Formula 1 – driving audience engagement

F1’s transformation from closed shop to globally accessible brand

A snapshot of how the new owners of Formula 1 have dramatically changed the way the world’s most watched motorsport engages with its global audience, creating growth and popularity across all platforms.

As our previous blog on the Winter Olympics suggests, big sporting events are growing in popularity due to audience accessibility via social media platforms and quality digital content. It will help the likes of the IOC for Beijing 2022, but it certainly wouldn’t have happened for Formula 1 before Liberty Media took over in 2017.

Second-fastest on social media

Restrictions on video content were lifted, giving teams, drivers and F1 media the opportunity to engage and connect with fans like never before. In 2020, F1 was the second-fastest growing major sport on social – Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram – up by 36%, reaching 35 million. In fact, total fan engagement went up by 99% (810 million) in 2020.

Why? Because F1 content became more accessible. Drivers and teams were allowed to share behind-the-scenes exclusive experiences on their social channels. Clips of highlights and interviews were disseminated on social media and streamed on teams’ YouTube channels, and beyond. It created a conversation and resonated with motorsport-loving fans. As they became hungrier for content, producers created more for a wider audience.

The next generation?

In 2021, the number of viewers aged 16-35 increased by 77%, which was a total of 43% of F1’s key audience. It’s anticipated that fans in this demographic will grow to one billion by April 2022! Fans within this demographic are most likely to have a social media account and access it daily – that’s a huge opportunity!

From TikTok to Twitter, it’s important to deliver content that suits the target audience. What are their interests, are they going to be engaging with technical content, or are they going to watch a clip of Lewis Hamilton dancing with his technical team? It’s just a case of where you publish it and who will watch it.

Follow the leaders

Unsurprisingly, the top three F1 drivers with the most followers are Hamilton, with 38.6m, Verstappen with 12.6m and Ricciardo with 10.4m followers. The most popular social platforms for the drivers overall are Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

Follow the leaders and keep track of what they are up to. Interact with their content and feature it in your social media, or live broadcast. In this day and age, influencers are likely to have more followers than even the biggest broadcasters. So tap into that conversation and you’ll watch your followers and views increase!

Grand Finale

The 2021 Grand Prix final was the most viewed sporting event in 2021, seeing an increase in online viewers of 173% and 97% increase in broadcast views for the Abu Dhabi final, compared to 2020. That’s an incredible statistic! It was certainly a final to remember, a last-minute winner and highly contentious result that produced a lot of fallout and discussion.

In the build up and after the event, create a conversation during your coverage and across social media. Viewers and fans will post their insights, share images and videos of their experiences and reply to questions, so create a call to action on your channels. Run polls, invite comments, and share viewer insight during and after the main event. Remember, you’ll boost revenues and monetise content with more views!

Are you ready to engage with your audience like never before? Talk to our specialists to find out how Dizplai can bring your broadcasts to life.

Take pole position with your offering

• Capitalise on the growing fan-base and produce content on all channels.
• Make your coverage accessible to all. Resonate with the demographic and personalise it to the platform and what they want to watch
• Follow and share influencer content – it could even be an exclusive if you share it before everyone else
• Create a call to action and start the conversation – viewers will always want to share their insight

Read our blog on how you can connect with and engage viewers using our cloud-based platform.

Experience new heights of audience engagement with Dizplai

Elevate your engagement game and boost your viewership with our ground-breaking platform. 

We’re here to revolutionise the way you connect with your audience, through immersive and interactive displays and experiences, we can help you transform the way you broadcast. Reach out to the dedicated team at Dizplai today to find out more.