar to marketing a business online.

One thing I learned about a great (not good) marketing video for your business is they contribute to conversion rate optimization and literally run your business when you’re not there.

It’s the same thing when building your tennis recruiting video. You want to build a proven system that has the convincing power to speak and appeal to potential coaches interested in you as an athlete.

After all, if getting recruited requires 100% of your effort before any conversations are generated, sooner or later you’ll most likely give up.

Don’t let that happen to you.

What should a coach’s state of mind be when they discover your recruiting video? What first impression do you want to create with your video? How will you convince them to commit to your call to action? And how do you increase responses?

These simple steps have worked for a lot of top businesses. Having a great recruiting video is no different and I’m certain you’ll get results, too.

1. Understand a Coaches Pain Points

How do you satisfy a coach that barely knows you?

The truth is that it’s hard to do.

To have an impact on a coach, you must understand their pain points.

Other tennis players may not be taking this path, which is great – you can take a different path and communicate with understanding.

Think of the coach you are communicating with has a headache and you’re trying to give him/her the medication for a stomach ache. That is not what a good doctor would do.

What is your biggest selling point? Whatever that is, make sure you communicate this in your video and structure it in a way that you can assist on the coach’s pain points.

For example, maybe you are an attacking player with great first touches (serve and returns). It’s important your video conveys this message, very quickly. Does that mean you should start with showing your forehand technique? No, get right to your strengths right away.

How is this different from other tennis player videos being sent to coaches? Most likely they are trying to promote their technical skills etc. Tennis coaches are always looking for that player they can use in all situations. Make it easy for them to see that in your video right from the beginning.

2. Think of a Click-Worthy Video Title

Your video title is the first thing that catches a coaches eye after they click on a link from your email message. If it fails, it could lead to the coach closing your video immediately.

Therefore, when creating a click-worthy video title, make sure it short & simple, benefit-driven to the coach (pain point) and it includes words that build up curiosity.

Take a look at the example below. It has the following:

• Quality thumbnail photo of the athlete.
• Athlete’s name and sport
• Grad year and what his/her ranking is. The ranking will pique curiosity for a coach to learn more about Cade. Other strengths you can share is serve speed, big forehand, awesome returner, etc.

3. Keep It Short

Coaches and assistant coaches have limited amounts of time available. They juggle their time between reviewing recruiting videos and their everyday job of running a tennis program, sometimes even two (men’s & women’s). Help them do their job by providing a video that not only addresses exactly what they need to see in a player but also do so in a time frame that is acceptable to them.

Keep in mind that you’re not the only player who they are assessing. And reviewing a couple of players a day adds up to quite a bit of time. Put differently, coaches WILL NOT watch the full 20-minute video of you; they will probably not even give it 15 minutes. But if you aim at a length of 8–12 minutes, you should be able to offer the coaches a package they are willing to watch.

Conclusion

Your recruiting video has one job, and one job only: To get coaches to contact you.

So why are you not doing everything you can to encourage coaches to take your desired action? It all begins with planning. But the planning begins even before you start thinking about what you will have in your video.

If you want it to be successful, you have to know what coaches are looking for. If there is one thing I want you to take away from this post.

Put Your Best Plays First.

Make it a compilation of plays, with the best plays coming first in your video. Don’t lose the first few seconds with your forehand technique. A coach may not like what they see in technique and you could be the next Daniil Medvedev. Show them point play right off the hop!

But, with everything in marketing, there is no one size fits all. Follow the best practices listed in this post and develop your understanding of the coaches you want to reach out to, and you’ll be able to create a winning recruiting video for coaches to view.

What strategies do you plan to use to improve your recruiting video?

Need more college tennis recruiting info? Check Out The The Videos Below