Drag Illustrated Issue 141, February 2019 | Page 28

Dirt Social Skills 6 Ways to Boost Your Team’s Social Media Presence By Nate Van Wagnen S ocial media can be challenging, especially when it comes to using one of the numerous available platforms to promote yourself, your race team or your business. Apps like Facebook and Instagram have evolved from simple platforms for sharing life updates to increasingly powerful media outlets where individuals go to read the news and where companies go to drive business. With the Pew Research Center reporting that 68 percent of U.S. adults use Facebook and an equal percentage rely on social media to deliver their news to them, now might be the time to establish or step up your race team’s or business’ social media presence. D rag I llustrateD sat down with Corey Mi- chalek, an NHRA Top Alcohol Dragster driver who specializes in personal and corporate brand- ing, to get a few of his tips on using social media to build a brand, share news with fans and cus- tomers, and attract new sponsors and impress current supporters. Michalek designs and pro- duces videos, sponsorship materials and social media content for Michalek Brothers Racing and motorsports clients through his React104 28 | D r a g I l l u s t r a t e d | DragIllustrated.com agency. Outside of racing, Michalek is the cre- ative director at Wondersauce, an advertising agency that services clients like Google, Outback Steakhouse, Federal Mogul Motorparts, and Stella Artois. 1. CONSISTENCY IS KEY: When Michalek starts working with a new client, he first gets a back- ground on the goals of the client. Then he creates content geared toward those goals, be it building a reputation or selling spark plugs. “You want to be familiar every single time you pop up on someone’s feed, whether that’s aesthetically or with the way you’re framing the language in your posts,” Michalek says. “Things like that are really important because you can essentially create this continued nar- rative from post to post where people are familiar with the story you’re trying to tell. It helps the viewer understand what you’re try- ing to get them to do, whether that’s buying a product or something as simple as getting them to follow you.” 2. POST CAPTIVATING VISUALS Audiences on social media often have short attention spans. Including a stunning, rare or interest- ing photo in your post can grab the viewer’s attention and keep them involved in your posts. “Having a visual is always number one,” Michalek believes. “People who follow us are primarily racing fans, so we try to have the car in there or show something that people wouldn’t see on the Fox broadcast, like behind-the-scenes photos of the car when it’s torn apart at the shop. Whether it’s a still image or a video, posts that show our followers a unique look seem to do the best.” 3. INCORPORATE OCCASIONAL VIDEO POSTS Online news outlets and social media platforms alike have put an emphasis on sharing video content over the last couple years. That trend is expected to continue at a rapid pace as audiences consume content in bite-sized pieces. “Facebook recently compared the scale neces- sary for brands and influencers to adopt video to the same transition that they previously went Issue 141