Writing For Auto Industry

Last year, during the Miami Grand Prix, an exec saw my LinkedIn post about sponsoring an F1 driver, and a new business opportunity was born. This little moment proved one thing: a solid LinkedIn strategy can turn a one-off motorsport activation into something much bigger. Because, let’s be real, too many sponsorships burn bright for a weekend and then fizzle out like flat champagne. But with LinkedIn? You can keep the conversation and the ROI alive long after the checkered flag waves. Here's how to do it: 1/ Extend the lifespan of your activation. Most activations last about as long as a pit stop. (Quick, impressive, but gone in a flash.) Instead, keep the momentum going by posting behind-the-scenes stories, lessons learned, and even a few bloopers from race day. Let people feel like they're part of the action; who doesn’t love a good paddock anecdote? 2/ Reach the Right Audience LinkedIn isn’t just another social media platform. It’s like the VIP suite of the internet. Full of decision-makers, industry pros, and the people who actually hold the budgets. So, instead of just hyping your sponsorship to fans, target the folks who can turn your motorsport ROI from “meh” to “whoa.” Think of it as skipping the long line and heading straight for the F1 paddock lounge. 3/ Show Your Community Side Activations aren’t just about slapping your logo on a fast car. (I mean, it looks cool too, but still.) Use your LinkedIn posts to highlight the deeper work: how your sponsorship supports grassroots programs, championing diversity, or connects with fans meaningfully. And invite people to chime in. 4/ Flex Your Creativity F1 sponsorships aren’t just billboards with wheels anymore. Got a cool gamified campaign? A wild digital activation? Talk about it! Use LinkedIn to show off how your brand isn’t just riding along; it’s original. (Bonus points if you throw in a pun. People love a good pun.) 5/ Show the Receipts (a.k.a. Prove the ROI) You know what every exec loves? Data. So, share the wins! Post engagement stats, media hits, or even fan feedback. Make it crystal clear that your activation didn’t just look cool; it worked. Because at the end of the day, people want proof that your sponsorship is more than just a “fast and furious” fling. Motorsport activations shouldn’t disappear like tire smoke once the race is over. With a thoughtful LinkedIn strategy, you can keep the excitement alive, impress key decision-makers, and show the world that you’re not just a sponsor. You’re an active member. So, go ahead. Post that behind-the-scenes photo, share the lessons you learned, and flex a little. And who knows? Your next business deal might be just a scroll away.

Most brands spend lacs pushing products on social media. We spent ₹0 on and focused on this type of content to grow 10X faster. Here's the shift that changed everything: Most brands fail at social media because they focus too much on selling. Their feeds are: - endless product catalogs - discount announcements - and sales pitches. That's why audience growth stays stagnant and selfish content becomes the norm. To flip the script, you have to stop selling continuously and start gaining people's trust. When we created a strategy with 80% focus on audience-centric content and 20% promotion, everything changed. - Engagement tripled - DMs flooded with queries - and sales grew organically The blueprint that works for brands is as follows: - Answer audience's questions, break myths, misconceptions, and more - Create how-to content that makes your audience trust your knowledge - Share behind-the-scenes that makes others feel like a community - Turn product features into relatable content for everyone Simply put, we must shift the focus from the product to the people and make them the hero of your brand. As a result, you can have a growing community of engaged individuals who trust you and your products. Your social media isn't your shopping catalog. Make it your classroom, your stage, your way to make a difference. 💭 Are you making selfish content or selfless? #socialmedia #brands #strategy

2024 marked the first full season of a new chapter for us as Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports. Alongside building and racing the Corvette Z06 GT3.R for our team and global customers, we also focused on positioning ourselves to generate meaningful partnership revenue. Social and digital media have been integral to this effort. Here are some key takeaways from the past 12 months: Segmentation is critical: Whether you're in motorsports or any other sport, your fan base is diverse. Their knowledge ranges from novice to expert, and a one-size-fits-all approach to content simply won’t work. Tailoring your message is non-negotiable. Content quality > follower count: We’ve been active daily on Facebook, Instagram, and X, achieving millions of views and engagement rates well above average. The real variable isn’t how many followers you have—it's the quality and relevance of your content. Go deep on the technical side: In motorsports, technical content performs exceptionally well. From engineering and aerodynamics to the intricacies of rulebook bylaws, don't shy away from depth. These pieces consistently resonate with our audience. Empower your team’s personal brands: Trust—and ultimately, partnerships—are built between people. Encouraging key team members to share their expertise and build their personal brands has been invaluable in fostering connections. #SportsBiz

I once got a Big 3 automotive brand to increase their spend 10x. Back when I was at Discovery, we had acquired a digital asset called HowStuffWorks. It was deep editorial content, built for search, with real authority in areas like science, automotive, and engineering. The brand was trying to figure out how to launch a new truck. Rather than just pitch the same old media spend, we looked at how people actually shop for trucks and realized something important: By the time someone walks into a dealership, they’ve already made most of their decision. The real influence happens before in articles, videos, and forums - when they’re researching what towing capacity is, or how torque works, or how turbochargers function. So we decided to try flipping the model. We partnered directly with the brand's team to identify everything a truck shopper might research. Then we built organic content around those topics that a buyer might be trying to understand before they purchase: Towing, Engines, Safety systems, Drivetrains. The brand didn’t force themselves into the story. They instead surrounded content where it would be natural for them to be present. It was a deep collaboration between their marketing team and our editorial creators. Any time we'd see spikes in data (how to pick the right towing capacity for example), we’d spin up new content in real time to meet it. Not ad copy, high-quality education focused content. It worked. What started as a couple hundred thousand dollar content buy grew into a seven figure/year relationship. Because we helped earn their authority in the conversation, their customers were already having. What's the takeaway? Successful brand partnerships with content creators have these characteristics: ◼️ Brand shares the buyer's journey so the creator best understands where and how to message ◼️ Brand works to be organically part of the messaging vs forcing a message ◼️ Real-time data is shared so that the content can be optimized in near real time ◼️ Teams are integrated for quarters at a time to ensure knowledge sharing and rapid iterations