Sean Benesh

Last week, I argued that bike races should stop paying for reach and instead build their own media ecosystems. I still stand by that. But here’s the pivot: Once you’re building your own media ecosystem, paid ads can help accelerate your efforts. bit.ly/4zerZk1

Last week, I argued that bike races should stop paying for attention. This week, I’m making the case for paying for it. Contradictory? Not necessarily. Paid ads can serve two purposes. Race directors, when you advertise, is your goal registrations or awareness?

If you stopped spending money on advertising tomorrow, how would people discover your race? Would your website attract visitors? Would your social media generate interest? Would your email newsletter drive registrations? What’s currently driving the most race registrations?

Race directors … What if you stopped paying to reach someone else’s audience and started building your own? We’re living in the attention economy, but I think we’re overlooking one of our greatest marketing opportunities. bit.ly/4sd029s

Race directors and rural tourism leaders, a question for you. You have $1,000 to spend on advertising your race or destination. Where would you spend it?

I’m active on eight different social media platforms. But if you’re a race director, trail org, or rural tourism leader, I probably wouldn’t recommend doing the same. Why? bit.ly/4B3T0I2

What if you’re spending most of your social media energy on the wrong platform? Yesterday, I asked whether race directors, trail orgs, and rural tourism leaders should focus on 1 or 2 platforms or try to be everywhere. How do you decide which platforms deserve your attention?

Here’s a question for trail orgs, race directors, and rural tourism leaders. Is it better to be on EVERY social media platform or focus your energy on just one or two? I’m exploring this topic for an upcoming article, and I’d love your perspective.

What actually makes a town a “trail town?” Having great trails nearby is certainly part of it. But the more I’ve thought about this question, the more I’ve realized that the trail itself is only the beginning. bit.ly/4rSXA7X

It’s always interesting to talk with rural communities that want trails. Where do you even start? What advice would you give a community at the start of building trails, hoping to become a trail town?

What if you marketed your race all year without constantly asking people to register? That's content marketing. The goal is to create useful & interesting content that attracts the right riders, gives them reasons to keep coming back & eventually moves them toward registration.

Most social posts have a short life. That’s why race marketing needs content with a longer shelf life: articles, newsletters, YouTube videos, and searchable resources that keep helping people discover your race months later. That’s the long game. bit.ly/4z49XAs

Race directors: what happens when none of your posts go viral? You still have a race to grow. That’s where repeatable content matters: articles, email newsletters, YouTube videos, searchable resources. What kind of content has worked best for your race?

In my Writing Across Media course, we’ve been talking about attention. On social media, you have seconds to stop the scroll. Your bike race, rural destination, nonprofit, or brand competes with Nike, Netflix, Taylor Swift, friends, and AI cat videos. Same screen. Same fight.

I’ve spent a lot of time working with bike races, trail orgs, and rural communities. A lack of good stories usually isn’t the problem. The problem is getting those stories in front of people. That’s why I created the Visibility Lab: bit.ly/4gI1Z8F

Attention. We all crave it. I’m talking about attention as it relates to a brand, whether that be a rural community, a bike race, a trail org, or another organization doing meaningful work in the outdoor space. That’s why I created the Visibility Lab. bit.ly/4ArG52k

Here's a fun interview I did with Gravel Events ... "Beyond the Big Races: Where Gravel Gets Interesting." Having shot photos for a growing number of gravel races, I've enjoyed reflecting on what I see through the lens. Read interview: bit.ly/4Aj9cET

You built the trails. Years of planning, fundraising, meetings, and volunteer hours later, they’re finally open. Now what? If the goal is tourism and economic impact, someone still has to tell people these trails exist. That someone might be YOU. bit.ly/4dCJscU

There’s a difference between building an audience for your bike race and building a community around it. An audience watches. A community participates.  Social media growth for bike races needs to be about more than increasing follower counts. bit.ly/4hqTgcq

A gravel race is not going to save a rural town. But it can absolutely become part of a larger rural economic development strategy. bit.ly/4gEtjpw