Fan Relations: the marriage of public relations, marketing and your fans. We created this division of Studio Rhoad to improve communication between fans and teams/drivers. Improving communication, sometimes takes an outsider to see where the problems in lay. We look at every angle a fan sees, from your website, to social media, to outside appearances, to media days, we analyze the best way to receive optimal fan support.
Fans are extremely important! They are the ones buying tickets, merchandise, supporting your every move. Last year, women fans just in NASCAR spent $250 million! That is a lot of money to support their drivers and teams. Isn’t it time to give back to those who put so much time, energy and money into you? Racing fans are some of the most passionate people you will ever meet. That’s what makes them so great they will eat, sleep, breathe their favorite teams and drivers. To gain those types of fans in the racing world is changing. There’s few drivers who can just sit back and have great fans. We all can’t be John Force and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Everyone else has to work for it!
Social Media is a great way to improve fan communication when done correctly. Your fans should never feel in the dark about anything that is going on, within reason of course. We want fans to feel as though they are with you at every point. Fans want that inside perspective because many would give anything to be in your shoes. From heading to the track, to appearances, to just having a relaxing dinner with your family, utilizing social outlets to your advantage is a key part of having a fan that feels a connection to you. It allows them to humanize someone they look up to.
Social Media is a given, within the definition of Fan Relations it is just the tip of the iceberg. Working to create solid fan communication utilizing every outlet is crucial to success. Working outside of the box has become so over used, that do we know where the box is? That’s why stepping back to center is sometimes your best option. Will anyone else go old school and sit out in front of their pit and sign autographs and take photos until they drop? Probably not. How many cool points will you get from fans? All of them! Sometimes the most obvious answer is the best and sometimes being old school (without loosing touch with reality), is the best route to go. Put in the work, roll up your sleeves and get in the deep end. Your fan base isn’t going to build itself.