by Kristin Swartzlander | Oct 29, 2015 | Media and Public Relations, Motorsports Marketing for Tracks, Teams and Businesses, Racing Social Media, Racing Sponsorship
It’s that time of year – okay, it’s always that time of year – when the stakes feel their highest for teams, tracks and manufacturers. We have to get that one last win, that one last show in, that one last sale and, often, that one last dig at our competition. Media training was a big part of my career when I started out working in professional football because my role was in the public relations department. Helping athletes to understand how to deal with media was one of our most important jobs, and I learned a lot about the importance of positive messaging as it benefits the: Athlete Team Sport Marketing Partners To say that trash talking in the media was discouraged is an understatement. Trash talking, in my opinion, hurts everyone. When you see another driver spinning his or her version of a story, it’s so tempting to hop on the media or social media bandwagon and try to correct it. Or put out your own equal-and-opposite take on the situation. But if you’ve ever worked with me, you know that I advise my clients to take the high road every time, no matter how difficult or tempting the situation is. (And, by the way, the high road doesn’t always mean silence. “No comment” is a response, too.) Why? Trash Talking Makes YOU Look Bad Whether you’re talking directly about your competition’s actions or highlighting your position at their expense, in this industry there are plenty of witnesses. If you think you can pretend you didn’t hit someone on the track or scream obscenities at them in the...
by Kristin Swartzlander | Oct 22, 2015 | Media and Public Relations, Mindset, Motorsports Marketing for Tracks, Teams and Businesses, Racing Social Media
As I write this, the offseason is barreling towards us like a train about to derail. Not that I don’t love the offseason…mind you, it’s become the most productive time of the year for me. In fact, last year’s offseason brought about a lot of changes for me in my business and in our personal life. I was able to do my annual Charlotte and PRI trips, along with adding the Florida RPM workshops and outlining the marketing and PR plan for the Dirt Classic months in advance. Personally, we also took a huge leap when Carl left the job he’d held for over 10 years at his family company to pursue racing as a more full-time profession. I talk more about how that came about in another blog on positioning yourself for opportunities. This year, the offseason looks similarly up-leveled. I have speaking engagements at the Las Vegas, Indy and Florida RPM workshops, along with the Western Auto Racing Promoters Association workshops in Portland, in addition to our annual PRI and Charlotte trips. And that doesn’t include the racing opportunities that have come our way in Carl’s career. While the offseason is fun, busy and relaxing all at the same time, I have to admit that life is just not the same without racing. And it doesn’t offer you the same type of opportunities to promote yourself, whether you have a race car or a race track, as racing season does. With a little bit of preparation, though, before the season ends, you can set yourself up for promoting success in the offseason, when there are no race cars on the track and fans in...
by Kristin Swartzlander | Oct 8, 2015 | Racing Social Media
It’s one thing to talk about what you need to do in theory. It’s another thing to show you how to do it. Today, I’m doing just that. If you’re interested in using social media as a tool to fuel your racing platform, this mini case study on Facebook Posts That Work is for you. I’m breaking down one of my recent client posts that did incredibly well in terms of reach, engagement and opportunity. We’ll explore what went into the post, and how and why it worked so well. The Results: Before we get started, I want to share the numbers with you for our case study feature (Carl Bowser Racing): Original Page Likes: 1,793 Additional Page Likes Over Average Daily: 75 Reach: 12,000+ Post Clicks: 1,800+ Likes, Shares and Comments: 285 Opportunities: Multiple I think it’s important to share the numbers because if you’re consuming any sort of social media marketing information that’s not geared toward your niche, the numbers can be astronomical. Big brands like General Motors or Doritos are going to blow up the internet with hundreds of thousands of likes on their ‘viral’ posts. But that’s not realistic for niche industries like motorsports, so it’s less applicable, replicable or even inspirational. So, this will hopefully give you a good idea of what an average sized motorsports property can get for a reasonably ‘viral’ post. By the way, these numbers come from your Facebook Fan Page Insights. If you want to know more about how to find them and what you can do with them, here’s a helpful post for you: Proving Your Sponsorship Worth (with real, hard metrics!) and...
