Marketing your player?

Hello Happy Holidays,

 I had a post on here about "Marketing" I have some photos on the clips section where my son and I  send out letters and pic to schools and camps.email,etc.

 IMHO, If you are a top ball player in your HS and dont go to camps / show cases, summer teams I dont think anybody will find you in your sand lot durning BP...

unless your HS goes to a playoff / championship game... then they might see you...

My son and I have been going to camps in SC , PA & even went to try out for the

EVO Shield Canes in VA, four hour drive near DC to try out and get noticed.

then a drive a few months ago a drive south and tried out for a summer travel team,

my son made that summer team for 2014..

 Then of coruse to college camps near by and local to us ..one school seems to be interested in his sring HS games for 2014...

  We will get on the schedule for a PG event in 2014 sometime and continue school camps.  but I feel if my son and I didnt do this they wont know of him and his skills..

 One kid I know played football here in HS big stand out kid... nothing happen ,no  notice of him then he moved to another HS, now D1 schools are now looking at him...

my son and his friend are both Jr.'s 2015's..

 I think its just like a job / career if you dont apply and sit home how will anyone know you want that job / career.. even at McDonald's...ha ha

ps. I do some photography, so I big on marketing... see photos under clips section if you care too...

Happy Holidays to all,

Joe 

The question is 'who' will find you?  It's like dating.  Always try to date up.  Of course, putting flyers on the cheerleaders' cars is not going to work, though.  Smart marketing works.

Even first rounders have to market themselves.  Who wants to be drafted at #30 if they think they should be the #1 pick?  That's $6 million.

That would be the 6 million dollar man..  yeah that is like a on-line dating site

trying to find the right match and going on blind dates (camps / showcase) to see if

someone just one coach would like what he see's.

SultanofSwat,

You hit on something very important.  I've often wanted to respond to those who say they know someone that never played in travel tournaments and never attended the big showcases and they ended up signing with a DI college or got drafted.

no doubt that happens, but how would they know what might have happened had they actually gone about things differently.  It's really fairly simple, the more interest you create the more options you end up with.  Maybe the same kid would have been offered a scholarship worth much more at a much better college.  Maybe the 10th round pick would have been a second round pick.

We have seen kids go from having no options to having option from many colleges. We have seen kids that scouts weren't on, end up becoming first rounder picks. We have seen kids that looked like possible first round picks become the first overall pick Of the draft. Latest example, Carlos Correa!  That just wouldn't have happened without him doing the things he did.

So it's great that things worked out without doing anything, but that doesn't tell you what might have happened doing things differently.  It could be said the other way around I suppose. What if the kid didn't do what he did to create the interest, how do we know it wouldn't happen anyway.  Well... We have the proof!  Every year that proof is the first round of the draft.  If you look at the last 10 years first round list, you will have trouble finding more than one player who did not do high level travel ball or attend the BIG showcases. So maybe we don't know for sure. Some say the very best prospects don't have to do anything.  Hard to say because what we see is the top prospects, more than anyone else, do seem to do a lot. They have a very good reason as "SultanofSwat" mentioned in his post.

MARKETING

Marketing in baseball only works if you have what someone wants.  Sure, some will respond to your emails, but it takes a lot more than that to get colleges excited.  On the other hand you can go out there and play.  If they like what they see you don't have to bother with sending any emails.  Remember, by a very long ways, at least at the DI level, they go after the players they want and they hope those players want them. All the marketing in the world won't change that because college coaches have too much at stake. The very best marketing plan doesn't involve emails and resumes filled with statistics.  The best marketing plan is to get in front of as many people as possible and let them see what you have. That way no one gets fooled! Sorry if any of this offends anyone, but it is the way it works.

BTW, I'm not saying to quit emailing and trying to find a good fit.  I will say that the most important thing to include, if possible, are references.  Try to get references from those who will get some attention.  For example, if former coach Ron Polk gave you a glowing recommendation saying you can play at any program in the country... That will create all kinds of interest. And Ron Polk will be getting a lot of phone calls. Maybe not the greatest example I guess because if Ron Polk knew you and thought that highly of your ability, you wouldn't need to contact colleges, they would be contacting you.  Anyway, the better your references the more Interest you get. If you also have video available along with excellent references, the more likely they will take the time to view that video or view it a bit closer.

jlaro,

No, the goal should always be to get more than one coach interested.  In fact, best is when everyone, or at least several, get interested.  That is what gives a player options. That is when the colleges are competing with each other to get you.  Would you want one MLB scout to want you or 30 MLB scouts to want you.  The more that want you the more valuable you become.  If you have what it takes you will impress more than just one.  These people know what they're looking for.

