MotoGP™ has had a fantastic year both off and on the track this year, with social media reflecting the passion of its worldwide audience. MotoGP’s presence on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube has meant that the action doesn’t just stop when the chequered flag comes out, the conversations, pictures and likes continue, reaching out to millions of fans all across the world.
The interaction has helped MotoGP™ to reach over 150 million people throughout each Grand Prix in 2015 and a total of 2.5 billion people were reached through Facebook content alone.
Over 5,000 Facebook posts alone have included such highlights as Valentino Rossi’s great start to the 2015 season, Johann Zarco’s spectacular winning backflips and of course the best bits of the epic Australia GP. #TheIslandBattle allowed people to share their thoughts on the epic Australian race with over 44 million people reached via the hashtag on social media with celebrities like Ewan McGregor, Gerard Piqué, Nico Rosberg, Mark Webber and Pau Gasol joining the conversation.
This is only part of the social story on MotoGP™, with its Instagram and Twitter accounts going from strength to strength, with Instagram growing to 2.1 million fans and Twitter growing to 1.5 million followers.
The biggest talking point for MotoGP’s social channels was the #SepangClash, which drew the most attention with over 16 million people viewing the video clip on Facebook alone. The hashtag remained in use for the following week as fans and journalists continued to discuss the ins and outs of the event. During the race, Rossi was the top trending topic on Twitter.
The #VamosJorge and #ForzaVale campaign on buzz.motogp.com powered by Twitter also worked well with hundreds of thousands of fans casting their vote in the lead up to the final race of the 2015 season as they voted on who they thought would take the MotoGP™ title. 2015 culminated in #TheGrandFinale, able to reach over half a billion people and included graphics on the TV and video world feed. Both cases provided fans with a chance to see how others were reacting to the on track action and engage more with the event which demonstrated that Twitter is one of the platforms for live conversations and updates about the Grands Prix as they happen.
MotoGP aims to continue integrating social media into the broadcast feed and explore new avenues as they emerge. Increased presence of social media on the television feed will better enable both broadcasters and fans to interact with the content. Sustained focus on new social media platforms will not only enable MotoGP to reach more viewers but also provide even more diverse content and enable fans to engage in a wider variety of ways.
In 2016 MotoGP will bolster its social media activity, with Facebook and Twitter providing key information and insight throughout the new season, and Instagram showcasing behind the scenes of the world’s most exciting race series.
Key social highlights are:
110 Million visits to motogp.com in 2015
37 Million unique users
360 Million pages visited
More than 10 million followers on Facebook
190,913 hashtag tweets during the #SepangClash.
The #SepangClash video had 15,311,617 views, 153,675 likes and 195,212 shares on Facebook alone.
2,427,535 Instagram likes during the fantastic final of the Valencian GP.
Almost 2,2 million followers on Instagram and 17M total likes.
An increase of 1.8 million fans on Facebook over the 2015 season.
5,000 posts on Facebook over the 2015 season.
Social media was a key driver of traffic to the MotoGP website, with over 4.5 million visits being driven during the Malaysian and Valencian GPs.
1.5 million followers on Twitter.
YouTube: 845,000 subscribers and 122 M Total video views.