TIPS FOR IHSA TEAM SOCIAL MEDIA

IHSA OFFICIAL SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS

PROMOTING YOUR TEAM WITH SOCIAL MEDIA

Many teams have social media accounts, as do riders. Here are some helpful tips for coaches, officers and riders to strengthen your posting, without dropping your stirrups!

HASHTAGS: (Always Use)

OTHER COMMON TAGS:

MAKE YOUR TEAM NAMES SEARCHABLE

Avoid acronyms and avoid confusion. Nine teams use BCET (Bard, Bates, Becker, Berry, Bethany, Boston, Bowdoin, Bridgewater, Brockport), 10 use BUET (Bentley, Belmont, Binghampton, Bloomsburg, Boston, Brandeis, Brock, Brown, Bucknell, Butler). Use clear tags, like Seton Hill’s @setonhill.equestrian or Hollins’ @hollinsuniversityriding. Spell out acronyms in your account About section.

WHAT TO POST

Feature great images of IHSA riders and coaches that promote achievements in a way that either support the IHSA or involvement as a student athlete. Do post content that is brand-elevating for your team and for the IHSA. Post or share sponsor-related content. ­Equestrian educational or horsemanship content is great. Tasteful, entertaining posts work well.

An Instagram repost from Stanford University produces great results from a wonderful image.

SPONSOR AWARENESS

Maintain awareness about current IHSA sponsors, giving some priority to team or riders’ posts that may also promote one of our sponsors and try not to share a post that may overtly promote, or hashtag a non-sponsor.

This is an Insights view of a Facebook post that highlighted the sponsors. Watch your Insights page to see what resonates with your audience.

PROTECT THE IHSA BRAND

Maintain high standards in presentation and safety

• Professionally attired rider (neat hair, no tank tops, clean boots, etc.)
• Well-presented horses (no cross rails, dirty/broken fences, fences with no ground rails, horses with hanging knees, dirty horses, ill-fitting tack)
• Legally obtained photos (no watermarks unless they are provided by the photographer)
• Helmets always on hunter seat riders and as much as possible for Western riders

SOCIAL MEDIA IS PUBLIC

Keep posts positive. Negative comments about other teams, riders or horses reflects poorly on you, your team and IHSA. Inside jokes may not read that way on public posts. Use common sense (no profanity, nudity, pictures or reference to drugs and alcohol) when posting on behalf of your team and school. 

KEEP A FACEBOOK PAGE AS WELL AS A GROUP

A public Facebook page, where a coach or team officer can post pictures, results, and updates keeps fans and family engaged. Facebook Groups exclude/limit general public interest and make it difficult to share or post between accounts. Use private Groups for internal information or communication.

ANCHOR ADMINISTRATION

When setting up social media accounts, it is a good idea to assign a sports administrator to own/administrate the team account. While most teams have a president, captain or coach as administrator, should they leave suddenly, study overseas, etc. without sharing the password, anchoring your administration will avoid headaches. A good way to avoid this common issue is to keep an Evernote notebook shared with officers of your team with social media logins and team brand information within easy reach.