Activeness is key to driving closer relationships (Entry 1)

With the Formula 1 Australian Grand prix coming up this week in Melbourne, I thought for my first blog entry I would start off by talking about F1’s use of social media over the last few years. (I’m an avid F1 fan, particularly of Ferrari)

To provide some context, in 2017 the owners of the sport changed hands to Liberty Media from previous owner Bernie Ecclestone (some of you may know Tamara Ecclestone, this is her father). F1’s lack of activeness on social media usage before the changeover was very notable; no race highlights, interviews or special features were available on its social media platforms. Rather, fans had to pay a subscription on the official Formula 1 website to access that sort of content. Fans were howling for this content to be made available on social media.

One of the five points of being social in The challenges and opportunities of social media (Kaplan & Haenlein, 2010), is to be active. This entails businesses to take the lead and create relationships with consumers, which enhances the value of the brand in the eyes of the consumer. Activeness also allows companies to stay relevant in this ever-changing world.

Liberty Media clearly saw the lack of activeness within F1’s social media platforms and sought to rectify this immediately. From the 2017 season, ALL of Formula 1’s social media platforms started to generate more content like race highlights and interviews, content that fans were dying for. What it allows for is an open forum for like-minded fans to engage with one another (i.e. with race highlights they can debate events that may be of significance or controversy) and show their support to their favourite team and driver. It also created a way to connect with prospective fans who may have never watched or seen F1 before.

There is a link at the bottom of this post that details some of the evidence to support the growth of Formula 1 on social media.

The lesson here is simple. In today’s world where social media is such a massive part of everyday life, businesses must be willing to stay active on these social platforms to drive closer relationships.

Formula 1 learnt their lesson. And now others must follow. 
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/analysis-how-f1-got-its-social-media-game-together-955457/3047411/

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