by Kristin Swartzlander | Aug 20, 2015 | Media and Public Relations, Racing Social Media
If you’re here, you’re probably already familiar with some of the reasons that social media can benefit your team. But, I still get tons of questions about the value of social media from drivers and team owners, tertiary team members – family, friends, crew and lurkers, marketing partners, and traditional media members who see it as fun and games at best or narcissistic and hurtful at worst. If you take a look around, social media can be all of those things: valuable, harmful, self-absorbed, and fun. But if you want to take the negative stand on it, here’s what I have to say: It’s generally more harmful to let others talk about you than to do it yourself. Detractors will argue that others will still talk about you. I agree. People will always gossip. It’s just a question of whether you want to chime in with your version of the story or not. If you go down this path one more step, here’s a kicker for you: I argue that if all you care about is controlling the gossip, you only care about what your peers think. And if all you care about is what your peers think about you, you’re in the wrong business. Because your competitors don’t pay your bills. Social media doesn’t just put your message out to your gossiping peers. It allows you to connect with fans, marketing partners, media members and other influencers. You might change the talk in the pits, for better or for worse, with social media. But that’s a side benefit in the grand scheme of bettering your racing program. At the...
by Kristin Swartzlander | Aug 12, 2015 | Racing Social Media
If you’re a sprint car racing fan, there’s no doubt that you’re tuning in to the Knoxville Nationals this week. Below is the annual updated list of Knoxville Nationals Twitter handles. This list includes drivers on Knoxville’s pre-entry list and their Twitter handles, broken into groups based on their qualifying night as of Tuesday, August 11th. New drivers or drivers that have joined twitter since the 2014 list have been noted in bold. Wednesday Qualifiers (by car number): 0 Bud Kaeding – @bud_kaeding 1a Jacob Allen – @JacobAllen1a 1D Justin Henderson – @Henderson_racin 2KS Craig Dollansky – @dollanskyracing 2L Logan Forler – @forlerracing 4 Dakota Hendrickson – @dakota_joshua 4R Jon Agan – @Jon_Agan4 4s Danny Smith – @4DannySmith o5 Brad Loyet – @LoyetMotorsport 5V Colby Copeland – @ColbyCopeland5v 7 David Gravel – @DavidGravel89G 7D Dustin Selvage – @sprntcar7 7s Jason Sides – @SidesMotorsport 7TAZ Tasker Phillips – @tazphillips7 7x Kaley Gharst – @KaleyGharst6x 9 Daryn Pittman – @darynpittman 11K Kraig Kinser – @kraigkinser11k 12 Lynton Jeffrey – @lyntonjeffrey 12x Wayne Johnson – none 15 Donny Schatz – @DonnySchatz 16 Shane Stewart – @ShaneStewart_2 17 Josh Baughman – @Josh_Baughman17 17A Austin McCarl – @austinmccarl17a 17B Bill Balog – @billbalog17 17M Todd Mickelson – none 17w Bryan Clauson – @BryanClauson 18 Ian Madsen – @IanMadsen 19 Bobby Weuve – none 19P Paige Polyak – @paigepolyak 20 AJ Moeller – none 21au Garry Brazier – none 22 Tony Shilling – none 23 Jimmy Light – @jimmylight23 23B Seth Bergman – @bergmanracing 24R Rico Abreu – @Rico_Abreu 27 Greg Hodnett – @GregHodnett 29c Willie Croft – @williecroft29 31c Justyn Cox – @justyncox_jc 35AU Jamie Veal – @jvr35 40 Caleb Helms – @HelmsRacing40 49J Josh Schneiderman – @jsracing49 51 Paul McMahan – @paulmcmahan 55W Logan Wagner – @loganwagner7w 56 Davey Heskin – @heskinmotorspor 60 Kory Crabtree – @KoryCrabtree60 67 Christopher...
