Social Media Audit: Anderson University Trojans Tennis Program
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- 5 hours ago
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Social Media Audit: Anderson University Tennis Director and Tennis Program
Introduction
A social media audit is essentially an objective assurance and consulting activity, which is designed in order to add value and improve the social media operations of an organization (Frigon, 2021). It is a systematic, disciplined approach that ultimately aids in improving and reviewing an organization's performance (Freberg, 2022). Conducting a social media audit means evaluating a client’s social media both internally as well as externally (Freberg, 2022).
The client for this audit is Joey Eskridge, Director of Tennis at Anderson University, located in Anderson, South Carolina. In addition to being recognized as a USPTA elite professional and USTA high-performance coach, Eskridge oversees both the men’s and women’s tennis programs (J. Eskridge, personal communication, September 2, 2025). His mission extends beyond athletic competition to emphasize academic achievement, leadership, and character development (J. Eskridge, personal communication, September 2, 2025). With a total of 17 seasons under his belt, Coach Joey Eskridge is indeed the heart of the men’s and women’s tennis programs at Anderson University (J. Eskridge, personal communication, September 2, 2025).
Eskridge’s tennis programs should continue to target the two following audiences:
Primary Audiences: Current Anderson University students (ages 18–24), athletes, parents of student-athletes, and alumni (ages 35–60).
Secondary Audiences: Prospective student-athletes (ages 16–20, domestic and international), tennis enthusiasts, donors, and the broader Anderson community (ages 25–55).
The mission of Eskridge’s social media presence should be used in order to showcase the competitiveness of Anderson University’s Men’s and Women’s Tennis programs, while highlighting the Christ-centeredness of the program that fosters both academic and athletic excellence (J. Eskridge, personal communication, September 2, 2025).
See below for an overview of the social media accounts.
Social Media Accounts Overview
Internal Audit
Instagram (Team Accounts): @autrojans_wtennis and @autrojansmtennis
Frequency: Since August 20th, there have been 20 posts shared, with about 3 to 4 posts being shared per week.
Content: Posts included.
Engagement: Women’s tennis averaged 55-80 likes per post, with their highest comment being a total of 6 comments; men’s tennis averaged around a 100 likes per post with a more significant interaction in the comments, with their highest comment count being 8, but they have comments on almost all of their posts, while the women’s team hardly has any comments at all. Comments come mainly from teammates, occasionally parents, and other Trojan student-athletes.
Strengths: The consistency in aesthetic is definitely a strength, the graphics for gamedays are superb, team branding (also consistent and featuring the black and gold of AU), supportive engagement from teammates, and a wonderful job of welcoming recruits via Instagram posts.
Weaknesses: There is a limited use of Instagram Stories/Reels, minimal hashtag strategy (hardly any), and there needs to be more content geared to recruits and prospective players.
Strategy takeaway: These two Instagram accounts function as community engagement tools for the AU campus and parents, but are not used to their full potential.
Instagram: @autenniscoach
Frequency: There is no consistency at all; the last post shared was from the Trojan tennis camp in June of 2025.
Content: Player highlights, family and personal posts (birthday/achievements), holiday posts, and program wins.
Engagement: Lower reach than team accounts (15–30 likes), but there is meaningful engagement from players, alumni, and co-workers when there is engagement.
Strategy takeaway: There is so much untapped potential for this account to grow as a thought-leadership account for coaching, culture building, and recruiting.
Twitter/X: @AU_MTEN
Frequency: This account is only used during the tennis season, which means the last post was in April of 2025. When used during the tennis season, this account is how fans, students, and parents keep up with scoring from each match.
Content: The content consists of match results, retweets of AU Athletics, and other miscellaneous announcements, as well as live links to watch the matches.
Engagement: The engagement on this platform is low reach (1–3 likes per post).
Weaknesses: The abnormal absence since April is the biggest weakness; there needs to be some kind of content produced at least weekly.
Strategy takeaway: A takeaway from this is that the X account needs consistent tweeting to attract alumni, parents, and fans.
LinkedIn: Joey Eskridge
Strengths: It highlights the length of how long Eskridge has worked at Anderson University, and by having 201 connections, it provides credibility.
Weaknesses: There are currently no posts or shares on this account, and the Bio piece is empty besides two sentences stating his job.
Strategy takeaway: Managing LinkedIn well can strengthen recruiting and donor engagement if aligned with AU Tennis storytelling in the correct way.
Facebook: Joey Eskridge
Status: Currently deactivated.
Weaknesses: This missing major channel limits the reach of alumni, parents, and older community members who remain most active on Facebook.
Opportunity: The desire to relaunch a Facebook account proves a way to expand knowledge of the Anderson University tennis program.
Planned Platforms
These are the platforms Eskridge desires to use for his personal name and brand: TikTok, YouTube, and X.
The Trojan Women’s Tennis program has a need and a desire to create an X account like the Men’s Tennis program.
Recommendations: Start-Stop-Continue
Start
Posting more video content via Instagram reels for highlights, team bonding, and behind-the-scenes content. Posting on a consistent basis represents a better long-term strategy since users prefer regular engagements and authentic interactions (Frigon, 2021).
Begin the relaunch of Eskridge’s Facebook account to reach a broader audience, especially those older in age.
Begin posting consistently on LinkedIn to highlight career wins, athlete recognition, and conferences attended.
Creating a calendar to use for content creation in order to keep up with posting about gamedays, team achievements, live scoring, etc.
Stop
Sporadic posting across all platforms.
Relying only on graphics on Instagram rather than using video content.
Reposting similar content across all platforms without tailoring to each channel’s strengths.
Neglecting Eskridge’s personal brand page (@autenniscoach), which could elevate professional authority.
Continue
Highlighting both athletic and academic achievements of current and prospective players.
Celebrating the achievements and life events in Eskridge’s personal life brings out his character as a family man and his excellence in the coaching world.
Using hashtags such as #TrojanArmy, #BlackAndGold, and #ChargeOn to tie back to the Trojan culture.
Welcoming new players to the team with their own personalized Trojan tennis graphic, so they can share it on their personal accounts.
References
Anderson University Athletics. (2024). Joey Eskridge - Director of Tennis - Men’s Tennis Coaches - Anderson University. Anderson University. https://autrojans.com/sports/mens-tennis/roster/coaches/joey-eskridge/311
Freberg, K. J. (2022). Social Media for Strategic Communication: Creative Strategies and Research-based Applications. Sage Publishing.
Frigon, V. (2021). Office of the Auditor General Studies Social Media Impact on Audit Report Reach. International Journal of Government Auditing, 48(1), 10–11. https://research.ebsco.com/c/xgbuxj/viewer/pdf/7xtwvjhqoz
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