Social media is a program's lifeline to recruits, their families and fans. The pandemic and its travel restrictions have made it more important than ever.
Life for everyone has been largely on hold since March, but Ohio State's social media muscle has not stopped flexing as the football program aims to sign the highest-rated recruiting class of all time.
Lifeline to recruits, fans & donors. FBS football teams generating the most social media interactions from March 12 (when NCAA suspended competition) through July 31, 2020. #smsports pic.twitter.com/knIpp0GZlw
— SkullSparks (@SkullSparks) August 1, 2020
OSUFB has generated over a million more interactions than 2nd place, which is the defending national champion LSU Tigers. It has over two million more interactions than Alabama and Clemson and double the next closest B1G program, Penn State.
A deeper dive into the numbers shows that the Buckeyes' advantage is more than just quantity. Its lead actually comes from its significant Instagram strength, while its Twitter and Facebook strategies are still strong.
All 130 FBS college football teams ranked by social media interactions generated from March 12-July 31, 2020. #smsports pic.twitter.com/J7i3zzp282
— SkullSparks (@SkullSparks) August 1, 2020
And that's quite important in 2020. Teenagers' presence on Instagram is at its historic peak, more than double their Twitter and Facebook usage combined. Reaching donors and fans on Facebook and Twitter is important - but reaching future student-athletes is critical to program success.
