Pursue Smaller Sponsors or a big Wow Sponsor?

Pursue Smaller Sponsors or a big Wow Sponsor?

I want to answer a question that I’ve seen come up from a racer. And that question is, should I go for a smaller sponsor or should I go for that big wow sponsor? The answer to this question varies depending where you are at on your journey of promotion. I am going to break it down, so that you can easily find the right fit for you.

Examine Your Platform


Ask yourself, “What kind of influence do I have?”. When you promote things out in the world, how many people are you reaching? If you plan on asking for $100,000 worth of sponsorship, but only reach 10 people, then you are expecting those 10 people to contribute $10,000 in sales to that sponsor for them to get a return on their investment.

How Your Sponsor Aligns With Your Brand


It is possible going for that big wow sponsor for you if you are aligned right without a big following. For instance, if you work at a car dealership and your race car could become an extension of their promotion by having your car there on display, and used as a sales tool on a frequent basis, that could open you up to the larger sponsorship. So evaluate what kind of influence you could potentially have to align with your potential sponsor.

Expectations Vary Based on Amount


Expectations vary greatly based on the amount of sponsorship. For example, I have a different expectation on what I am going to be consuming at McDonald’s vs a larger more expensive place, like Ruth’s Chris. Sponsoring $50 with you is a lot different than sponsoring $5-10,000 with you. If you walk away with my $50 and I barely get a bumper sticker, I know it is what it is. However, if you do that with a bigger chunk of money, then we’re going to have an issue. Definitely look at what those expectations are going to be, that way it’s very clear what you need to deliver.

Promotion is a Practice


Promotion is not something that you can just go do and it’s done, it is continual. You have to be thinking, what is the next thing, or next way that I’m going to promote. You should always be thinking about the next post as your posts are going up. In other words, I want you to pick the situation where you’re going to be able to return the most amount of value for your potential sponsor.

Trust The Metric

I always look at the metric of 2- 10x the value of sponsorship. For instance, if you’re asking someone for $1,000, ask yourself “Am I going to be able to bring them somewhere between $2000 and $10,000 in sales?”. If you use that as a metric, then you will easily be able to back up and see what you’re able to ask for. This will allow you see how much value that you can bring to a potential sponsor.

For More Helpful Tips

I hope these steps are helpful for you. For more sponsorship tips and help for racers click here. Go ahead and drop in a comment and let me know are you going to look at smaller sponsors, or that big wow sponsor?