by Kristin Swartzlander | Aug 6, 2015 | Motorsports Marketing for Tracks, Teams and Businesses, Racing Social Media, Racing Sponsorship
“All things being equal people will do business with, and refer business to, those people they know, like, and trust.” – The Go-Giver by Bob Burg and John David Mann Marketers throw around the phrase ‘know, like, trust’ like pitchers throw around, well, balls. You’ve probably heard it before and completely ignored it, because what does that matter in racing? That’s marketing. Here’s how it applies to racing (which, by the way, is how it applies to the real world because we’re not that different!): in order to become a customer – whether that’s a sponsor, ticket holder or apparel buyer – a person has to trust you. You build trust with a potential customer by getting them to like you. In order for a customer to like you, they have to get to know you. In effect, first they get to know you. Then, they like you. As they like you, they trust you. Only then will they consider buying from you. Putting yourself out there consistently is the first step. That means both online and in person. Here’s how I get to know people: Talk to them. Shocking, if you know me. I’m quiet, but I actually do talk to people!! Use social media. Tweet. Snapchat. Periscope. View their website, read their articles or look at other non-social content. Look at their associations with other people I already know. Telling your story authentically is the second step in getting them to like you. Here’s how I decide if I like someone: Their interests, attitudes and values align with mine. Their sense of humor. Do they get it? Their respect for...
by Kristin Swartzlander | Jul 17, 2015 | Media and Public Relations, Mindset, Motorsports Marketing for Tracks, Teams and Businesses, Racing Social Media
Have you ever walked into a crowded restaurant and felt the whole place turn around? Their eyes take you in and the room seems to go silent. You know, somehow, you broke their code. You used the wrong door, you wore the wrong clothes. You’ve walked in on a story that you’re (obviously) not a part of. Then there are the other crowded restaurants, the ones that you walk into and feel like you’ve discovered something. There’s a story here, too. But it’s one that you’re excited to have caught a glimpse into. There’s something special going on here. And now, you want to know more. Many of you have been around the blog for a while, but for others, this might be your first visit. Every day, new people happen on to my website, Twitter feed, or Facebook page. The same goes for you, whether you’re a race track welcoming new fans through the gate or a racer getting a retweet. You know you need to tell your story. I know you already know how important that is. But while we’re all in the middle of telling our stories – you started the day you put yourself out there – people are tuning in at different points. How much getting up to speed will that new potential fan need to get invested? How long do they need to see or know to care? I’m not saying that you need to treat every tweet, every piece of signage, and every interaction as if the person is new. Or a beginner. But you do need to be welcoming and inclusive. Help people to...
by Kristin Swartzlander | Jul 3, 2015 | Racing Social Media
Working on as many social media accounts as I do, I’ve used tons of tools to help clients get the most bang for their buck in terms of time, budget and effort. There are thousands of them out there, but not all of them work the way they say they do. That’s why I’m the guinea pig testing hundreds of tools and platforms! Here are five of my favorite (FREE!) pre-tested tools that will help you take your social media game to the next level: For Social Media Graphics: Canva.com Images are crucial to social media success, especially in racing. What’s more visual than our sport? Takeadvantage of the opportunity to show off your goods with Canva. Canva is one of the easiest to use design websites out there. But that’s not the only reason I love them. One of my favorite features are their templates. Whether you want a new Facebook profile image, Twitter cover photo or just a photo that looks great on your updates, Canva has templates for all of them. They even have a ‘design school’ that walks you through how to use the site and gives great ideas for different graphics packages. I love one of their recent posts – Steal These 50 Branding Kits – which helps you to see the importance of consistent branding across all channels, from your social media to your – cough! – racing sponsorship proposals. Make it custom to your team or track by combining your own images with their beautiful fonts and graphics. For Social Media Scheduling: Hootsuite.com This should read: for making sure that you regularly activate...
by Kristin Swartzlander | Jun 26, 2015 | Mindset, Motorsports Marketing for Tracks, Teams and Businesses, Racing Social Media
Does washing your car make you go faster? Not on the street, it doesn’t. But, having been around the back gate of racing for as long as I have, I do believe it makes you go faster on the track on an average night. It’s not that it makes you more appealing to fans and, thus, leads to sponsorship support for better equipment. Although there’s truth to that argument. It’s not that you have better aerodynamics. At least not in dirt track racing. It’s not just that you end up looking at every inch of your car and likely notice good and bad things sooner. Although that’s true, too. And it’s not that other cars are distracted by the glittering sheen of your body panels (SQUIRREL!). It’s the mindset that makes all the difference. Washing your car is a seemingly unnecessary task that takes time. It takes energy and effort. It takes at least $10 at the Buffalo Express Lube in Sarver. And it requires these things of you before you do anything else you need to do. But the type of people who wash their race car before they do anything else are the people who understand what it takes to win. It takes more than building a car. It takes more than showing up on a Saturday night. It takes more than the minimum. Whether you’re a driver, a track promoter or a business operator, there are tasks that are the equivalent of washing your race car. I would argue that marketing is the car wash of all three of these categories. It’s not enough to do your...
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