What a Sponsor Gets Out of Sponsoring a Race Team
I got a really good question from someone who joined our Winning Motorsports Marketing Facebook Community, and his question was, “what does a company gets out of sponsoring a race team?”. I’m sure this question is what many of you is struggling with. At the same time, this question is also partnered with another question from a racer’s perspective, how much does a racer should ask for his sponsors. Answer, ROI. Let’s discuss some tips about this topic.
Return On Investment (ROI)
In a simpler definition, Return on Invest or ROI is what you are going to give back for what your sponsors give you. This is an important discussion between the two parties, what kind of ROI should a sponsor expect from you. However, this doesn’t just end up providing an “x” value of money but rather it needs a justifiable and realistic basis.
How much ROI should a sponsor get?
The answer really varies a lot of times depending upon the price points of things. Ideally, a sponsor should be getting 2 to 10 folds of their provided sponsorships. If they provided a sponsored product worth $500, a sponsor should get an ROI ranging between $1000 to $5000 worth of business for them. This is what a racer should be looking at.
How much should a racer charge a sponsor?
“How much should I charge?”, “Is it a quarter panel of $200?”, “500?”, The answer to this question depends on how much can you return to them. In this scenario, you can also use your connection. Let’s say your target sponsor is an excavating company, one good ROI that you can provide to this sponsor is your ability to use your connection and connect them to construction or an architectural company.
It could also be a sponsor who has a restaurant or maybe a carwash that needs foot traffic. This is a huge opportunity for you to reach a lot of people and share with them the business of your sponsor. And since you have this audience who trust you, they’ll definitely follow you and be at your sponsors’ businesses.
Connection is one of the greatest things that you can build regardless of the industry that you belong to. And if don’t have any at the moment, try to build one and grow.
Intangible ROI
This part may not be tangible as the money does but it’s something that you can give a hand. You may offer your sponsor to bring out their team together with their families to provide them with a live racing experience. Give them a perfect spot on the bleacher. Let’s just take note that this is doable for a smaller team, like 10 or 20. Having a sponsor with a huge number of members is an entirely different situation.
With an approach like this, this isn’t something that they could buy by putting their name on the billboard. Moreover, make sure to tag them on your social media posts, put them on your racer’s website, and their stickers on your car. Also try to give a piece of paper to the announcer with the name of your sponsors. This way your sponsors will be announced as you go onto the track. The conventional flyers will not be out of the list. Let someone from your team distribute those. If the you think the customers of your sponsors are up in the stands, take that opportunity.
Most of these tips will also help you gain more fans apart from giving back to your sponsors. Moreover, your influence continues to grow. Now, how do you answer the question of what a sponsor gets for sponsoring a race team? Remember to be strategic, realistic, and make things manageable.
