Our second race of the year is coming up soon on Memorial Day weekend in Ennis for the regional event that will feature only Top Alcohol Dragsters and Funny Cars and Pro Mods, instead of all of the sportsman classes. The way our schedule currently looks, this will be our only event until July where we will have the Columbus and Topeka regionals.

This schedule is so wonky, and I hope NHRA announces how they will change the points structure for this year so we can have an idea of how many events we have to attend. As it stands right now, we would only have 2 weekends off from Columbus, to Pomona in November, I don’t know about you but that’s a little too much traveling for my comfort zone. I love being at the tracks, but I also cherish my time at home, and I prefer not to be gone for 5 months straight.

During our quarantined time, we’ve been chipping away at our to-do list and getting house updates done. We’re finishing up the master bathroom remodel, planted veggies in the garden and flowers for landscaping, made a gym in our garage and have been spending as much time as we can outside either walking the dog, riding bikes, or going fishing.

I also spent quite a bit of time creating an online e-course all about how drag racers can use social media to promote their sponsors and build up a community that attracts their ideal followers, aka their sponsor’s target market. It’s compromised of 8 modules including how to take photos with your phone, growing engagement, a content calendar, free hashtags, and how to track analytics and insights each month. I also explain how the algorithm works, and below I’ve listed for you my 5 best kept secrets to beating the algorithm on Instagram and Facebook.

Using social media as a tool for your marketing, and not as your personal diary, is a key part of your job as a professional racer working with paying sponsors. If racing is just your hobby and you’re not worried about getting sponsors, then you don’t need social media. But that’s not you, so just like packing the parachutes, downloading the data, filling up with fuel, and cleaning the car are all part of your racing routine, posting on social media is another part of your job that most racers miss, which means they’re doing a half-ass job at supporting their sponsors, and those guys are the same ones that wonder why they don’t come back next year.

Your audience will look forward to interacting and watching you every race weekend, so post on every single platform every single race weekend or else, they will forget, and the algorithm will slowly stop showing your photos and videos.

To keep that from happening, here are 5 secrets to cracking the code on the algorithm:

• Relationships with other accounts

When switching to the algorithm, Facebook and Instagram stated that no matter how many accounts you follow, you should see your favorite accounts latest posts, first. For them to know who you favor, they look at who you interact with on the app, this is based on likes, comments, mentions, DMs, and searches. 

• Timing of posting

The next key ingredient in the algorithm is the timing of your posts and engagements. The apps want to show you posts that are relevant but also recent, so posting consistently and being on when your followers are most active is key to being seen on their feeds.

• How frequent you open the app and how long you use it

The algorithm re-orders only the new posts between your current visit and your last visit. So, if you open Instagram once a day, you’ll likely see the posts that the algorithm feels are the most relevant for that day. However, if you open Instagram hours later, Instagram will try to show you the most relevant content you haven’t yet seen before.

• Content that you will be interested in

As stated by buffer.com, content that is relevant to your interests will rank higher on your feed. They believe it’s possible for the algorithm to use photo recognition technologies to categorize photos into genres like travel, food, fashion, and cars.

• Number of accounts you follow

Lastly, if you follow a lot of accounts, the algorithm has to sort through more posts to decide what to show you each time you open up the app. This means users who follow a lot of people might see less from each account, whereas users who follow just a few accounts are likely to see more from their favorite accounts.

If you’re saying to yourself, “I don’t have time for the algorithm” trust me, I know you’re busy enough trying to make sure your car is ready to go when the season starts back up, and worrying about how you’re going to keep your sponsors happy until then.

I’m not here to give you more busy work, I’m here to help you pay for those parts, save you time, and grow your following in ways I have tested time and time again. You need:

👉 An ENGAGING audience who happily comment and like your posts and stories

👉 A CONTENT STRATEGY with authentic captions and pictures and videos ready to go ahead of time

👉 A recognizable BRAND that can be noticed in the pits and in the sea of posts online

Which is why I’ve taken the time to create the Driven by Social e-course specifically to help you start growing engagement consistently online and become besties with the algorithm in a short couple of weeks until race season starts back up again WITHOUT the hassle and headache that’s keeping you from increasing your following.