A Look at Tier10's Coverage of Auto Shows

As an agency that specializes in automotive, one of the most exciting times of the year for Tier10 is auto show season. Through the years this has become one of the most fruitful times for content creation, not just for current clients but for future clients, as well.

Most recently, Tier10 made the trek 250 miles north to cover the 2014 New York International Auto Show (NYIAS). The show, which took place at the Jacob Javits Center in Manhattan, was open to the public from April 18 to April 27. However, Tier10 was at the show early for the press preview days on April 16 and April 17.

NYIAS is the setting for many new vehicle releases, including vehicles set to hit the market later in the year. NYIAS also allows for a closer look at the vehicles that debuted at the year’s other big show, the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, which Tier10 also attended this year.

“No one says ‘content is king’ more than I do, and auto shows are king for content,” said Scott Rodgers, Chief Creative Office at Tier10. “Being able to give our clients content for various platforms, especially on new vehicle releases, allows them to already start familiarizing their customers with the new product before anyone else in their market.”

According to Rodgers, this means that content from an auto show can work for clients nationwide, regardless of where the show takes place.

“The new TLX may have debuted in New York, but Acura fans and Acura dealers all around the country are going to be interested in seeing it,” he added.

As far as approach goes, Tier10 focuses on a posting content in a timely manner so that clients and their customers can see the new vehicles right away. However, Tier10 also accumulates a lot of content for later use, primarily leading up to the release of the vehicle. For the majority of clients, auto shows are the only opportunity for anyone to get a close look at a newly released vehicle before it hits the showroom.

As part of this approach, some content will only be relevant at the time of the auto show. This can also be broken down even further for brands that are releasing a new, highly anticipated vehicle. For those brands, the content is primarily aimed for before, during and after the reveal. The goal is to generate hype for not just the reveal but also for when the vehicle hits showrooms.

As for the content itself, Tier10 targets the platforms relevant for a client’s audience, especially popular platforms that are underused within the industry.

“We started using Instagram during auto shows three years ago, and now it is one of the most crucial social media platforms to use,” Rodgers said. “Our priority is to stay ahead of the curve in trends for our clients, so we’ve gone big this year with Pintrest, as I see that platform becoming more and more relevant for the industry.”

So what type of content can Tier10 generate at an auto show? Looking at their recent coverage of NYIAS, Tier10 produced over 1,000 high-quality photos and 434 minutes of video.

For its clients, those photos and video helped Tier10 produce content for all the major social media platforms: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pintrest, YouTube and Vimeo. This content is spread out over a span of two weeks – including the days leading up to an auto show through its last day. For highly anticipated vehicle release, Tier10 also generated articles previewing the vehicles before the debut and articles covering the soon after the debut.

The ultimate goal for all the content generated for Tier10’s clients during the shows is total reach. For an average Tier10 client in that same two-week span, Instagram posts generated 536 likes and Facebook posts generated 845, for a total reach of close to 200,324 unique users. This is in addition to the number of users that see any tweets or Pintrest board.

Auto Shows within a local marketplace also allow for a “home-field advantage” for additional, unique content opportunities. During NYIAS 2014, for instance, the New York Acura Dealers held a contest in which one lucky winner was invited to an exclusive meet-and-greet event with retired New York Yankees Legend Mariano Rivera. The winner also received two tickets to a future Yankees home game.

The contest, which primarily subsisted on Facebook, ran for the week before NYIAS and produced over 500 entries. The six posts for the contests also produced a combined 668 likes, for a total reach of nearly 100,000 people. Additionally, the New York Acura Dealers Facebook page itself earned an additional 600 Likes.

“Content from auto shows is some of the most highly engaging content for our clients,” Rodgers said. “The consistent posting schedule with great, timely content brings in new followers, but it also keeps current followers coming back for more because they are already expecting great content.”

Check out some of Tier10’s work from NYIAS 2014 below:

Penske Video: