In a recent blog post I spoke about why anybody involved in motorsports needs PR. While most teams, sponsors, and circuits understand this principle and are actively developing their PR, many race drivers don’t. The reasons are varied, but I suspect that a big one is simply a lack of understanding.
PR, or public relations, involves building and managing a public image, be that of a person or a company. That sounds rather boring, so let me give you the real reason, why you need PR. You need PR to set you apart from your fellow racers, and this with the aim of convincing sponsors to invest in you and your motorsport career, not your competitor’s.
But before we go into what you can do to create and execute a good PR strategy, let’s look at how PR can set you apart from your fellow racers:
PR helps you to build a public image
PR can increase your visibility and ensure you build a public image. It helps you reach the right audience and build a fan base. Once you have built the image you want and are well-known, PR can do something else. It will make sure that you maintain relations with only those audiences that are important to you. This can be done for example by choosing the right interviews or social media channels.
PR helps you to show yourself as you really are
This is very scary at first, but it will make sure that people remember you, simply because it is your personality that sets you apart from your competition. It is important to show it, but only to a certain extent. A good PR professional will help you differentiate personal from private information and will teach you that you don’t need to be an open book to show your personality. In your videos or interviews, you can for example talk about yourself, share an opinion (even an unpopular one), or express criticisms. The difficulty here is to stay professional and polite and to choose topics that you can defend if need be.
PR helps you to create your story
The second most important thing that sets you apart from your competition is your story. Not your talent, not your driving skills, not even your budget. Everybody has at least one story. A good PR professional will help you craft your story and make sure you get to tell your way, at the right time, and to the right audiences. And always remember: If YOU don’t tell your story, somebody else will!
PR helps you to manage a crisis
Every driver will face at least one crisis in their career at some stage, so it is important to be prepared. Usually, a crisis response is planned ahead, including the line of communication, the reactions, and actions, as you won’t have time to do that when a crisis hits. Again, a good PR professional will help you prepare and make sure you stick to the script when needed.
PR helps you to build relationships
It is important to have a good relationship with the media in times of crisis. When journalists know you and have a good relationship with you, they are more likely to listen and possibly even help you by focusing on positive stories. But the relations you build with your fanbase are equally important as loyal fans will defend you in a time of crisis.
As I mentioned in the beginning: PR will help you to build and maintain good relations with your sponsors and other stakeholders of your sport. In addition, sponsors will expect a return on their investment, and you can do this with good PR.
So, what’s next?
So now you know why PR is important for you. But how do you achieve all of this?
There are several things you can do. Let’s look at some of them:
Social Media
That will probably be your first idea. Yes, social media is important, but it isn’t the be-all and end-all. It is a good means of getting and staying in touch with your fans and finding new ones, and with the media to some extent. It is a great way to communicate information firsthand and a quick means to update on races, incidents, etc. from your point of view. But not everybody is on social media or looks at their channel when you post something. So, it is only one way to stay in touch with your audience.
A website
Many young racers think a website is outdated and unnecessary. I disagree. It is one of the few communication tools that you fully control. It is your shop window, open 24/7. Here you collect and display all information that is important for you and about you. Your biography, your target in racing, your sponsors, any news coverage, a way to subscribe to your newsletter, etc. All that is information, a potential sponsor or interested journalist may look for. And if they have to crawl through tons of social media posts to find it, chances are they won’t.
Media relations
Though the role of the media has changed considerably over the last decade or so, having an article in a respected magazine or newspaper is still very important. A major reason is that it gives you credibility, and endorsement by a third party. You can reach media with interesting press releases, individually tailored stories, and of course through personal relations.
Fan relations
To have a loyal and active fan base is important. Because it is the fans who will defend you in a crisis, they will come to see you race and buy your merchandise. For a sponsor, a big fan base is important because it helps them reach more people with their message or product. Newsletters are a great and very personal way to stay in touch with your fans. It has the added benefit that it makes you independent from the ever-changing algorithms of social media.
Public appearances
Any time you are seen in public, you will build relations with an audience. It could be at the racetrack when you meet your fans, take selfies with them, shake hands, talk to the media, and represent your team. It could be at an event of your sponsor, during a TV interview, or in a podcast. And even when you are just outside in the street, as a private person, you are a public figure, and it is an opportunity to build your fan base. Being a public person is part of the job if you want to be successful in motorsport, but it is not always easy to handle. Again, a good PR professional can help you develop tools to make sure any public appearance works in your favor.
A final word…
Public relations are a great way to build your image and tell your story. But it is not as easy as many people think. There are many communication channels and tools, stories to tell, relations to build, crises to manage. Your job is racing a car, so it is a good idea to get a PR professional on your team to take care of all these elements, so that you can fully focus on what you do best.
