by Kristin Swartzlander | Jan 28, 2016 | Media and Public Relations
Recently, one of our DirtyMouth Sponsorship Success Community members, late model racer Darin Henderson, posted about one of his marketing wins: a feature on the late-model-focused publication DirtOnDirt.com. In his post, Darin recognized the value of the media attention he received in continuing to grow his audience and build his fan-base and provide added value to current marketing partners and potentially attract new sponsors. There is immense power in being featured in the media, both for your team or track and for your marketing partners, and I was really excited that Darin realized this. With my background doing public relations , I often forget that not everyone sees how valuable media coverage is, and how straightforward it is to get some when you have a compelling story and you work professionally with the media. Media coverage can: Expose you to new potential fans Expose you to new potential marketing partners Provide value to current marketing partners (by giving them additional reach beyond your core fan base) Give you a platform to share parts of your story that you haven’t shared elsewhere Allow fans to connect with you on a different level, through your voice or image on podcasts and video Provide an additional point of reference for the know-like-trust factor, often boosting sales and levels of engagement Allow you to create new messaging about yourself, your products, your track or your event Set you apart from your competition (and, no, that’s not just the racer in the trailer next to you or the track down the road) Provide hard metrics and credibility for marketing partners and other, bigger, media outlets Do...
by Kristin Swartzlander | Jan 22, 2016 | Mindset, Motorsports Marketing for Tracks, Teams and Businesses
Want to take your marketing game to the next level, whether you’re a racer, track promoter or racing business? Look outside of racing. It might sound simple, but it’s worth considering. Because the most successful people that I know in racing didn’t get there by modeling off of other racing businesses. They don’t stay at the top that way either. They look outside of the industry, and model bits and pieces of other successful businesses. My business, and my customers’ and clients’ programs, have benefited both from my experience outside of racing and my eagerness to research, test and execute new tactics that other industries are having success with. For example: Want to offer fans better customer service? Don’t just look at what other tracks do. Consider what the best customer service providers, like Zappo’s, in the world do and how they empower their employees to enact their philosophy. Want to entice more ‘casual’ fans in? Look at how other entertainment venues or, even, gas stations like Sheetz provide a winning model of custom, higher-end food and beverage options. These are really straightforward examples, but that’s because it’s a straightforward concept: some of my best (and most profitable) ideas and strategies for my clients have come from studying the business of other industries that are seemingly unrelated. How many brilliant crew chiefs found a technological breakthrough from an inspiration outside of racing? Probably more than we know. It takes either an active level of curiosity or an active decision to ignore what’s in front of you and search for what’s better, or sometimes both. But it’s necessary if you want to be...
by Kristin Swartzlander | Jan 15, 2016 | Motorsports Marketing for Tracks, Teams and Businesses, Racing Sponsorship
Recently, I had the opportunity to attend a ‘business of sports’ talk with the EVP of Marketing at the Pittsburgh Pirates, Drew Cloud, and take a private tour of PNC Park. It took me back quite a bit to my days at the San Francisco 49ers, and the level at which professional sports organizations like them operate. I had a ton of takeaways that I feel can be applied to the racing industry. My favorite, by the way, is the philosophy that this blog is based around: look outside of your own industry for best practices and great ideas. Read: if you’re only paying attention to what the track down the road is doing, you’re missing the boat. One thing that really stuck out to me was how they treat their season ticket holders, or, I should say, their ‘members’. Season tickets are the Pirates biggest revenue driver, and they offer season ticket packages for as few as six games and as many as the full 81-home-game season. And they view their ticket holders as ‘members’ of an exclusive club instead of money-saving fans. In my experience, season tickets are one of the most underutilized and/or confusing promotions that tracks generally butcher. Very few have enough information available to potential customers for them to make a purchasing decision. Tracks struggle to structure the price and flexibility (some even sell them at face value, with no rain date provisions), have difficulty getting the word out about the cost savings, or are in a market that generally doesn’t want to commit to a block of time. The Pirates have to deal with some of...
by Kristin Swartzlander | Jan 7, 2016 | Racing Sponsorship
Of the questions that I get asked regarding racing sponsorship and helping racers, events and tracks clinch the right marketing deals, I would say that the vast majority are about, or swing back to, the almighty racing sponsorship proposal. I get questions on the number of pages, categorizing by levels, whether to include pricing or not, how many photos to use…the list goes on (and on). But one thing that my smartest coaching clients ask me is, I believe, one of the most critical questions about sponsorship proposals: Where does my sponsorship proposal fit in the sales cycle? It’s not that those questions aren’t important. They certainly are. But what’s more important to understand is that your marketing proposal isn’t what sells sponsorship. Just because the proposal is the item that you (almost always) have push across the table (or internet) to seal the deal, it’s not actually what makes the deal. You’re what makes the deal. And knowing how the racing sponsorship proposal fits into that process of presenting you is just as critical as knowing what to put in it. So what does the Sponsorship Sales Cycle look like? I can honestly say that it’s different for every person, but I’ll tell you what I suggest and in what order: Identify what’s sellable in your program. Take inventory of the assets you can offer – tangible and intangible. Have a great social media presence? Own a truck and trailer you can have lettered? Know a high-end videographer who can produce great footage for a partner? These are all sellable assets that you can include in your racing sponsorship proposal. Build a portfolio of...
by Kristin Swartzlander | Dec 31, 2015 | Media and Public Relations, Mindset, Motorsports Marketing for Tracks, Teams and Businesses, Racing Social Media, Racing Sponsorship
As we close out 2015 this week, I encourage you to take some time to reflect on the past year. We all experience successes and failures in life, work, and racing, and I’m no different. Last week, I shared the powerful impact of 2015, both on me and on the community, and how grateful I am for the progress we’re making. You can read that here. Today and tomorrow, I’ll be in the office attempting to close out 2015 and plan 2016. (I’m only three months late on my October ‘2016 Planning’ target. If you’re behind, you are not alone!) We have a lot of fun things in the works for next year that I hope to announce in January and February, but we do have one coming up SOON: Sponsorship Marketing Workshop: Crafting Effective Sponsorship Proposals – Live on Sunday, January 10th. On-Demand Forever. Details Here. We had a great response to the first sponsorship marketing workshop on crafting and value the perfect offerings (you can get the on-demand version here if you missed the live event), so I’m adding more workshops just like it to the calendar. This is something that I’ve always thought could bring value to the community with a lower price point than private coaching, so I’m excited to share that we’re planning on releasing at least one workshop per month going forward in 2016. More details on that later, but if you want to weigh in on the topics and content, please feel free to share your thoughts with me here. Some of you are new to this blog (sign up for the free newsletter if so!),...
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