Pre-Race Analysis
Why does Lewis Hamilton Have a LinkedIn Content Strategy?
I promise not every story is not about Lewis today; it's a nice segue
Lewis Hamilton is one of the world’s best-known drivers, and his Ferrari move will only elevate that further next year.
But LinkedIn is usually reserved for B2B companies.
So why does Lewis Hamilton—the driver in the pinnacle of motorsport—have an absolutely dialled LinkedIn strategy?
There are 3 reasons every motorsport founder & driver should keep in mind:
1) What if I told you Lewis Hamilton & his work is B2B?
Well, kind of.
Yes. Lewis Hamilton’s primary social media audience is people who want to see him race. But he also has several brands attached to him: a non-alcoholic drink company and a clothing brand especially Mission 44.
Apparel brands and drink companies also work with suppliers and factories on the back end. They have to get into retail locations.
And LinkedIn is a great place to reach folks making those sorts of decisions.
So, if you look at Lewis’s LinkedIn content (more on his content split in a few minutes), you’ll see it reflects this.
You’ll see posts highlighting Mission 44’s work in Miami and other activations they do at different races’ visits, as well as his work with Almave or partnerships like his Fornite character.
2) Founder-led content performs better. Per usual.
This is just simple math. Engagement on Lewis’s personal profile eclipses engagement on the company pages.
→ Almave company posts usually land somewhere between ~25-100 engagements.
→ Lewis’s posts usually net 1000-8000+ engagements.
This shouldn’t be a surprise to you. Founder-led content on LinkedIn wins out 9 times out of 10 in 2024. Even massive company accounts get abysmal organic engagement.
I see the same thing with my clients.
3) Owning the narrative.
This is the real gem. The truth?
Savvy founders know how to own and craft the narrative around their company. In 2024, organic social media will be the best channel for this.
Lulu Meservey refers to this founder-led comms strategy as “going direct.”
Going direct allows Lewis to steer the public’s perception of the company’s direction, as he does in a post explaining why 2024 is “becoming Lewis’s biggest year yet.”
Going direct also allows Lewis to control the narrative when company news drops.
See how this works?
Post-Race Analysis
Top 3 Favourite Activations of the year, and why.
- The Whatsapp x Mercedes one was great because they were clear on their objectives, wanting to create awareness for Whatsapp in the US, so doing a big stunt in New York with Lewis was the perfect way to capture that; they got a lot of earned media from that & organic interest. I wrote about it last month.
- The AMEX x F1 Academy one was the opposite, highlighting the small, medium-sized businesses in the region where F1 Academy is racing. It shows that you can create impact without activating a large right-holder.
- The ELF Beauty sponsorship with Katherine Legge was another major activation at the Indy 500. Charlotte did a much better job explaining why this was so great on LinkedIn.
Not all activations are created equal. They don’t all need to be explosive, flashy and grand all the time. The common value in all three of these activations is the impact. it drove.
🍾 THE PODIUM
- This thinking explains why most marketing falls flat; this also applies to motorsport.
- Most websites don’t convert visitors to customers because of their landing page. Ole explains how he fixes that.
- Charles Leclerc on Jay Shetty’s podcast is a perfectly timed must-watch!
How I Can Help
- I created a sponsorship email course to teach people the growth hack way to acquire sponsors.
- If you're still looking for a job in motorsport and don't know what to do. Here is a free resource on what you need to know.
- Are you a B2B motorsport founder looking to improve your authority & become a thought leader in the industry? Book a call.