Kind of like, it was always easier to find a new girlfriend in h.s. when I was dating her best friend. 

I am not sure marketing is the right word or philosophy for that matter.  For those players who have the talent to play at the next level, any coach who is worth his salt is going to want to see you play before making an offer.  Thus, rather than putting together slick marketing plans and packages, I think the time would be better spent identifying schools of interest, finding out where they go to recruit players, and getting on the field in front of them.  Deeds not dialog is what will seal the deal.  I think putting together a video is a good idea and it could be sent upon request.  Not sure if sending it out cold will have the desired impact.  If you attend a high level D1 event and don't garner much interest, you can broaden your range accordingly.  Go and watch college games at the D1, D2, and D3 level this spring.  See if your talent stacks up against what you see.  When you go to a showcase event, compare yourself to the other players there and see where you stack up.  Let your on-field talent, attitude, and hustle be your marketing while interested coaches are watching.  

Marketing doesn't close deals. Marketing helps as a part of the overall mix of tactics.

Does marketing work in the baseball recruiting process?

We've tracked opens and clicks from emails, and we track web site visits (all the metrics offered through Google Analytics).

It absolutely helps. Some data points:

-between 55% and 70% of emails are opened

-about 35% click through to the web site

-on the web site, the most visited page is the video page

-average time spent on the web site: around 5 minutes

-head coaches open and click through at a higher rate than assistant coaches

Marketing may get attention.  The real attention "getter" is in person.  Attending tryouts or tournments against top competition will get your son noticed, especially of he's successful.

Its all about finding the right fit for your son. Good school, good BB program, great Coach, playing time, not too far from Mom and Dad, These are important things to consider, and some kids don't find what they are looking for until late in their marketing process. No matter if you have D1 talent or maybe a Juco player at a local school, you are still looking for the right fit. Sometimes we see kid's with far less talent go to a school where they play everyday, make good grades, continue to develop, and have a blast. When that happens it kind of makes you wonder what if we would of went to the same showcases that they went to?

The aim of marketing is to make selling superfluous. The aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well that the product or service fits him and sells itself.

I didn't say that. Peter Drucker, the so-called father of modern management did.

Chances are he didn't have college baseball recruiting in the 21st century in mind when he wrote that. But if he did, he would probably say it is important to understand the level of talent and needs of colleges that are being targeted, and to do everything possible to try to assure that the player has/can develop those talent levels and meet those needs. By doing so, the product would sell itself..

Of course, it is rarely the case that marketing is so effective that no sales are needed. So yes, the right customers have to know that the product exists. And we all know the various tools in the present context...emails, videos, travel teams, showcases.

My takeaway from Drucker is to understand the difference between marketing and sales, and to concentrate...first and foremost...on marketing over sales

I believe that the majority of potential recruits "must" do some sort of Marketing to reach their goals of playing at the next level.  My son wanted to play D1 baseball and stay on the west coast...and preferably remain in Southern California.  That's not easy to do, as there isn't as many roster spots available (not as many D1 schools) & it's an extremely competitive area.

I had 247-son send out introduction emails to the recruiting coordinators for the majority of D1 schools within a 400-500 mile radius (approximately 30 universities), and cc'd the Head Coach.  We did put together a video of him pitching, hitting, fielding, etc...in workouts & live game situations, but ultimately decided against including the five minute video and added the link to his PG Profile that included video.  In addition, he enclosed the contact information for his HS coach and Travel coaches. 

I would say that my son received a positive response from 75 percent of the coaches that he contacted.  Ironically, he wasn't receiving much love from the university that he would eventually sign at.  Each tournament he'd send out an email and/or text to the coaches.  The fact that he stayed on top of the marketing/recruiting on his end and never gave up helped him tremendously and he finally started receiving offers just prior to the early signing period. 

Personally, I don't think my son would have signed early...especially where he's at, if it wasn't for his effort on the field and off.  Of course, it certainly helped that he played well when the coaches were there watching him.  You can be the greatest marketing firm out there, but if you don't have a decent product the consumer/coach will not buy.