Should you ask for product sponsorship instead of cash?
I hear a lot of drivers talk about how easy it is to get product sponsorships over cold, hard cash. That’s because, typically, it’s cheaper and easier for a business to give away a product than it is to allocate some marketing budget.
The problem with product sponsorship is the fact that it won’t pay for race entry fees, repairs on the car, transport to a track, and so on. However, there are plenty of benefits to getting product sponsorship, especially if it’s early on in your career.
Before I touch on how to approach a company for this kind of partnership, here are some times when it’s fine to consider product sponsorship in motorsport.
Product sponsorship can help you to save money
If you would normally be spending out on hotels, sports cameras, protein bars, tires, and parts, you can save some money by doing deals with businesses to get those things for free.
If you team up with a hotel chain, for example, you could save money on accommodation costs, but only if you’d normally choose a hotel over camping.
A few years ago, I road-tripped around Croatia and no one was ever going to pay for me to go on such an epic trip, even with loads of social, online, and news coverage. So when I approached a car hire company to talk about ways we could work together, the pitch was simple: a premium car for the road trip in exchange for an agreed amount of coverage.
This saved me approximately £300 and meant I had a very nice Audi to swish around in for a week. I would’ve spent this money either way, so it was a great way to reduce the cost for a little extra work further down the line.
The same goes for your racing. Working with a brakes company on a product-only deal can reduce your overall spend during your season.
It might be your only option when just starting out
When you’re just starting out as a racing driver you might not have many results to your name and your follower numbers might still be quite low. You still might have great value to offer a business but might struggle to communicate this. If a decision-maker likes you and sees the potential, they might be willing to test the water with a product-only deal before considering cash.
You can still build relationships
If you can get some freebies from a brand in exchange for promotion, it gives you a chance to show that company what you can do. As you progress as a driver and work on your relationship with these partners, those product sponsorships could grow. A company that gave you a discount on wheels early on in your career could become a big investor in the future.
Mutual promotion isn’t worth nothing
You’ll have a duty to promote the brand you’re working with to your audience but if you can provide the right content and news, the company could help to elevate your profile too. I work with a few drivers who promote Racing Mentor and in return, they get free products, access to courses, and coaching sessions, but I also make a point to share what they’re doing, shout about their achievements, and promote them where I can.
It’s good practice
The more you work with partners, the more you’ll learn about what you can offer, how to juggle sponsor obligations alongside everything else, and how to make the most impact on a business. This will help you see exactly where your value lies and how you can show that to potential sponsors in the future.
It’s a great way to get social proof
If you can make a real difference for a partner, a testimonial is a fantastic thing to include in future pitches. Businesses want to know their money won’t be wasted so if they can hear from fellow business owners about how you helped to grow social followings or increase sales, you have even more chance to land a big cash sponsor.
Ask your early product sponsors to provide a testimonial on how you’ve worked together. Include this as social proof in future pitch decks.
You can ask for introductions
A small business that has given you some lubricants/wheels/engine parts might not be able to offer money, especially if they have similar deals in place across a lot of race series. However, they might be able to introduce you to business owners who do have the sort of marketing budget.
Build and nurture these relationships and show off what you can do — you need to stand out over all the other drivers doing similar deals. This is important because an introduction from a mutual contact is by far the best way to land a new sponsor.
How to get product sponsorship
Here are some tips for securing motorsport product sponsorship.
Consider what you spend money on
The only way product sponsorships will help you to move forward in your career is if they help you to save on race costs. It might be nice to get free clothing or drinks but there’s no real cost benefit. Otherwise you’re just promoting a brand for a few freebies, and often, the work you need to do outweighs the cost of the product.
Typically, good product sponsorships come in the form of parts, tyres, services, food and drink you’d normally pay for at the track, wraps, car cleaning products, and sticker printing. Make a big list of your race weekend costs and go from there.
Think about what that sponsorship might be worth
For the most part, one-off product sponsorships tend to be relatively low value. Let’s say you got an in-car camera worth £200. That’s less than a brand would pay for a month of social media promotion and much, much less than it would for PR services.
However, the difference a £200 camera might make to you is vast. Firstly, you can now share high-quality in-car footage, you have a new brand to add to your car and list of sponsors, and perhaps you can even get your in-car feed on the TV coverage for your series. Not to mention the fact you’ve saved £200 on buying a camera.
What you offer the brand is up to you. You might go all out, considering how valuable this product is to you, or you might simply try and meet what it cost the brand. Either way, it should be obvious to the brand that sponsoring you is a good deal for them.
Go above and beyond for regular sponsorship
If you can get regular hotel rooms, a constant supply of food and drink, or new tyres for each race, you need to go above and beyond for these sponsors. These kinds of product sponsorships typically hold a much higher value than one-offs.
Again, consider the cost to the business and go from there but you should treat these sponsors as you would someone putting in a considerable chunk of money into your racing.
Promoting a sponsor so heavily can be very time-consuming so make sure you’re getting products where there’s a real cost saving to your race season, or where the benefits outweigh the time it takes on promotion.
For example, you might not normally pay out for all your race guests to get free drinks and snacks but if a company offers this, allowing you to offer drinks and snacks to other sponsors to entice them in or get them to meet with you, that can make it all worthwhile.
Weigh up time, costs, and savings
When looking at product sponsorship, think about how much time you’ll need to spend working with that sponsor and promoting what they do. You should also think about the other benefits you might get from working with them and if they’d be able to promote you too.
If a deal seems like it’s going to be way too much effort, or a business asks for too much, it’s probably going to be more hassle than it’s worth. It’s exciting to land a sponsor but think about whether or not it’s going to work out before you say yes to their offer.
If you have any questions or want to run a potential deal past a friendly community of drivers and motorsport professionals, join the Racing Mentor Sponsorship Community on Facebook.
FAQ
How do race car drivers get sponsors?
Racing drivers can get sponsors by reaching out to businesses that share a similar audience. The driver needs to be able to offer something of value to the business — often this is made up of access to followers, race hospitality, branding, video content, and track days.
Find out more about the basics of motorsport sponsorship here.
How does sponsorship work in racing?
Businesses that sponsor racing drivers will usually pay money or provide free products in exchange for the value a driver can offer. Businesses want to earn back their investment in some way so they’ll expect to reach a new audience, get more sales leads, or participate in events that could increase order value. Sponsorship is also a tax write-off but this isn’t always much of a pull for businesses, as other marketing/advertising payments are also tax deductible.