Facebook Mountain Biking Content Opportunity Analysis™ Q3 2022

Key Takeaways

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Top content opportunities in Q2 2022 for the Mountain Biking audience on Facebook includes:

Novelty Tricks

• Shock Value: This category features riders performing jaw dropping tricks in front of an audience. All videos are under 20 seconds and filmed on a smartphone.  

Urban Riding

• Taking to the Streets: Riders swap dirt for concrete and get creative on their bikes in urban environments and public spaces.

BMX Tricks

• Small Bikes, Big Tricks: BMX riders show-off their style and technique with impressive stunts and trick combinations.

Course Preview

• Getting the Lay of the Land: Mountain bikers pre-ride trails before a race and describe the trail and it’s features along the way. 

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Content Opportunity Methodology

1. Measure & Categorize. Sample a large number of social posts to find ones that are significantly outperforming the average.
2. Identify Top Themes. Identify the themes that are resonating most with the audience by sorting the themes by their aggregated performance metrics.
3. Identify a Benchmark. Identify content themes that are performing above and under an average benchmark for the industry based on views & engagements.
4. Identify Opportunities. Look at the data and find the content themes that are resonating with the audience based on a set of top creators.
5. Repeat For Each Platform. Repeat the analysis for every platform that matters to your brand and audience to find platform-specific opportunities.

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Facebook Content Bucket Definitions

• Novelty Tricks: Videos in this category feature riders performing jaw dropping tricks in front of an audience.
• Urban Riding: Riders swap dirt for concrete and get creative on their bikes in urban environments and public spaces.
• BMX Tricks: This category showcases different styles and stunts performed by riders on a BMX bike. 
• Course Preview: Mountain bikers pre-ride trails before a race and describe the the trail and it’s features along the way.  
• Freeride Courses: Riders perform huge jumps, flips and tricks on some of the worlds best freeride courses.
• Downhill Action: Action packed clips from  fast-pace downhill trails. Videos include a variety of filming styles and typically include commentary.
• Big Air: Riders hit jumps and get lots of air time in these videos and clip compilations.
• Biking Humour: Light hearted videos with funny and relatable content for mountain bikers.
• Track Cycling: Footage from competitive track cycling races.
• MTB Maintenance Hacks: Useful and informative video demonstrations for keeping your bike in top shape.
• Follow Cam: Similar to POV footage, these videos are filmed with a GoPro but the focus is on the rider in front.
• Close Calls & Crashes: Full videos and clip compilations of crashes, falls, and close calls where the rider manages to stay on their bike.
• Downhill POV: Downhill or slopestyle rides filmed with a GoPro to show the ride from the biker's point of view.

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Novelty Tricks is an extreme performing content opportunity, averaging over 3X the views & engagement rate on Facebook.

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Excellent performing content categories for the Mountain Biking audience on Facebook include:

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Substandard performing content categories for the Mountain Biking audience on Facebook include:

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Low performing content categories for the Mountain Biking audience on Facebook include:

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Extreme Performing Segment:‍

Novelty Tricks

This category features riders performing jaw dropping tricks in front of an audience. Top performing videos featured a single trick and were filmed on a smartphone.

Tactics to Implement:

• Length: All videos in this category are under 20 seconds and feature one trick only. 
• Unique Stunts: The highest performing videos were those that featured the most original and high risk tricks. 

Content Opportunities: Consider location and context for stunt videos. Performing a stunt in a situation that hasn’t been used before or is out of the ordinary can add originality and generate intrigue from viewers.

46M Views

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11M  Views

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Content Opportunities:

1. Urban Riding

Taking to The Streets. Riders swap dirt for concrete and get creative on their bikes in urban environments and public spaces.

Tactics to Implement:

• Slow Motion: High performing videos included sections of slow motion footage. 
• Raw Audio: In all videos original audio is used and viewers can hear the sounds of the bike, the landings and occasionally reactions from behind the camera.

Top Format:

• Video Duration: 0:11 & 0:14
• Short Captions: Captions are kept short and to the point and the rider is named and tagged unless they posted the video themselves.
• Reshared: The video on the right was shared by several brands and creators across social platforms and received the highest number of views on facebook.

3.3M  Views

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1.2M Views

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2. BMX Tricks

Small Bikes, Big Tricks: BMX riders show-off their style and technique with impressive stunts and trick combinations.

Tactics to Implement:

• Technicality: Riders attempt technical trick combinations that are performed continuously and require flawless balance to be executed.

• Focus:  Though videos are typically filmed in public spaces the rider is always kept in the foreground as the central focus with minimal background distractions.

Top Format:

• Video Duration: 0:22 & 0:25
• Audio: The video on the right is the highest performing in the category and the trick sequence is accompanied by well timed music. 

17.5M Views

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3.3M  Views

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3. Course Preview

Getting The Lay of The Land: Mountain bikers pre-ride courses before a race and describe the the trail and it’s features along the way. 

Tactics to Implement:

• POV: Viewers are able to see course features in detail from the riders perspective and get a follow cam view of the rider in front.
• Commentary: Riders explaining the trail and it’s conditions as they move through it. Their reactions to fun or sketchy sections add some personality and colour to the video.

Top Format:

• Video Duration: 0:28 & 0:20 
• Captions: Name and tag riders and include event hashtags and links when available.

2M Views

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406K Views

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Outliers: These videos were omitted from their content buckets as ‘viral’ outliers for exceeding 3x the views and engagements of their respective benchmarks.

Big Air

Multi Angle: Rider and jumps are shown from multiple angles to represent the scale of the jump.

Slow Motion: The video is repeated in slow motion, catching the rider’s take off, air time and landing.

2M Views

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Rider Spotlight

Content: PinkBike shared this teaser for a short film from Patagonia and linked back to their site where they hosted the full length version. Video highlights trails and riders familiar to PinkBike’s core audience.

132K Views

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Biking Humour

Length: 30 Seconds.

Style: Video is filmed on a smartphone and features a man riding the worlds smallest bike. It uses original audio and the live audience laughter adds to its humour.

75M Views

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Close Calls & Crashes

Content: Compilation style content from PinkBike. Videos in this category are from their weekly series, Sunday Saves and Friday Fails.

733K Views

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Follow Cam

Audio: Raw audio captures the high speed of the run and rider’s reactions.

Content: A professional mountain biker is highlighted in POV footage from the rider behind him during a downhill run.

8M Views

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Freeride Courses

Content: Follow cam style footage from professional riders provides a detailed look at the course used for freeride MTB event, Darkfest. This video was posted just after the multi day event started and allowed followers to familiarize themselves with the course. 

2.4M Views

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MTB Race Footage

Caption: Details on the winners are provided as well as a link to the full race.
Split Video: Video features the finish of both the mens and womens gold medal race.

767K Views

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Pumptrack Laps

Dynamic Filming: Riders are shown from various perspectives from start to finish with ideal angles for each section of the track.
Caption: Winners of all the event’s final races are named and tagged in the caption and a link to the full results is provided.

1.8M Views

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Trail Building

Time Lapsed: Details and progress are shown in fast paced format with several clips slowed down to original speed for more emphasis.

Combined Audio: Video uses music as well clips of original audio.

4.3M Views

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Urban Riding

Length: 15 seconds

Viral: This clip was originally posted by the rider on instagram before it was shared by brands and creators across other platforms. Those that tagged the rider saw higher levels of engagement

11M Views