Florence Motor Speedway's PR lesson

AndyMarquisLive

I love short track racing (Taylor's Version)
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PR lesson being how NOT to use Facebook.

Because of the way they've run things, the track isn't running well. So they're gonna pour dirt on it because dirt fixes everything - just ask Clay Valley/Lonesome Pine Raceway. :rolleyes:

So, this morning, they posted this:



It gets worse in the comments though. :eek:
 
Lol they literally told a guy F U
 
It gets worse.

Wesley Outland is a videojouranlist and announcer for Speed51. I've worked with him several times at Carteret County Speedway and Coastal Plains Raceway.
Oh geez, I see the post has been deleted now.
 
Lived in the grand strand of SC for 5 years now. Never new Florence motor speedway still existed.
 
Didn't see the offending posts since they were already deleted, but been-there done-that enough times with other tracks to probably know their gist...

Personally I don't like Facebook pages for businesses like race tracks. They're a hodgepodge of random posts that you have to keep scrolling through to try to find any real information, and with so many people acting so negative on social media those pages seem to be a bad business risk. Occasionally a track will flesh out its Facebook page using those categories on the left hand side, but even there they don't keep current.

I got blessed out by a track promoter a few years ago merely for stating that I couldn't find his class rules on his track Facebook page. He did not have a regular website going, and he wasn't using the left hand categories. He expected people to scroll through pages of posts to find his rules - and not miss subsequent posts of changes - and was quite vulgar about the competency of anybody who couldn't decipher his mess. Later, when I asked about a clarification to a rule, he actually challenged me to go to his track where he (and his buddies) could fight me! So obviously I raced at another track... since then he's toned it down a bit since he finally realized how much business his attitude has cost himself.

Fix everything by pouring dirt on it? Should have him ask Friendship Speedway about that one too. Friendship was originally dirt, but due to poor management eventually closed. A new buyer paved it, expecting colossal success, but after a few years the track was closed again. So in come new promoters, and they dump dirt over the pavement (the owner didn't want his paving torn up). The track soon got a reputation for a surface that was like racing in a cornfield. They kept adding dirt and eventually the surface got better... but now the track is closed again. And gonna open back up with new promoters who "will do it right" - "soon"...
 
Hard to convince anyone who knows where Florence is to come to Florence. Especially when there is a good dirt facility up the road in Lakeview and another one across the state line in Fayetteville. Even if they turned it into a mudpit most of the "boys round here" would rather squat their trucks and put low profile tires + crimp their exhaust to sound like a constipated horse. Now Dillon Motor Speedway has a New Years show that is impressive with car counts and crowd size. They take advantage of the mild winter and promote that event heavily with signage and social media.
 
Didn't see the offending posts since they were already deleted, but been-there done-that enough times with other tracks to probably know their gist...

Personally I don't like Facebook pages for businesses like race tracks. They're a hodgepodge of random posts that you have to keep scrolling through to try to find any real information, and with so many people acting so negative on social media those pages seem to be a bad business risk. Occasionally a track will flesh out its Facebook page using those categories on the left hand side, but even there they don't keep current.

I got blessed out by a track promoter a few years ago merely for stating that I couldn't find his class rules on his track Facebook page. He did not have a regular website going, and he wasn't using the left hand categories. He expected people to scroll through pages of posts to find his rules - and not miss subsequent posts of changes - and was quite vulgar about the competency of anybody who couldn't decipher his mess. Later, when I asked about a clarification to a rule, he actually challenged me to go to his track where he (and his buddies) could fight me! So obviously I raced at another track... since then he's toned it down a bit since he finally realized how much business his attitude has cost himself.

Fix everything by pouring dirt on it? Should have him ask Friendship Speedway about that one too. Friendship was originally dirt, but due to poor management eventually closed. A new buyer paved it, expecting colossal success, but after a few years the track was closed again. So in come new promoters, and they dump dirt over the pavement (the owner didn't want his paving torn up). The track soon got a reputation for a surface that was like racing in a cornfield. They kept adding dirt and eventually the surface got better... but now the track is closed again. And gonna open back up with new promoters who "will do it right" - "soon"...

