The successful race for Patrick Dempsey, Joe Foster, Patrick Long and Dempsey Del Piero Racing in the 90th Anniversary 24 Hours of Le Mans was a big winner off the track as the team’s planned social media campaign proved to be both a critical and analytical success.

While Dempsey and his teammates led and challenged for the LM GTE-Am class victory throughout the race before finishing fourth in the No. 77 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR entry from Dempsey Del Piero Racing and Proton Competition, the team’s well-thought-out social media campaign drew amazing numbers and attracted unsolicited accolades from the international media.

The main focus of the team going into the race was an increase in the number of followers for @DempseyDelPiero that, prior to Le Mans testing in early June, had just over 1,100 followers. As of July 1, over 5,900 followers were tracking @DempseyDelPiero and that number jumped to more than 6,100 followers during this past weekend’s Northeast Grand Prix American Le Mans Series (ALMS) race at Lime Rock Park.

Race broadcasters “Radio Le Mans” announced over its global feed late in the Le Mans race that the winner of the unofficial Twitter contest around the event was @DempseyDelPiero. Local Le Mans newspaper Le Main Libre reported in its post-race Monday edition “if it did not win its category, Dempsey Del Piero will leave at least Le Mans with a title: the most active Twitter account. Mechanical information, photos, encouragement, transcripts, conversations between drivers and stands for… 24 hours of the race (and even before the start!)… was fuller information on all genres.” The Twitter praise was followed up by a nod to Dempsey himself, who twice led the race, as “equally at home on the track and on Twitter, even he has shown real progress since first participation in 2009.”

Countless team followers also made it clear early and often where the best place was to “watch” the Le Mans race on Twitter. “Without a doubt, the best #LM24 twitter account has to be @DempseyDelPiero,” posted follower Jeff Fuller (@Fullfocus) on the Sunday morning of the race.

In addition to the major growth @DempseyDelPiero, the established @GoDempseyRacing Twitter account and the team’s official Facebook page, “The Official Dempsey Racing Fan Site,” also saw a major boost in activity in June. The team’s Facebook page alone attracted 65,735 unique visitors – with nearly an equal split among men and women – during the Le Mans 24 Hour race weekend. Dempsey’s own personal Twitter account is always popular with his Hollywood fans but even @PatrickDempsey saw an uptick in followers from the highly visible Le Mans campaign.

It wasn’t just Dempsey’s and the team Twitter sites that saw and bolstered the growth as Foster (@jfoster4055), Long (@pLmotorsport) and Dempsey Del Piero Racing’s various marketing and communications supporting cast, who served as “Twelpers” throughout, all saw a significant bump in followers and activity during the Le Mans events.

The team’s main Twitter drum beat, however, was led by none other than current GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge driver championship points leader Ryan Eversley. Not scheduled to compete during the Le Mans race weekend, Eversley instead stepped in as Dempsey Del Piero’s virtual Twitter “Command Post,” staying in constant touch with the team radio communication and key pitside personnel for nearly 36 consecutive hours. Eversley alone generated or propagated well over 600 tweet or RT (ReTweet) messages during the race weekend, attracting over 50,000 impressions.

In addition to Twitter and Facebook, @DempseyDelPiero also saw an increased presence on other emerging social and online media around the Le Mans effort, including Vine video links, Jalopnik and popular motorsports industry blogs such as My Life at Speed.

Further support in the spotlight that shined on the 24 Hours of Le Mans and #TeamAmerica, the related hashtag quickly created and embraced for Dempsey Del Piero Racing as the only all-American driving team in the race, came from the GRAND-AM Rolex Series (@RolexSeries), ALMS (@ALMSNotes) and the consistent invitation to “Join the Conversation” on Twitter on the SPEED broadcast.

Source : Dempsey Del Piero Racing