Enthusiasts Online 2021 Progress Report

By Paul Sweeney and Emily-Fleur Peake.

Our group started as purely a Facebook group way back in early 2014 - since then it has grown massively and our online presence has spread across several different platforms. This article summarises where we currently are with them all and shows that each platform appeals to some extent to a different audience.

Facebook

The early days of rapid exponential growth are behind us and we are now in a period of organic growth which we expect to continue with no dramatic rises or falls in membership numbers.

Our membership is loyal and mature with very few issues arising - the troublesome 'Wild West Days' are well behind us and the group has become 'low maintenance', allowing Admin to increasingly focus energies on the emerging platforms mentioned below as well as the group's real-world activities - driving tours, major shows and the like.

• www.facebook.com/enthusiastsofbritishmotorvehicles
• Total 29,165 members ​in 99 countries
• Top countries are UK, USA, Australia, India & Malta
• 4% of members are aged 18-25, 10% are 25-34, 23% 45-54, 26% 55-64, 21% 65+
• Active members 20,316
• 2021 activity to date:
  ​10,212 posts
  65,174 comments
  576,670 reactions

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Instagram

Our group Instagram account was launched last year and under Emily-Fleur's management it has flourished and is bringing us to the attention of a whole new audience - much as we hope YouTube will do in time. As well as reaching new audiences, Instagram is a great way to engage with other car clubs and some bigger names and companies in the classic car world that wouldn't necessarily interact with the Facebook group.

​It's interesting to see the high response levels on Instagram - probably reflecting a younger, more computer-savvy demographic who tend to favour Instagram over the longer-established Facebook platform that appeals more to an older demographic.

• www.instagram.com/enthusiasts_of_british_motors
• 299 posts
• 1,768 followers​
• 7 Reels which have reached 18,800 accounts; reels have been the most successful tool in reaching a wider audience compared to our followers with over 5000 more accounts reached.
• Top countries are UK, US, France and Germany
• 17.8% of our followers are aged between 18 and 24
• 22.3% are aged 25-34
• 17.8% are aged 35-44
• 19.2% are aged 45-54​​

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YouTube

YouTube is our newest online platform. Although the channel was created in May 2021, the first video made specifically for YouTube was filmed during the Fat Lamb tour and published late in October. We are still on a learning curve in terms of video topics, photography/setup and editing & production but feel we are on the right track and hope to make major strides forward during 2022.

• www.youtube.com/c/EnthusiastsofBritishMotorVehicles
• Channel began in May 2021
• 128 subscribers
• 3,100 views by 479 unique viewers
• 24% of viewers are subscribers
• Watch time 115 hours
• Average watch duration 1.55 mins
• 41% of viewers are UK-based

Most popular videos

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Website

Our official website is several years old now and continues to function well as the home for news, blogs, photo galleries and our online shop (which is now also available on the Facebook and Instagram platforms). The design and content continues to evolve but as with Facebook our audience is mature and relatively stable.

• www.britishmotorvehicles.com
• 11,370 unique visits in 2021 to date
• 21,331 page views
• Average 2.33 pages per visit
• Hundreds of news items and members blogs dating back to 2015
• 38 photo galleries from shows and driving tours dating back to 2015
• Feeds our free weekly email newsletter which currently has 424 subscribers

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Online Shop (2021 activity)

The shop continues to provide a revenue stream which is fully reinvested in the group's activities, allowing us to fund - without any member subscriptions - ever-better large show stands and the purchase of more professional display equipment and other items such as a Go Pro camera to support our YouTube development plans.

• www.britishmotorvehicles.com/shop
• 10,541 visitors 
• 145 orders
• Average 1.3 items per order
• Average 11 visits until purchase

    Top Products (% of revenue)

• Enthusiasts 2022 Calendar 43.2%
• Enthusiasts Vintage Flat Cap 18.5%
• Enthusiasts Grille Badge 14.4%
• Enthusiasts Teddy Bear 7.1%

         Top Locations (% of revenue)

• United Kingdom 76.9%
• New Zealand 9.4%
• Canada 4.2%
• ​United States 3.7%