Sponsorship Tip: Make A List and Check it Twice!
Before you even start calling new prospects and asking about sponsorship, there’s one thing that you MUST DO that will make you not just a racer, but an INFORMED SELLER of sponsorship. You MUST ANSWER THIS QUESTION:
What Do I Offer to a Sponsor as Ways of exposing THEIR Brand, communicating THEIR Message, and showcasing my support of THEIR product?
As you can see, the key word there is THEIR
You see, as much as RACING is all about YOU versus the competitors, Sponsorship is NOT all about YOU… It’s about THEM… Your Sponsors! If you want to earn their sponsorship support, you have to be able to tell a sponsor exactly how you, 'The Property', is going to EXPOSE, COMMUNICATE, and SHOWCASE their brand. If you aren't able to understand how you can do that, then it's going to be hard to earn new sponsorship support in an era where sponsorship is all about Mr. Marketing Manager being able to answer the question, "How did my sponsorship of Joe or Jill Racer increase my product's sales and/or awareness?"
How many times do you think a sponsor has been approached with the following statement: “I run in the top 5 every week and I am always contending for the win! If you sponsor me, I’ll put your logo on my car and it’ll be seen by hundreds, maybe thousands of fans every week!” In all honesty, while a ‘logo on a car’ really is the roots of sponsorship in motorsports, given the overall cluttered landscape of race tracks with hundreds of logos at any given track on any given night, the logo just doesn’t mean as much any more in regards to how effective a sponsorship really is for a sponsor who chooses to spend money supporting YOUR racing.
So, back to the challenge…
What do YOU offer to a Sponsor as ways of exposing THEIR Brand, Communicating THEIR Message, and showcasing YOUR SUPPORT of THEIR PRODUCT?
We’ll start the list here for you, but we’re not going to complete it. In fact, we challenge you to print this out and before you pick up the phone, make sure that every line is full of an action step that you can perform to answer the above question.
So here it goes… time to make YOUR list and then check it twice!
1) I can put Sponsor X’s logo on my car (sorry, we took the easy one)
2) I can put Sponsor X’s logo on my trailer (yeah, another easy one)
3) I can wear Sponsor X’s hat around the pits (one last 'simple' way to expose your sponsor)
OK… now it’s your turn to add more to it… and think about ACTIONS that you can perform that will EXPOSE your sponsor’s brand, COMMUNICATE their marketing message, and SHOWCASE your support of their product!
4) I can get a ‘special offer’ from them and put it on hero cards as a ‘coupon’ (OK… we added another one)
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There you have it... if you've filled in the list so you have 15 different ways that you can EXPOSE, COMMUNICATE, and SHOWCASE your sponsor, then you've got a great start!
Now that you're done, pick up the phone and start making some calls.... You'll be surprised at how easily you can answer the hardest question you'll ever hear from a sponsor, "So, if I'm going to sponsor you, tell me how you can expose my brand, communicate my marketing message and showcase my product to your fans".
Want to help us fill the list for everyone else who might be looking for more to add to their list? CLICK HERE to add your 2 cents to this tip in our Sponsorship Tips forum board!
Do you have any feedback about this sponsorship tip? Just CLICK HERE to join in the conversation on our Sponsorship Tips Forum Board!
