by By: Elise Sokolsky
Softball has been rapidly growing in athletic landscapes for years now, but with the lengthy time of off-season, fans often struggle staying connected to their teams. That’s why Instagram is one of the best tools for softball programs to utilize. Fans love celebrating big wins during the season, but investment happens when they are bought into behind the scenes as well. Showing the followers the process leading up to opening day, including workouts, practices, and introductions to new faces can help strengthen the bond between the team and its audience.
It’s not enough for supporters to see a team win their game, they want to see how they got there as well. By showcasing more day-to-day activities such as weightlifting, bullpens, hitting routines, and defensive skills training, the audience will get a better view of the team’s preparation. These highlights will reveal the team’s culture, work ethic, and commitment to their process in the off-season. This content can take many forms, such as posting a reel with the hitters warm-up routine, a carousel of practice images, or behind-the-scenes montage from training.
Another effective way to keep the viewers engaged year-round is to introduce them to the new players and give them opportunities to learn more about returning athletes. This can be done through posts as simple as a “Get To Know Me” Reel, doing a “Day in the Life” with a player, or graphics with fun facts about the team. This also creates valuable opportunities for the players to dig deeper on their own Instagram page and connect directly with their fans. With the rise of NIL, athletes may have more reason to focus on creating content, so a strategy that can support the athletes’ pages and the teams overall visibility is a win-win.
Finally, one of the most common and successful off-season posts for any athletic team is creating hype for what’s coming next. By teasing uniform reveals, previewing the upcoming schedule, and sharing highlights from the previous season, teams can generate excitement from their viewers. This type of content keeps fans engaged and looking forward to the next time their team takes the field.
AUSL Instagram post showcasing silhouettes of protected players @theauslofficial.
See the post here!
The Athletes Unlimited Softball League (AUSL) has done a great job in their young history of incorporating these regularly into their posts. One example being the recent announcement of two new teams to the league, causing an upcoming drafting process. However, their drafting rules allow each of the existing teams to protect 5 players on their current roster, and make them unable to be drafted. To promote this, they posted silhouettes of the protected players to create buzz around who the silhouette belonged to. This also generates hype for the draft process itself, as fans want to see how unprotected players will be allocated to the new teams.
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