10M followers: How Charles Leclerc grew his Instagram audience by 64% in one year
Instagram has become a crucial platform for athletes to connect with their fans and share their personal lives and experiences. Charles Leclerc, a rising star in Formula One racing, has seen massive growth on his Instagram account, with nearly 4 million new followers in the past year alone. In an interview with Instagram, Charles and his team share their strategy for using the platform to engage with fans and showcase his personality.
Professional racing driver Charles Leclerc had a stellar 2022 on the track–and on Instagram. Leclerc and his team doubled down on Reels and the strategy has resulted in tremendous growth for the Monégasque athlete, who recently crossed the 10M follower threshold. The secret formula to his success? Genuine connection with his fans, behind-the-scenes access and continuously keeping audiences on their toes with fresh and exciting content.
Results:
- 64% Instagram follower growth (+3.8M), January 1 — December 31, 2022
- 80M Reels Plays, January 1 — December 31, 2022
- Average engagement rate of 11% on Instagram, January 1 — December 31, 2022, peaking at 28% and making Leclerc one of the best performing athletes on Instagram in 2022
- №2 most followed driver on Instagram, 2022
Strategy
A professional racing driver from Monaco, Charles Leclerc began karting at a young age and quickly rose through the ranks, winning multiple junior titles before making his championship debut in 2018. Since then he has raced over 100 times, with 24 podiums, and at 25 years of age, he is widely regarded as one of the most exciting talents in the sport.
With the emergence of Reels on Instagram, Charles looked to utilize short-form video to keep fans informed and engaged whilst traveling around the globe. Interest in the sport has skyrocketed in the last 12 months and Charles’s reels–from the celebratory to the hilarious–have helped make him one of the most popular athletes on Instagram.
In fact, it was in 2021 that Charles set precise goals across social media as his star rose and he found himself expanding his comms team:
- Audience and revenue growth, primarily on Instagram
- Strategic growth in the US
- All while retaining high engagement and a meaningful connection to his fans
The team, hand-in-hand with Charles, came up with a strategy that has proven both scalable and highly sticky. Their production and distribution cadence around race weekends in tandem with a personality-infused content strategy have pushed beyond the traditional boundaries of Charles sport–and fans cannot get enough: In 2022 alone, Charles’s Instagram grew by nearly 4M followers and his weekly reels accumulated 80M Plays.
The following interview with Charles and his social lead, Sarynna Servello, has been edited and condensed for clarity. May this detailed playbook serve as inspiration for athletes across disciplines on how to cultivate, grow and engage a dedicated community.
According to Charles, Instagram Reels have been the key to his recent growth. Short-form video content is the future, as people look for quick, snackable content to enjoy. Reels help with discoverability, making it easier for Charles to be discovered by new audiences, as well as connection, allowing him to show his personal side and connect with fans on a deeper level. Photos simply can’t capture the emotion of important moments the way that Reels can.
However, Charles is involved in more than just content creation. He is deeply involved in the content strategy and post creation, collaborating on captions and approving every piece of content before it is posted. He crafts his own stories, finding Instagram the most authentic and immediate way to connect with his fans.
When it comes to content programming, Charles and his team have broken the mold, sharing intimate behind-the-scenes moments from his perspective throughout the race weekend. They also showcase more of his personal life during the off-season. Content is fresh, exciting, innovative, and always in the moment.
Charles’s team is also dedicated to retaining high engagement while growing his following. They monitor comments for the first 24 hours after posting to identify white spaces of opportunity and see what fans want to see from him. They also do a deep dive once a month to analyze top and bottom performing posts across formats and learn from them.
Finally, the team is always looking for fresh and exciting ways to use Reels as a creative tool. They love audio, subtitles, and trends, and focus on striking a balance between hopping on viral moments without feeling stale. Subtitles have opened up Charles’s content to a wider audience, while trends and transitions help them keep content fresh and exciting.
For athletes looking to leverage Reels to grow their community, Charles’s advice is to focus on engagement, not just followers. When you show true connection and take fan feedback into consideration, fans will notice and continue to engage with you. Instagram is your stage, and you should use it to launch first looks and exclusive behind-the-scenes moments to keep fans on their toes. Creating a consistent cadence also helps, as fans get used to seeing regular content from you.
For Charles, the future is about pushing boundaries and sharing more personal content while maintaining his modern, sleek, and polished look. With three US races this year, he’s also looking to grow his audience further in the US.