Facebook is a good resource, but tracks really need to realize they need websites. You need a central hub that can be organized.

Florence is down for now IMO.
 
Facebook is necessary. But I agree with above posts.

Facebook can get too cluttered.
 
Facebook is a good resource, but tracks really need to realize they need websites. You need a central hub that can be organized.

Florence is down for now IMO.
I’ll bet there are plenty of kids with reasonable competent web skills who’d gladly manage a track’s site and FB page in exchange for a season pass.
 
Tracks honestly need to have a full time PR/Digital Media person. Forget season passes, I mean a legit job.
Yep, it needs to be a legitimate job because otherwise there is little or no accountability.
Volunteers are great - up to a point. With volunteers you have to accept what they're willing to do, and often they decide to do what they want to rather than what track management wants them to do. This can get dangerous for the track, because a volunteer who goes rogue can just walk away while the track can take a huge business hit.
 
Being a person that does PR work for a couple of local track and manges a few track web sites, the whole Facebook thing gets under my skin. Too many tracks use Facebook as their own web page. Part of it is because they can post to it whenever they want to and the other part is people are on their phone using apps instead of trying to pull up a web page on a phone. If apps weren't so costly to build, more would get them. But that's another story.

Like someone else said, social media should be for reminders, quick promos, live information, etc. It should not be used to post rules, schedules, etc. I have go round and round with a number of track owners (not the ones I work for) about this issue.

The thing that gets me is they will post information or a schedule change on Facebook, but they will not send it to thr webmaster to update the site. Then, they get mad when the web site isn't updated.
 
Being a person that does PR work for a couple of local track and manges a few track web sites, the whole Facebook thing gets under my skin. Too many tracks use Facebook as their own web page. Part of it is because they can post to it whenever they want to and the other part is people are on their phone using apps instead of trying to pull up a web page on a phone. If apps weren't so costly to build, more would get them. But that's another story.

Like someone else said, social media should be for reminders, quick promos, live information, etc. It should not be used to post rules, schedules, etc. I have go round and round with a number of track owners (not the ones I work for) about this issue.

The thing that gets me is they will post information or a schedule change on Facebook, but they will not send it to thr webmaster to update the site. Then, they get mad when the web site isn't updated.

This, all of this.

There are so many sites that don't even have ticket prices on their websites. It's just infuriating. And there are a lot of people who still pull up websites.

I'm not saying it just because I work here, but people really need to see what Carteret County does. We have probably one of the best websites in short track racing, Facebook constantly updated, presence on Twitter and Instagram, coverage on local TV, newspapers, flyers and posters and signs all over the area, radio ads... it takes a lot to promote a race.
 
And a lot of people don't use Facebook or other social media. Posting weather problems (rain outs) and re-scheduling on a web site is also important (especially for those that have to travel long distances to a race.)
 
This, all of this.

There are so many sites that don't even have ticket prices on their websites. It's just infuriating. And there are a lot of people who still pull up websites.

I'm not saying it just because I work here, but people really need to see what Carteret County does. We have probably one of the best websites in short track racing, Facebook constantly updated, presence on Twitter and Instagram, coverage on local TV, newspapers, flyers and posters and signs all over the area, radio ads... it takes a lot to promote a race.
Be thankful you have local TV that will give you coverage. We had a Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series race a few weeks ago with a packed house. We invited all the local TV stations and none of them showed up.
 
Be thankful you have local TV that will give you coverage. We had a Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series race a few weeks ago with a packed house. We invited all the local TV stations and none of them showed up.

It's pretty hard to pull that off. Something you have to work hard at. You need a captivating story first and foremost.

When the Odum sisters finished 1-2 in the Jr. Mini Cups a few weeks ago, I led with that in my postrace release because I knew the local media would bite on that. Got a ton of traction out of it too.
 
Be thankful you have local TV that will give you coverage. We had a Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series race a few weeks ago with a packed house. We invited all the local TV stations and none of them showed up.

Also, having your own videographer who can quickly put together some footage to send out helps.
 
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