Marketing is a massive part of the global behemoth that motorsport has become. Motorsport marketing is what greases the financial wheels of the sport, drives the fans to choose sides and generally keeps us all up to date with the goings on between and after races.
If you’re already a marketing professional who’s a petrol head or a die-hard motorsport spectator who wants to give up the boring day job, this blog runs you through the different motorsport marketing opportunities available.
Motorsport Marketing Jobs
Thanks to the internet, the range of marketing jobs available has increased exponentially. Many of you may not remember the days when we used to rely on magazines, newspapers and events as our main sources of advertising. Nowadays, marketing jobs are mainly internet focussed, with motorsport businesses looking to leverage digital channels to increase their reach and fan base. Here are a selection of motorsport marketing job functions to choose from –
Motorsport Marketing Executive
The role of the Motorsport Marketing Executive is broad. You’ll be expected to have a good understanding of the full marketing mix and how this applies to motorsport businesses.
As a Motorsport Marketing Executive, you could be working on a variety of different marketing activities – social media, content writing, event planning, creating literature and brochures. You’ll need to be a bit creative with a good standard of written English and have a massive passion for motorsport.
Marketing Executive roles are a good entry point for school leavers and graduates looking to forge a career in motorsport marketing and anyone from an admin or marketing background could carve themselves out an interesting career in this field.
The career trajectory for a Motorsport Marketing Executive is wholly down to the individual and their level of ambition. This role can be the springboard to a range of different specialist marketing careers – Marketing Manager, Social Media Manager, Affiliate Marketing, Communications Manager to name a few.
Social Media Marketing in Motorsport
Social media marketing sounds so easy! Especially if you have an interest in the subject you’re being asked to promote. You just share pictures and great videos to Instagram and Facebook, right? Wrong. To succeed in social media marketing in any industry you’ll need to be a strategist, a tactician with a really good insight into the souls of those you’re trying to connect with.
Building an audience, keeping them entertained, encouraging them to engage and then ultimately buy into whatever you’re trying to ‘sell’ is hard work! You may have an idea in your head of motorsport marketing being glamourous, but you need to remember that you are the mouthpiece for the company you’re working for. Anything you share or create must represent their brand and company ethos, not your preferences and opinions.
Motorsport marketing budgets can be massive! And in the corporate world, wherever money is being spent, someone will want to know the exact return on investment. To be a successful social media marketing executive you’ll need to be good at campaign planning, execution and reporting. All good social media campaigns are underpinned by a strategy to achieve a specific outcome and you’ll need to be confident in reporting on the successes or failures of your campaigns. You’ll be used to using Google Analytics and have a good understanding of social media platforms, their reporting tools and potentially their ad platforms.
Other key skills for social media marketing positions include: Video editing skills, photography skills, strong copy writing capabilities and an ability to stay ahead of the curve.
In a recent job role for Social Media Executive in F1, recruitment specialist 16K Agency requested the following:
“The role of Social Media Executive will see you working in an international team of visual content creators focused on developing epic digital and social media content around the world.
You’re fully prepared to get your hands dirty and you’ll be responsible to support in the daily management, copywriting, scheduling, and posting on our client’s social media channels. You will then continue to analyze the results, and share these details with the team and clients.
You will also need to bring out your creative flair, as you will assist in editing images in lightroom, making decks/ reports and putting together various creative assets in platforms such as Canva and alike.
You have an agency or F1-related background in social media & digital marketing of a minimum 1 year. You must have a huge passion for motorsport and specifically F1. Equal on your list of passions should be social, we need someone who obsesses over the numbers, social trends, and performance. Someone who can’t contain their excitement to see their latest creation go live and is ready to analyze how it performs.
Required Skill Set
- Bachelor’s Degree in relevant field or equivalent experience.
- Must have at least 2 years experience in content and social media-focused role, and the ability to showcase real results.
- Advanced knowledge and skillset on major social media platforms (Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok)
- Self-sufficient in Lightroom.
- Impeccable English skills.
