by Kristin Swartzlander | Feb 28, 2014 | Media and Public Relations, Mindset, Racing Social Media
Welcome back to Doing Social Right, the never-ending series (just kidding – last post for now, I promise!) in which you learn how to be a happy, friendly Tweeter and Facebook poster. In parts one and two of this series, we talked about the types of reactions you can create with your social media strategy, what you should and shouldn’t share, and when and how to do it. If you haven’t read parts one and two, you can brush up now or after you’ve read this post. The final piece in the social media strategy puzzle is arguably the most crucial element to your success online – knowing your audience. Knowing your audience comes from listening without interrupting. Your audience, your fans and marketing partners, are already talking on social media. They’re posting pictures of their vacations, sharing the videos they’re watching, and talking about upcoming races. Taking the time to listen to what they’re saying is key to knowing which of your updates they’ll be interested in and what they’ll tune out. In the racing industry, we already have great cues into what your audience probably wants. They love updates on racing news, your racing plans, motivational and inspirational quotes and photos and videos of race cars. As a racer, it shouldn’t be hard to talk about what you’re most passionate about: racing. Alternatively, the majority of your fans probably aren’t into high-end fashion. So your ten updates about Paris Fashion Week are going to be ignored by the vast majority of your audience. But what’s worse? Not listening to them and looking at what they’re talking about...
by Kristin Swartzlander | Feb 21, 2014 | Media and Public Relations, Racing Social Media
In part one of doing social right, we talked about the three possible outcomes of your social media strategy and knowing what’s relevant to share. To summarize, with social media you can: turn people on (mostly good, sometimes bad), turn people off (mostly bad, but sometimes amazing), or create no reaction (terrible). There’s nothing worse than handing your current or potential fan base right over to a competitor by creating no reaction, but there are ups and downs to turning people on and off. If you haven’t read part one, I’d suggest you do that here. We also talked about what to share and what not to share. Other than avoiding polarizing topics like religion and politics (remember how heated the last election got? If you engage in topics like that, you’ll likely be ostracizing half of your fans) – you should share everything and anything that shows people who you are. As a general rule – following you should make someone’s life better. You do that by showing them that you are like them, or like the person they want to be. Your story is their story. Okay, so that covers an overview of what you should be sharing on social. Now let’s talk about knowing when, where and how you should be sharing. I see a lot of mistakes in this area, even more than people talking about things that I wouldn’t encourage. The book Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook talks about sharing ‘native’ content, but that’s not a term that’s commonly used outside of people studying social media. So, what does ‘native’ content mean to us...
by Kristin Swartzlander | Feb 14, 2014 | Media and Public Relations, Mindset, Racing Social Media
Note: I didn’t intend to write a book here, but I realized after the first tip that we’re both probably already exhausted. So, I’m breaking this into a series. Enjoy Where is your phone right now? Is it in your pocket? On the table next to you? In front of your eyes as you read this on it? Chances are, you and your phone are in a serious, Facebook-status-worthy relationship. You take it to dinner, the movies and even places you wouldn’t shouldn’t take your dates (like the bathroom). You hardly ever leave it out of your reach. This isn’t news, though. Who cares? Well, the fact that your audience is also as committed to their phones and other screens as you are should be insanely exciting. The number of people you can reach and the ways that you can reach them is unprecedented. If you’re not telling your story on social media, you’re missing the boat. In fact, you’re missing the ocean. Not only is your audience on social (yes – the audience belongs to you as much as it does to your series or local track), but they are also looking for you there. They are deciding whose shirts to buy, who to cheer for in the stands, and whose story they will share with friends, family and potential sponsors based on what they see on social media networks. But as you know, there’s plenty of talk already happening. In fact, sometimes we make the mistakeof thinking we have to shout to be heard, which can make telling your story on social media really intimidating. Or go...
