How to get sponsored in Racing?

In Motorsports, sponsorship and advertising is a multi-billion dollar business.  Sponsorship is a very important aspect of racing that few know how to tackle. Without it there will be few that will be willing or able to fork out their own funding to continue racing.  So the question that many drivers tend to ask is

“How can I get sponsored in racing?”

To answer that question you must put yourself in the shoes of a potential sponsor and think about what their objectives are. Of course, this varies from company to company but here are some objectives that most sponsors will be thinking about:

-       Reaching out to potential customers

-       Give them a reason why you should be sponsored and not some other driver or sport

-       Making valuable contacts through the sponsorship to help the sponsors and yourself
Now the first step is to think about how as a driver you will be able to meet the objectives of these potential sponsors. When you’re able to think about the options you can offer as a driver then sponsorship will start coming your way or at the very least look more achievable.

We aim to tackle the issue of sponsorship with an in depth guide of what you can do to secure sponsorship for yourself.

Create Exposure for yourself

Why do you need to create exposure for yourself? The reason is simple, if nobody knows you, nobody will want to sponsor you. Reaching out to clients is something that most companies will be looking. So the key here is to make yourself known as a driver.

You need to be in the news, you need to be mentioned as the person to speak to for information in racing. Make yourself the iconic figure person for any motorsports information. The key here is that the more exposure you gain, the better a potential consumer of the sponsor will be looking at you.

Let us look at some ways in which you can build up your profile:

1)     Hire a PR Agency to work on getting you press release for your race results and development. If sponsors see you as a potential champion, they will approach you first.

2)     Write for free on any medium you can find. Be an active person on the racing related forums answering any questions anyone has. Offer to write for free on racing magazines.

3)     Have a website to promote yourself and your services

4)     Offer your training services for free to car manufacturers and dealers to support any marketing activity that they may be conducting. If someone is holding a safety driving experience, offer your services.

5)     Offer your services to racing schools to be an instructor. The better you teach the better you can learn too. You can also use this in your resume for the future.

Come up with a sponsorship proposal

A sponsorship proposal is key to securing funding for your racing. This is what you present to potential sponsors when seeking sponsorship. If you do not have the necessary flair for language or graphic prowess, consider hiring someone to come up with the proposal for you.

Brand positioning is what every potential corporate sponsor will be concerned about when deciding on sponsorship for a driver. The brand of the company must always be associated with the best possible that can be represented of the sport.

So that means that you need to prove to them that sponsoring you in the world of motorsport is far more value for money than golf, tennis or any other professional sport for that matter. Here is how you can do it:

What needs to be in the proposal?

1)     Background information about yourself

2)     Your racing career thus far

3)     Your plans for the future

4)     Highlights that you want to talk about

5)     Offer them a presentation on the lights and glamour of sponsorship in the motorsport world

6)     Talk about the series that you are in, the coverage it receives from the media, the demographics of the people interested in the series. This requires in depth research.

7)     Offer case studies in your proposal of other companies that have benefited.

8)     List clearly the ways in which the company you are approaching for funding will benefit from sponsoring you. Ensure that your sponsorship proposal is tailored to each company that you are approaching. Nobody wants to read a generic sponsorship proposal. All companies want to know how they benefit.

9)     Show the companies you approach why it is value for money to sponsor you rather than doing their own marketing campaign for their product or service.

10)  Offer the sponsor a planned route for the sponsorship. For example, if you need 3 Million in sponsorship, make sure you plan out when do you need it and how are you going to receive it.

11)  You can plan a full marketing campaign for your sponsors too. Work with an advertising agency to link up with them to come out with a proposal for your sponsor on how to spend their advertising money with you inside the marketing mix.

Networking and building relationships

Networking is a very powerful tool, and often forgotten by drivers. Be friendly and approachable, and don’t wait for things to happen. Get out there and build the relationships that you need to be successful. Networking with the right people can save you a lot of time and effort, even money when you need to get something done.

1)     Talk to the media people who are covering the events you are participating in.

2)     When writing articles for magazines, newspapers for free, get to know the editors better.

3)     Speak to other team managers and drivers and find out who they know and why.

4)     Be very close to your country’s motorsport authority to offer free driving coaching to support any racing activities they have planned. You will be more popular with the association’s management staff and they will provide you with very valuable contacts for people that can help you out.

5)     Talk to drivers in specific about other forms of motorsports. If your karting buddy is doing Formula BMW too, show him support by attending his race. Most of the time attending another friend’s race will lead them to introduce you to some key people. Think about this, if your friend has the funding to race in a higher level of motorsport, the money has to be coming from some source.

6)     Basically you need to not keep to yourself. Talk to people and be interested in their lives and make a conscious effort to be involved in it somehow to get closer to them. The closer you are to them, the more likely they will help you out a little when you run out of money for racing.

We do hope that you have a better understanding of how to gain sponsorship to fund your racing career.