Kearney High Soccer 2026 Media Campaign
Bringing hype and photography to Kearney's soccer teams!
Project Overview
A few months before the Kearney High School soccer season began, I was contacted to manage the program's Instagram page. I was given free reign to create any media I envisioned, providing a unique opportunity to take full creative control of the brand's digital identity.
Key areas of focus for me was producing gameday graphics for every varsity match, highlighting the senior class and their contributions, and providing high-quality photos for players and parents to download.
Brand Expansion & Additions
Wider Social Presence
We started with a clean Profile Picture Redo to modernize the account's look. To reach a wider demographic of parents and community members, a Facebook page was added and linked directly to the Instagram account, allowing for seamless cross-posting.
Organized Story Highlights
The profile was reorganized to give followers permanent, quick access to vital information and top content directly from the page.
New Engagement Features
Live Score Updates
In-game score graphics kept fans informed in real-time, even if they couldn't be at the stadium.
Senior Spotlights
Dedicated posts honoring the senior class, celebrating their individual journeys and dedication.
Photo Access
High-quality galleries curated for easy downloading and social sharing by the community.
Elevated Core Content
Girls Schedule
Modernized layouts for easy tracking of upcoming matches.
Boys Schedule
Comprehensive overview of the Varsity program schedule.
Gameday Graphics
High-energy edits designed to build community hype before kickoff.
Game Recap Posts
Action photography capturing key moments from every match.
Soccer Districts Highlight Reel
Hype video capturing the hype of both Boys and Girls Soccer Seasons!
Girls State Soccer Highlight Reel
Cinematic video coverage capturing the energy of the Girls State tournament.
Campaign Analytics & Results
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Platform Expansion Success
By connecting a Facebook Page alongside the Instagram page allowed not just the soccer team, but also parents on Facebook, to get gameday graphics, score updates, and more! The cross-posting workflow allowed me to reach parents and other community members interested in soccer. The results from this new Facebook page show that adding it pulled in 7.4K unique viewers and racked up 33.5K total views, validating that I successfully captured a demograph previously missing.
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Explosive Engagement Rates
By introducing dedicated senior spotlights and high quality Gameday Graphics, I transformed the page into a place to see the team, while also getting information about the games. The analytics reflect this shift perfectly: achieving 8.9K content interactions, a 446.8% increase from previous year. This also brough more than 3.5K viewers (1.9K% increase from previous year) to the page, showing how the different featuers added this year brought more traffic.
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High Conversion on Deliverables
Providing high-quality photography is only valuable if the community actually accesses it. Adding photo album links allowed athletes and parents to see and download photos, giving them exposure to future college recruits or for memories. 751 link clicks through a 3 month season is a clearly shows that people clearly wanted to see their own pictures, actively accessing the photos I produced.
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Massive Overall Traffic
To truly elevate a sports program's brand, the media must reach a wide audience consistently. By executing a disciplined cross-platform strategy, we achieved over 424,000 total views across Instagram and Facebook during the season. This massive scale of traffic is a clear validation of my ability to build, engage, and maintain a highly active audience for localized sports brands.
Looking Forward: Areas for Growth
While the analytics from the 2026 season represent a massive success, continuous improvments is a foundation of any strong media strategy. Below are a few changes I would make in future years to make this sports season really take off.
- Integrating more Short-form reels throughout off days to continue the hype of the season.
- Integrating Twitter into Score updates and more.
- Dedicated Media Day for better b-roll clips for Hype Videos
- More long-form videos to watch before going into tough games
These changes could bring more viewers to the sport of Soccer as well as connect the local area with what is going on in the sports at the local high school!
Impact of Media Coverage
Managing a pre-existing social media account with high expectations for quality is a significant challenge. It requires not only creating diverse media elements but also ensuring they meet a professional standard that reflects the program's values.
For Kearney High Soccer, this campaign allowed me to expand my portfolio beyond gameday graphics. It was an opportunity to develop new content concepts, like senior spotlights and live score updates, that I had not previously implemented, resulting in a more comprehensive and engaging brand experience.
Interested in leveling up your social media coverage or sports seasons? Reach out today and let's bring your season to life!