5 Reasons Why Old Fashioned Paper Letters Make a Huge Impact with Today's Recruits

It's time to revive this often abandoned strategy by coaches

I had the chance to speak at the 2023 Women’s Basketball Coaches Association convention at the Final Four in Dallas yesterday, and wanted to share part of what I talked about with the coaches there with all of you.

We focused on something that is overlooked and, if I can be blunt, has been largely abandoned by a lot of college coaches around the country: Old fashioned paper letters, physically sent through the mail.

Our clients know the impact of this layer of their communication with recruits because we make sure to include it in every recruiting strategy we implement with them. Why? Because it works, and so many coaches don’t know how to do it properly, recruits that receive physical mail compare and contrast that layer of relationship building with the other programs recruiting them that aren’t doing it, and it helps us win recruiting battles. Simple as that.

Here are the main reasons why, according to our research it works so well with this generation of student-athlete prospect:

It’s physical evidence that you want them and value them.

Ever notice, like in the picture above, recruits like to show off the printed letters they get sent by programs? Why is that?…why don’t then just hold their phone up and get pictures of the texts coaches send them? Because it’s not physical evidence that coaches think they’re important. Letters are. They get read, they get saved, and if they are voiced correctly, they get remembered. Aren’t sending a consistent flow of physical mail every 3-5 weeks in addition to the other mediums you can recruit athletes with? You’re missing out.

They know sending mail is difficult and more time consuming for you, which makes it more meaningful to them.

In both the early stages and later stages of recruiting, prospects are looking for evidence when it comes to who seems to want and value them the most, as we just discussed. The reason physical mail checks all the right boxes for them is the difficulty factor: They know something vital, and they’re measuring you by it: