Using Twitter to engage the NASCAR Nation

Using Twitter to engage the NASCAR Nation

June 18, 2009

Shawn Morton (@sMoRTy71)Nationwide Insurance (@Nationwide)

Quick intro• Currently lead the social media team at Nationwide Insurance

• Responsible for social media strategy across all lines of business as well as education and advocacy of social media tools internally

• Relocated to Columbus in July 2008 after spending 9 years leading web product development teams at CNET

• I was married by an Elvis impersonator on Beale Street in Memphis

• I’ve got 4 kids whose first, middle and last names all start with “M”

• I have forgotten more about ’80s hair metal than most people will ever know

• @sMoRTy71 on Twitter

Using Twitter to engage the NASCAR Nation Shawn Morton | Nationwide Insurance







The NASCAR Nation

75,000,000 NASCAR fans in the U.S.

• NASCAR is the #1 spectator sports in the U.S.

• Fans have same overall demographic makeup as the general U.S. population

• Fans are loyal to the sport and sponsors (46% buy from sponsors of NASCAR)

• More Fortune 500 companies participate in NASCAR than any other sport

• Fans have a higher income than the general population in the $50-$100K range

• Fans supplement TV coverage with the Web


Nationwide & NASCAR In 2007, we entered into a 7-year sponsorship of the second-tier NASCAR

series that was formerly known as the Busch Series.

Through 2014, we are the official auto, life and home insurance provider for NASCAR as well as the lead sponsor of the NASCAR Nationwide Series.

We have some very aggressive goals for acquiring new customers from our relationship with NASCAR.


How do we reach fans?


What about social media?


NASCAR on Twitter• Large and active NASCAR fan community on Twitter

• Drivers, racing teams, tracks and journalists are participating on Twitter

• Posting over 3,000 NASCAR tweets per day on non-race days

• Posting 5,000-10,000+ NASCAR tweets per day on race days

• #NASCAR, #Nationwide and #NNS are the popular NASCAR hashtags


Our approachConstraints: • No budget• Strict limitations on content imposed by NASCAR & Turner

Objectives:• Primary: See if we can engage fans on Twitter• Secondary: Drive more traffic to nationwide.com/series

Approach:• Focus on behind the scenes, exclusive content• Use existing staff with existing tools• Use popular #hashtags, driver names and race locations• Include the community; ask for requests• Use existing @Nationwide account rather than spin off a @NationwideNNS one• Do a pilot at one race to gauge reaction


Pilot on Nashville on 4/10

• Prior to race, we had just under 200 followers on Twitter for @Nationwide• Announced plan to cover the Nashville race and gained over 100 new followers• Gained 150 new followers during the race weekend• Got handful of requests for photos and were able to fulfill them


We’ve tweeted 9 races so far


• Nashville on 4/10 • Phoenix on 4/17• Talladega on 4/23

• Richmond on 5/1• Darlington on 5/8• Charlotte on 5/23

• Dover on 5/30• Nashville on 6/6• Kentucky on 6/13

Overall results


• +750 followers added since 4/10

• Increased engagement with NASCAR fans

• Increased visibility in Twitter community (@replies, RTs, #followfriday)

• Increased traffic to nationwide/series

• Increased quotes from nationwide/series

• Allowed Nationwide associates to develop new skills

• Cost = $0

Lessons learned


• You can get users to engage with an insurance company on Twitter

• You must provide compelling content if you want anyone to care

• You need to include the community and be ready to engage with them

• You can distribute social media duties throughout your organization

Questions?


Sports

Using Twitter to engage the NASCAR Nation