- Must have excellent written, verbal, and communication skills.
- Excellent presentation and deck-building skills.
- Ultimate professional, self-motivated, team player, customer-focused, and highly resilient.
- Well-organised and efficient, even in a fast-paced environment.
- Project management and problem-solving skills”
Brand Marketing in Motorsport
Branding is everything in motorsport. To work in brand motorsport marketing, you’ll be highly detail oriented. You’ll ensure that, as the guardian of the public face of the brand, all external and internal communications represent and uphold the brand’s credibility and ideals.
Imagine you’re Ferrari. You’ve spent over 70 years honing your company name into one of the most recognised and revered brands in the world. You sell more merchandise than you sell cars, with over $2.5bn in merchandise sales in 2017 and a 1:8 scale model of the Ferrari F14T costing $5500! A certain shade of red (Pantone 485) is now more commonly known as Ferrari Red, or Rosso Corsa. Your brand is worth billions, and brand guardians need to ensure that your name, logo and reputation are protected at all costs. Here’s an example of the marketing brand guidelines for the Ferrari Challenge.
Working in brand marketing, you’ll be overseeing sponsorship deals, partnerships, PR activities and media opportunities. You’ll be expected to live and breathe the brand you work for so a passion, (verging on obsession) for motorsport marketing is an absolute must.
Motorsport Marketing Sales
If you’re not a technical marketeer and prefer to talk rather than type perhaps a career in motorsport marketing sales is more up your street?
Motorsport relies heavily on advertising and sponsorship. Frome race team sponsorship packages to print advertising, exhibition space to event packages – motorsport marketing sales roles are numerous. You’ll have to have the gift of the gab as most businesses won’t part with their money easily. You’ll be a natural sales person who builds rapport easily but who also has an understanding of marketing terminology and understands the importance of proving ROI.
To be successful in the world of motorsport sales you will need to be able to sell the benefits of the company or product you’re promoting. Why should xxxxx commit to spending £xxxxx with you?? What can they expect in return? Marketing Managers are savvy beasts and protect their marketing budgets ferociously. There will be dozens of other salespeople trying to get a slice of the action so being personable, non-pushy and above all, knowledgeable will help you to succeed where others fail or worse, find their calls unreturned.
Motorsport PR
Motorsport PR is an interesting animal, and the industry relies on it like very few others. PR is all about controlling the flow of information and the effect it has on public perception. Motorsport marketing roles in PR combine the talents of the brand marketeer with that of the social media specialist.
Where many businesses have moved from physical marketing to digital marketing motorsport has had to embrace both so if you’re looking to work in motorsport PR you’ll be expected to have a good grounding in creating press releases for print and digital channels. You’ll have excellent copywriting skills, campaign management experience and a wealth of press or corporate contacts who can help your campaigns reach the biggest audience.
Motorsport PR is a true art form and whether you’re working for a team or manufacturer you’ll be an ideas person who can elevate a brand in the eyes of the public or deal with a social media crisis without breaking a sweat.
The Bottom Line...
If you want to work in motorsport marketing you’ve got to know your stuff. If you’ve already got the motorsport knowledge and the passion then now’s the time to retrain. There are lots of online courses which can help you gain the skills and knowledge you need to get ahead in the fast-paced world of marketing. Google offer free courses in digital marketing and social media scheduling tool Buffer have created a list of social media training courses which can help you to look at social media marketing from a more professional perspective.
We also didn’t write this blog just to help you out! It has a great deal of worth when it comes to SEO as well as giving us valuable content to share across our social media channels – all with the aim of telling you about our motorsport marketing courses!
Adding some motorsport specific marketing skills to your arsenal can only help your career in the industry and having a motorsport specific marketing qualification is a big boost to your CV. Our new Business School comprises of an MA Business of Motorsport Degree and a range of masterclasses designed to help you upskill in specific areas.
The Business School accepts applications from anyone with a prior degree in any business or motorsport related field or those who have extensive commercial or motorsport experience.