by Kristin Swartzlander | Jan 14, 2014 | Media and Public Relations, Racing Social Media
If you’re a sprint car racing fan, there’s no doubt that you’re tuning in to the Chili Bowl Nationals this week. Here is a list of Twitter handles for the 2014 Chili Bowl Nationals drivers based on the pre-entry list. They are arranged by car number. 0 – Glenn Styres – @GlennStyres 0K – Don O’Keefe Jr – @DOK_LOKENT 1 – Sammy Swindell – @1SAM91 1az – Stevie Sussex III –@Sussex45 1ST – J.J. Yeley – @jjyeley1 1TX-TBA – none 1W-Paul White – none 1X-Bryan Debrick- none 2A-Jason Howell- none 2B-Tyler Reddick – @TylerReddick 2D-Troy DeCaire – @TroyDeCaire 2DD-Josh Hawkins – none 2H-Casey Shuman – @caseyshuman 2P-Payton Pierce – @paytonpierce18p 2R-Levi Roberts – @leviroberts2 2S – Danny Stratton – none 2X – Clint Woolbright – none 3 – Darren Hagen – @D_hagen 3B – Jayme Barnes – none 3DD – Dave Darland – @DaveDarland 3F – Tanner Swanson- @tannerswanson17 3G – Matt Harms – none 3T – Tim Barber – none 4 – Jon Stanbrough – none 4B – Chris Shirek – @ChrisShirek1k 4C – TBD Driver – none 4E – Bobby East – @BobbyEast5 4F – Chad Frewaldt – none 4K – Kevin Thomas Jr – @kevinthomasjr 0 (R) Tyler Brehm – None 1B Bobby Brewer – None 1JR Joe Ramaker – @JoeRamaker 1K Trevor Kobylarz – @TK_0549 2 (R) Stratton Briggs – None 3 Chris Windom – @Chris_Windom 3E TBD Driver 3F Ned Fry – None 4 Aaron Pierce – None 4AU (R) Mathew Smith – none 4J Tim Crawley – none 4R (R) Ryan Greth -none 5$ Danny Smith – none 5C Colten Cottle – @Cottle5...
by Kristin Swartzlander | Oct 25, 2013 | Media and Public Relations, Motorsports Marketing for Tracks, Teams and Businesses, Racing Social Media
Over the summer, Carl and I decided to make our way to the Craig Campbell concert at the Indiana County Fair for obvious food and entertainment-related reasons. I mean, who doesn’t love gawking at how redneck teenagers act right before they drop a pulled pork sandwich all over their own (white) shirt? Hypothetically speaking. (Also, see my screenshot of what popped up when I searched for Indiana County State Fair on my iPhone at right. Just for fun.) Partway through the concert, while the drunken teenagers were making a mosh pit, it hit me how different this set was than the first time we saw him play at a Hard Rock Café. Here, in front of thousands of people, he played mostly upbeat songs. He didn’t take a break in the middle of the set. There were no long pauses between songs. And when his radio hits came on, he did something that I’ve seen at every large-venue concert – he turned the mic around and had the audience sing the chorus. And then it hit me. He wouldn’t do that unless he felt 100% sure that they knew the words. He knew his audience and what they came there for. He wouldn’t have done that unless he knew they knew they’d sing it back. How awkward would it have been if it was just* crickets*? The crowd would have deflated. Instead, he knew what song would resonate with them and gave them the opportunity to feel like they were on stage with them by belting it out. He validated them. When he played at the Hard Rock, there were...
by Kristin Swartzlander | Oct 11, 2013 | Racing Social Media, Racing Sponsorship
Ever sent a cold email to a prospective sponsor? I have. And it’s not the crappiest feeling you can imagine – that’s a cold call – but you’re still interrupting someone’s day with a request. And often all you hear is crickets. But do you think someone would be more likely to open that email or take that phone call if they recognized your name first? Absolutely. There’s no doubt about it. Whether you’re trying to chat it up with a reporter at a newspaper or a prospective sponsor, warming that person up before reaching out can be what gets your email opened and, eventually, your opportunity considered. So how do you do it? Not with a Snuggie and a hot toddy. Unless it’s that kind of sponsor and, hey, I’m not judging. You can warm them up via social media. I recommend Twitter, specifically. Here are some key tips for doing it the right way (and not scaring them off in the process): 1. Know who you’re targeting (Hint: It’s not everyone with a wallet.) This is actually one specific example of a time why you need to know why you race. It matters. If you stand for a Christian message and you’re looking for press coverage, locate a reporter for a Christian publication. If you’re looking for a marketing partner, find a Christian organization that already does some advertising and could use a way to further their message. You can start really broadly and just identify groups of people – for example, publications in your local area or businesses that target dog lovers – and then narrow down...
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