Many universities around the country have been trying to incorporate Twitter in their game day experience for many sporting events with limited results. Schools are still exploring the optimum ways to incorporate Twitter into their marketing campaigns. For example, the University of Alabama, who routinely gets 90,000 fans for their spring intrasquad football game every year, only has 55,000 followers to their official Twitter page.
One of the schools that promotes the use of social media is Colorado State. The school adopts a social media policy that regulates and promotes its students’ and employees’ usage. A unique example of the university’s progressive view towards the use of social media can be found in a halftime tweet on Feb. 29 by head basketball coach Tim Miles. His team was down 41-26 to nationally-ranked UNLV in a must-win game for the Rams. He tweeted at halftime: “We just allowed them to get into way too much of a rhythm. You can’t allow UNLV to hit 7 threes in a half!”
Coaches have been tweeting during the season for years. In addition, the use of Twitter by players during games is generally frowned upon if not outright deemed against team policy, in both the collegiate and professional ranks. Les Miles made news a couple years ago by promising to tweet during halftime of games, an expectation that he failed to live up to (in fact, his Twitter activity got noticeably lighter during the season). While being against status quo, Tim Miles’ tweet during a pivotal conference game is a sign that institutions are realizing the importance and benefit of social media.
It is a no-cost marketing tool that can reach an indefinite amount of readers, many of whom are potential students and fans. The increase in public visibility makes the coach and the school more known, and on an athletically-strategic level, it gives potential recruits the chance to see inside a coach’s head during a high-pressure game. Fan engagement at no cost never has a downside!
Colorado State outscored No. 16 UNLV 40-18 in the second half and won the game, 66-59, likely sending his team to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2003. Whatever he said at halftime must have worked!