Featured Image: Tatum Mandy
The way F1 is reported and followed has changed immensely over the last 20 years, primarily due to social media. This shift has created new industries and professional roles.
For those passionate about racing and digital trends, a career in motorsport social media could be ideal. It involves creating viral content for top teams, engaging with fans globally, and bringing the excitement of F1 to millions of screens.
Formula One Girl, Threads.
Crafting viral content for top teams, engaging with fans worldwide, and bringing the thrill of the track to millions of screens is the new way of marketing - you’ll need your finger on the pulse of digital trends but if you do, this can be a hugely fulfilling career.
Read on for the type of roles available and our advice on how to make it your career!
How has marketing changed in F1?
In 1995, the marketing team for Williams Grand Prix Engineering, for example, would in short be concentrating on TV, printed media and physical events. While these are still applicable today, especially in physical events - digital job roles have largely taken over.
For example, the typical marketing roles being advertised on fluid jobs today are:
- Video producer
- Director of creative services
- Content planner
- Content Creator
- Social Media Manager
This change in advertised roles depicts the shift in the industry as a whole towards digital, and especially social media.
What do some of these roles include and how can I make it happen for me?
Social Media Manager in F1
A social media manager is responsible for the overall strategy and management across all social media channels for the company. Nowadays this includes a wide range of channels that cater for different audiences - Youtube, Instagram, Facebook, TicTok, X and now Threads.
Jess McFadyen - Motorsport Network
As a social media manager you need to have a good understanding of what sort of content is suited to which channel, devise a plan and put your team of content creators to work! You will need to analyse all the metrics and adapt - constantly learning the fast changing environment. What worked on Instagram last year, may not still work this year!
In summary, your job will be to:
- Devising platform-specific strategies (Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, etc.)
- Analysing social media metrics and adjusting campaigns to suit
- Integrating sponsors into digital content
- Incorporating and working with other Influencers
All with the primary goal to engage fans and grow your audience across all the channels!
Content Creator for F1
Whilst a social media manager is responsible for the overall strategy, a content creator will be focused on making specific content and having a focus on smaller projects - for example; ‘the day in the life of an F1 mechanic at the Monaco GP’. In summary, a content creator in the world of F1 would be responsible for:
- Video curation (driver interviews, behind-the-scenes tasters etc.)
- Short-form, engaging content
- Blog and article writing
- Ideas driven!
Video Editor
Video editors will work alongside content creators and are in hugely important roles nowadays. Teams will have reams and reams of footage that need cutting and making into a watchable video - this is where a video editor will come in. You will need to:
- Select and assemble raw footage into a coherent final video
- Synchronise video with audio and dialogue
- Apply transitions, effects, and colour correction
- Add titles, graphics, and motion elements
- Collaborate with directors, producers, and clients on creative vision
The slightly less glamourous world of mobile video editing is so important in our real-time social media world
Some video editors will have a huge amount of autonomy and their input will seriously affect whether the content is successful or not.
You will need to have a great awareness of timescales and deadlines if you want to be a video editor to make sure projects are completed on time - timing is so important with social media and even more so, live sporting events.
What qualifications are required for these social media roles?
- GCSE’S and A Levels but no subjects in particular.
- It is generally the norm nowadays for social media marketers to have a degree but this doesn’t have to be as closely aligned as you might think. The most useful degrees for social media marketing are ones in business or creative-related fields.
- Languages are also great, especially in the global world of F1! Maths is also desirable due to the data-intensive and analytical element of digital marketing today.
- Also, note that not everyone in high-level social media positions have degrees, everybody's journey is different and working your way through a race team from the bottom may also get you to your desired position!
What are the skills and qualities someone who would like to work in social media for F1 needs?
- Passionate about cars, motorsport and high-level sport and athletes
- You need to be an ideas-driven person
- You need to be social and comfortable relaying and executing ideas
- You must have a strong respect for timelines and deadlines
- Collaborate with directors, producers, and clients on creative vision
What experience do you need?
A typical career path would be to become a social media manager would be: GCSEs / A levels ⇨ Degree ⇨ Marketing Assistant / Marketing Graduate Scheme ⇨ Social Media Manager / Content Creator.
Our suggestion would be to do all you can to land yourself a marketing graduate scheme that is closely related to the motorsport industry for example automotive or engineering.
Alternatively, you can pursue an entry-level marketing or marketing assistant position within motorsport if possible. By starting your career in either of these roles, you can gain valuable experience and eventually apply for more specialised social media positions within the motorsport industry.
Persevere! Try, try and try again. If you want that motorsport career badly enough you will get there eventually with the correct attitude but remember, getting your foot in the door is usually the hardest part so don’t get disheartened.
How much do social media professionals in F1 earn?
Rough ballparks for salaries discussed in this article are around the figures below:
- Social Media Manager: £40,000 – £60,000 a year
- Social Media Director: £70,000 plus
Conclusion: The Evolving Role of Digital Professionals in F1
F1 is just as fast-paced off the track as on and being involved in social media for these teams, you will be right at the cutting edge of the action and have the huge responsibility of portraying the team real-time to your wider public audience.
The key there is real time, with social media and smartphones everything is instant which is largely what makes marketing roles so much different than they used to be.
If you’re a motorsport fan with a special talent for making great social media - this could be the career for you.
See all social media motorsport roles on fluid jobs here!
