NASCAR’s Social Media Leaders among Drivers, Teams and Sponsors

Gibbs‘ online accounts comprise one of the broadest social media strategies for reaching fans of the sport. The team site, www.joegibbsracing.com, is up to date with timely features, and the homepage points to six social media platforms, including a mobile app for iPhone, Blackberry or Droid. The team maintains active social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram and FourSquare. Hendrick also has an active and diverse menu of social media platforms including a mobile app. Gibbs’ social media score bested Hendrick’s by a single point because of its slightly more effective home page promotion of its social media platforms.

 

“Some drivers, teams and sponsors in the NASCAR industry are taking steps to reach and engage larger audiences using social media, while others are missing opportunities,“ said Tuckahoe Strategies president Ramsey Poston.

 

 

 

The sport’s largest audience holder and content curator across the board is NASCAR. The sanctioning body regained a voice and a direct connection to its fan base this year after repossessing control of its online assets in a January 2012 agreement with Turner Sports Interactive. NASCAR‘s total social media reach is an astronomical 5,044,070, more than double the daily circulation of the largest U.S. newspaper,TheWall Street Journal. In fact, NASCAR commands the industry‘s top position in terms of audience on Facebook likes (3,239,504), Twitter followers (841,027) and YouTube subscribers (5,430). The sanctioning body also has 1,420 followers on Pinterest and a staggering 956,689 circles on Google+.

 

 

 

 

 

The team with the broadest social media reach is Roush Fenway Racing, with an audience of 976,755. The vast majority of this audience engages with the team‘s Google+ account, which includes 912,961 “circles.“ Both Hendrick and Stewart-Haas Racing are more balanced, actively utilizing a broad spectrum of platforms to reach their fans. Hendrick‘s total audience is 588,889 of which 454,720 are Facebook fans, 128,929 are Twitter followers, 1,531 are YouTube subscribers logging 466,071 views, and 3,709 are Pinterest followers.

 

The bulk of Stewart-Haas Racing‘s total social media audience of 404,688 can be found on Facebook (237,107 likes), but the team also is active on Twitter (91,398 followers), YouTube (453 subscribers), Pinterest (1,442 followers) and Google+ (74,288 circles).

 

“The goal for each individual and organization should be to build and activate its own ‘media machine‘ by using the digital platform. All the tools are easily available and NASCAR is taking steps to help the industry expand its online presence,“ said Poston.

 

“Drivers, teams and sponsors are best off having a balanced approach to their online strategy,“ said Poston. “Homepages should continue to be the primary hub of information. Social media platforms should be access points to reach and engage fans (and customers) and should ideally include photo and video sharing platforms for maximum exposure.

 

“A well thought out online plan and content calendar can help drivers, teams and sponsors build a meaningful audience, which in turn provides a much better opportunity to control the message, improve opportunities to sell merchandise and, for teams and drivers, attract new sponsors,“ said Poston.

 

 

Another common misstep throughout the industry is a lack of shareable content. NASCAR is a photo- and video-rich sport with an avid fan base. Teams, drivers and sponsors would do well to utilize photo-sharing platforms, such as Instagram and Pinterest, and video sharing services such as YouTube or Vimeo. A number of industry websites feature terrific photo and video galleries but they are isolated on the site and not easily shareable.

 

While almost every industry entity evaluated could take steps to improve their position, Goodyear stood out for its lack of any social media presence at all. In fact, one can find virtually no mention of NASCAR at all on its online properties. There is no mention of NASCAR on Goodyear.com and no dedicated Facebook page or Twitter account.

 

By contrast, NASCAR‘s fuel supplier, Sunoco, has an active, racing-related Facebook page with nearly 1.2 million likes and an active Twitter account with over 8,000 followers. Sunoco is successfully marketing its NASCAR partnership on social media platforms, in turn better positioning its own corporate brand. NASCAR title sponsor, Sprint, also is expanding the reach of its corporate brand through its NASCAR-related social media presence. Sprint is active on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube via its brand ambassador campaign, Miss Sprint Cup,with a social media reach of more than 1.3 million.