by Kristin Swartzlander | Oct 2, 2015 | Mindset, Motorsports Marketing for Tracks, Teams and Businesses, Racing Social Media, Racing Sponsorship
There are times when I am optimistic. I have high hopes for what we can do for this sport and with this sport, as racers, promoters and fans. Some might say my hopes are too high, too optimistic. Some might even call me naive. And this weekend at the Dirt Classic, I had my eyes opened to how, in a way, those people would be right. See, when I’m writing, I often imagine that when I push ‘publish’ on a blog post, it disappears from my computer and flies out into the universe, never to return. And, while I truly hope that it helps someone in their quest to improve their team or track, I don’t imagine them reading it and thinking about where it came from. I imagine that you like the words. You appreciate the words. You take the words and make great things with them. Like race cars. And race tracks. And racing businesses. For me, promoting a blog post is all about putting my work in front of people and what that can do to help people. It’s not about putting my face in front of people. On Saturday, I walked up to many people that I expected to introduce myself to, only to find that they were introducing themselves to me. Or, once I said my name, they talked to me at length about my writing. Or my clients. It was mildly terrifying, in the best possible way. If that makes sense. The thing is – I know the numbers. I know how many people subscribe to my email list, like my Facebook page or hop onto...
by Kristin Swartzlander | Sep 11, 2015 | Racing Social Media
Growing up, I never thought I would be the type of girl who goes to Las Vegas to celebrate her birthday. Fast forward to 2015, and guess what? I’m still not. But, as fate would have it, that’s exactly what’s happening – I’ll be ringing in my third decade at an event I’m much more excited about than my birthday: the 43rd Annual RPM Workshops! I’m honored to share that I’ll be joining short track promoters from across the country in Vegas this November at the annual RPM Workshops for the first time as a speaker. And, it’ll be my 30th birthday! Talk about a wake-up call. And I’m hoping not just for me. I’ve been collaborating with Stewart Doty, owner of the Racing Promoter’s Monthly Newsletter and RPM Workshops, over the past few months on how to help promoters utilize social media to their best advantage. I know – firsthand from working with over 20 tracks in the last year alone – that social media can bring phenomenal results for racing promoters who use it. And use it well. That’s why, when Stewart approached me about taking the stage this year, I knew I had to do it. Here’s what Stewart published in the RPM event preview: “At all three Workshops, Kristin Swartzlander of DirtyMouth Communications will sum up the changes taking place on the Facebook platform and their impact on the way promoters commonly use the social media platform. Swartzlander who before establishing her motorsports marketing service worked with other pro sports franchises, works with race track promoters, drivers, and team owners, and racing entrepreneurs to help them learn how to use public...
by Kristin Swartzlander | Sep 3, 2015 | Racing Social Media
Community. We – okay, maybe I – talk about the power of the racing community all the time. Whether it’s helping out a pit neighbor, supporting a sponsor’s business, or raising funds or awareness for a cause that’s important to one of our members, the racing community is more like a family than any other group I’ve been a part of. For all of the ways that I see our community supporting each other, I haven’t found a place online that’s fun, positive and, frankly, ‘safe’ to talk with other teams and professionals about racing sponsorship. I’ve been looking for a community that I can bounce ideas off of, share what I’ve learned and what I’m working on, celebrate successes and ask for feedback, and haven’t found one. That’s why I’m launching the DirtyMouth Sponsorship Success Community, a FREE private Facebook group designed to help racers connect with other racers as we pursue our dream of having a successful race team. The DirtyMouth Sponsorship Success Community is designed to surround you with people who ‘get’ you. People who get your dream: a successful racing program. People who want to learn, grow, adapt and improve. People who want to share this process with others, by asking and answering questions, providing encouragement and feedback, and giving support. And, most importantly, people who want to build the sport up instead of tearing it down. Over the past few years of business, I’ve worked with a lot of racers, companies and tracks on their sponsorship programs. In fact, it’s one of the most popular topics on this blog. But the reality is that most racers can’t afford...
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