Revving Up Social Media Engagement
Annual Cross-Country Motorcycle Ride Raises Funds for Victory Junction
Challenge
For 22 years, former NASCAR driver and NBC Sports racing analyst Kyle Petty has been devoted to the Kyle Petty Charity Ride Across America, leading motorcyclists in an annual cross-country trek to raise funds and awareness for Victory Junction, a camp for kids with serious health care needs. As one of the most successful and popular charity rides in the country, the Ride creates lasting relationships and memories with bikers from around the country each year. To make sure their experiences reached fans nationwide year-round, the Ride tapped Largemouth Communications to drive social media engagement by turning their experiences into heartwarming stories that motivate others to support the cause.
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Largemouth targeted key audiences such as the NASCAR community, motorcycle enthusiasts and Victory Junction supporters in an effort to boost user engagement.
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Largemouth provided drafted social media content and imagery to sponsors, celebrities, NASCAR speedways, etc. to cross-promote the Ride on their channels and help spread the Ride’s key messages to a broader audience.
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Largemouth shared daily play-by-play updates to keep locals, fans, sponsors, families and friends updated on what was happening along the route.
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Largemouth implemented a social media content calendar to share sponsor-related posts each day throughout the Ride to foster sponsor relations and engage with their fans.
Ideas
To deliver messages surrounding the motorcycle trek that combines Petty’s passion for helping others with his love for motorcycles, Largemouth implemented social media programming to routinely engage and influence target audiences. After conducting an initial social media audit of the Ride’s Facebook, Instagram and Twitter accounts, Largemouth identified brand voice and engagement opportunities.
Using insights gained during the audit, Largemouth worked to upload daily content across all channels to maintain a consistent drumbeat of engagement. Leading up to the Ride, Largemouth leveraged opportunities and relevant hashtags to share unique stories and imagery, such as:
1. #WhyWeRide (quotes from past riders and/or Victory Junction campers)
2. #MotorcycleMonday (content relevant for motorcycle enthusiasts)
3. #tbt (reminiscing on previous Ride memories)
4. National Holidays (i.e., Random Acts of Kindness Day, Bike to Work Week, etc.)
Largemouth also worked with Ride sponsors as well as hotels, chambers of commerce and visitor bureaus along the 2016 route to cross-promote on social channels. In addition, Largemouth tapped NASCAR racetracks and personalities to help spread the word about this year’s Ride to a broader audience by providing sample Twitter posts and imagery options.
During the 2016 Ride, Largemouth took to the Ride’s social platforms to share daily play-by-play updates to keep locals, fans, sponsors, families and friends updated on what was happening along the route. Also, daily photo albums and recap videos were posted to Facebook. Lastly, Largemouth shared sponsor-related posts each day on the Ride to foster sponsor relations and engage with their fans.
Impact
From November 2015 through May 2016, the Ride gained more than 5,400 social media followers. On average, more than 66,500 followers were reached each month. By turning the Ride’s experiences into unique stories and sharing them with targeted audiences on a daily basis, Largemouth increased social media engagement by more than 71 percent across the Ride’s Facebook, Instagram and Twitter accounts.