Race Sponsorship’s with Jeff Lambert – Expectations

Sponsorship Expectations

This month I would like to provide a little insight as to what a sponsorship feels like after you ink a deal with your first sponsor and what are some of the basic requirements.

Some sponsors are going to send you a contract with their expectations. You will obviously have to agree to the contract if you want to enter into a marketing relationship with them. 

You will also find that some are just a handshake deal with no written contract.  Either way, you’re going to want to include some basic items in your monthly responsibilities for your sponsor.

 Contingency Decal

I know you have heard me say a hundred times that there is more to sponsorship’s than a sticker on the side of the car but it is still important and will be expected.  In my winner circle photos, I always go out of my way to make sure sponsor stickers are seen in the photos. 

Some of my sponsorship contracts state the size of the decal, but if you are not given a specific size, use your best judgement as to what looks best and can give your sponsor the best exposure.

Marketing Material

Your sponsors should be on every piece of marketing material you display, hand out, or talk about. This includes videos, podcasts, or radio/TV programs.  If you don’t have Hero Cards printed the day after you finalize sponsors, you are immediately behind the eight ball.

Action Photos

Your sponsor will want photos of you and your race car in action.  Remember you are in a marketing partnership with them and you should be providing them with quality photos. 

They will want photos that are watermark free and royalty free.  Hire a professional photographer and have them sign a release so that your sponsors can use the photos.  I document my release statements using email and forward them on to the sponsor.

Video/Photos of Product

Creating videos of the sponsor’s product in use is a great way to add value and help sell their product to your followers.  One of my sponsors is Risk Racing. 

Risk Racing is a Motocross company and has nothing to do with drag racing.  But they have the most amazing gas can I have ever used and I chose to target them as a sponsor because of their gas jug. 

See, the jug can be used one handed, which is important to us because we have disabled veterans that have only one arm. 

I created a video demonstrating this very thing and drag racers start telling me other reasons why they like the gas jug. It became one of my best videos and allowed me to prove that value in sales of a gas jugs at Risk Racing.  Showcase your sponsor’s products often!

Social Media

Create organic posts about how your sponsor helps your race program and how they can help others.  Seems simple but it’s often overlooked and forgotten.

Tag Your Sponsor

I see this done incorrectly every day.  When you are creating posts for your sponsor don’t just use hashtags, actually tag them in the post.  I will use Armed Forces Racing as an example. 

If you wanted to tag Armed Forces Racing in a post and you start to type the name and it does not populate automatically you should use the @ symbol in front of the name and it will populate for you.  If you don’t know the official name of the page to be able to use the @ symbol, go to the page and look for it under their title name.

Read Jeff’s last blog post on the common questions regarding sponsorship.

Conclusion

These are some of the basic things you should do and will be required to do in a marketing partnership.  I hope this gives you a little insight to what will be expected of you and opens up some ideas for you when thinking about adding value to a proposal for future sponsors.

About the author: Jeff Lambert is the President of Armed Forces Racing and founder of racesponsorships.net. Jeff has a passion to grow the sport of sportsman drag racing by helping grass roots racers improve their race programs through sponsorship’s.  During the next 12 months Jeff will be sharing articles that will guide you to ways of funding your race program through sponsorship’s by obtaining marketing partners.

You can connect with Jeff on Facebook at @racesponsorships.net or email jeff@dragchamp.com.