Hendrick social media plan could be prototype

Nate Ryan | USA TODAY Sports

CONCORD, N.C. — Before a wall of flat screens wired for multiple channels of social media immersion, Dale Earnhardt Jr. wrapped a newfangled approach to NASCAR fan outreach with an old-fashioned salute.

"Thanks, this was fun, and hope you guys enjoyed it," he said. "We'll be back to the Digital Dashboard real soon."

The parting shot had the cadence and vibe of a timeless sponsor plug, drawing chuckles from a group of Hendrick Motorsports marketing employees.

"Why's it funny?" Earnhardt asked with a laugh. "This is you all's deal."

This new "deal" — the launching of Hendrick's social media command center via Reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything) and Twitter chats with Earnhardt — could become a blueprint for how Sprint Cup teams engage their fans and procure sponsorship.

The Digital Dashboard — a glassed-in suite with a large black countertop of laptop hookups and video boards designed by Hendrick sponsor Panasonic — is the showy centerpiece of a recent revamping of the team's marketing department with an emphasis on social media and behind-the-scenes content to grow its audience.

Team President Marshall Carlson said the digital direction was driven by research and focus groups with fans who wanted more exclusive access rather than the news found on other sites.

But the reception has been as strong from its existing and prospective sponsors (the team has space available on Earnhardt's No.88 Chevrolet) that have become more attuned to social media.

"With the prospects we're talking to, that's a key selling point," Carlson said. "There's as much discussion today about digital and social media as traditional broadcast media. That's a real powerful tool for them, because they can help shape it, it's more timely and it's very cost effective.

"I think it's going to become so much a part of how the fans consume the sport, particularly new fans and younger fans, that we're going to have to get it right."

EXPANDING STRATEGIES

In the offices above the shop where the Chevrolets of Earnhardt and Jimmie Johnson are prepared, Hendrick has opened a video production studio to produce weekly snippets featuring drivers, crew chiefs, pit crew and team members that are culled from daily shoots around its 12-building, 140-acre campus.

The content surge has been reflected on the team's YouTube channel, which has enjoyed a 100% spike in 2013 page views over the same time period last year.

Hendrick also is measuring the social media impact for sponsors by staffing the Digital Dashboard for at least five hours a day and supplementing it with statistics from Simply Measured, an analytics company that can rank fan engagement across several channels such as Twitter, Facebook, Google Plus, Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn.

During its launch, the #DashChat hashtag trended in the USA, and Simply Measured calculated it had 11.7million potential impressions (the number of times it appeared via tweets, retweets, likes, replies, etc.) and a potential reach of 1.6 million.

Josh Pelz, head of digital for the Engine Shop sports and marketing agency, said those types of audience numbers will provide NASCAR teams "another piece of real estate to sell the sponsor on, because with digital aids the metrics are actual. We're not relying on a Nielsen box or average TV time of a car. We know exactly how many people came to the site every minute and what had the most clicks and what tweets resonated."

Because sponsors can quantify a return on their investment more precisely, Pelz expects other NASCAR teams will expand their social media strategies, too.

"It's really important to be listening to what the fans are saying and try to mold the conversation," he said. "There's no downside to participating, and the fact NASCAR drivers are so willing to engage with their fans is huge. You don't see that as much in other sports where 100% of a team might be on Twitter, but they're not engaging. The drivers understand how valuable it is for sponsors and are selling themselves and the team."

That includes NASCAR's most popular driver, who doesn't use Twitter yet but enthusiastically embraced its chat and Reddit, which featured 67million unique visitors from 177 countries in June. Reddit's NASCAR thread received a 176% bump in traffic for Earnhardt's AMA compared with an average Sprint Cup race day.

"I think NASCAR is smart going in this direction," Earnhardt said. "We're just scratching the surface. I think in 20 years, this is going to consume all your day, because it'll be a lot more portable with easier access, and that kind of communication will be as easy as taking a breath."

ONE-ON-ONE INTERACTION

But in-person contact also remains important to Earnhardt, who relishes an annual Walmart appearance in Hartsville, S.C., as an example of the access that made NASCAR appealing to fans.

"It's cool having the social media connection and ability to interact with the team, but it's just not the same as getting on the ground level. ... You still have to have that physical interaction with the fan."

Earnhardt isn't ready to join Twitter — although his account has more than 200,000 followers — as his teammates Johnson, Jeff Gordon and Kasey Kahne have, but he gets involved tangentially through promotions with his JR Motorsports Nationwide team and Hendrick (whose Twitter account increased its followers more than three times its average daily gain during Earnhardt's chat. It now has nearly 180,000).

"I ask (sponsors), 'Is (Twitter) something I need to re-evaluate?' and so far, it's not that I need to be on there personally," he said. "But you need to use it in the corporate sense.

"Jimmie's pretty good at the back and forth with the fans. There's not a lot of time in the day and for me to figure out a way to make it all fit."

Folow Nate Ryan on Twitter @nateryan