by Kristin Swartzlander | Aug 27, 2015 | Motorsports Marketing for Tracks, Teams and Businesses, Racing Sponsorship
Y’all know I don’t talk about news very often. I’m more about the business of racing, less about the results and gossip. And I certainly don’t talk about politics. (Both stances are less stances than insurance policies against my safety and sanity. But I digress.) But a news story out of the Knoxville Nationals caught my particular attention, and I shared it on my Twitter account. The headline reads: Donald Trump getting his message out by sponsoring a car at the Knoxville Nationals (You can click on the link to read the whole article, if you haven’t already, and it’ll open in a new window.) I thought it might be fun to break this one down, the DirtyMouth way, because whether you’re looking for racing sponsorship or want to market to race fans, there are some interesting insights in this quick relationship. So, here we go. Messaging Start with the headline: the whole point of the sponsorship is to ‘get Trump’s message out’. Not to help Roger Crockett and car owner Bruce Williams out of the goodness of his heart. Not to have a logo on a car that’ll bank $150,000 at the end of the weekend. And probably not to get nothing at all in return. Trump’s campaign team chose this marketing vehicle to get his message out – a priority for political campaigns and companies alike. So, every time you ask why a company would sponsor you over a car that wins more races, or your track over, say, a stadium that gets quite a few more fans, recognize that you might be buying into an excuse....
by Kristin Swartzlander | Aug 14, 2015 | Racing Sponsorship
When I do a proposal review or coaching call, I’m often asked about how to explain the cost of sponsorship to a potential marketing partner through the lens of the cost of racing. “If they see how much it costs to race, they’ll realize why my sponsorship packages start at $X. They’ll see how much I need.” And I get it. You need to know how much it costs to race – or run a race track – and what your projected income will be. That’s a great starting point for determining how much marketing buy-in you need to accomplish your goals. Unfortunately, need doesn’t equate to what sponsorship is worth to a prospective partner. Think about it like this: if you walked into your local grocery store and they were charging $5,000 for carrots you would not buy carrots. Even if it was because they needed $5,000 to pay the utility bills…those carrots are likely not worth $5,000 to you. Karats are worth $5,000. (Help! PUNS!) Need doesn’t equal value. I talk about one problem with pitching sponsorship based on need in “What to Learn From Drivers Who Cry Poor“, which is this: it only works if you’re not getting enough of what you need. When you get what you need, the help goes away. Feast or famine is not healthy. The bigger problem is that when asking based on need, you’re not equating sponsorship with value. No matter what you you call it – ‘sponsorship’ or a ‘marketing partnership’ – you’re entering into a relationship in which you provide value in exchange for value. Even if the value exchange is...
by Kristin Swartzlander | Aug 6, 2015 | Motorsports Marketing for Tracks, Teams and Businesses, Racing Social Media, Racing Sponsorship
“All things being equal people will do business with, and refer business to, those people they know, like, and trust.” – The Go-Giver by Bob Burg and John David Mann Marketers throw around the phrase ‘know, like, trust’ like pitchers throw around, well, balls. You’ve probably heard it before and completely ignored it, because what does that matter in racing? That’s marketing. Here’s how it applies to racing (which, by the way, is how it applies to the real world because we’re not that different!): in order to become a customer – whether that’s a sponsor, ticket holder or apparel buyer – a person has to trust you. You build trust with a potential customer by getting them to like you. In order for a customer to like you, they have to get to know you. In effect, first they get to know you. Then, they like you. As they like you, they trust you. Only then will they consider buying from you. Putting yourself out there consistently is the first step. That means both online and in person. Here’s how I get to know people: Talk to them. Shocking, if you know me. I’m quiet, but I actually do talk to people!! Use social media. Tweet. Snapchat. Periscope. View their website, read their articles or look at other non-social content. Look at their associations with other people I already know. Telling your story authentically is the second step in getting them to like you. Here’s how I decide if I like someone: Their interests, attitudes and values align with mine. Their sense of humor. Do they get it? Their respect for...
by Kristin Swartzlander | Jul 30, 2015 | Racing Sponsorship
This week (as opposed to some other weeks, to be perfectly honest), I’m taking my own advice. Many of you have been with me for the nearly two years that I’ve consistently blogged every Thursday, but others are brand new. That’s why I thought it might be a good time to take a broader look at one of the most popular topics here – racing sponsorship – and my philosophy. So, let’s break it all down. What is Sponsorship? You probably already have an idea of what sponsorship is. When a company gives a race team money, right? Kind of. The mainstream outlook is that sponsorship is a company giving a race team money to support their racing efforts. The problem with this viewpoint is that it doesn’t reflect what the company gets in exchange for their money. Here, the sponsorship is all about what the company is doing for the racer, not what the racer is doing for the company. My definition of sponsorship is this: a marketing value exchange between two properties. I’m not trying to oversimplify here – most people do recognize that companies don’t just give you money to help you. (They get a logo on the car that hundreds, maybe even thousands, of people will see, right?!) But that’s what I see most sponsorship seekers focus on: how helpful sponsorship will be to their operation. This might have worked in the past for local, mom-and-pop businesses that you patronized, but even those companies – the companies that love you and truly want to support your dream – have become wise to the need for...
by Kristin Swartzlander | Jun 5, 2015 | Media and Public Relations, Mindset, Motorsports Marketing for Tracks, Teams and Businesses, Racing Social Media, Racing Sponsorship
Last week, I wrote about why engagement matters more than ever in racing. Engagement at the race track and engagement in your online community. The more engaged your audience is, the more consistently committed they are to you and your brand. If you read last week’s post, you know why engagement matters, I want to talk about how to boost your online engagement, whether you run a race team, series, track or brand. When you think about engagement, I want you to think about specific actions. Reading a piece of content, whether that’s on your Facebook account, Twitter feed or your scoreboard, is not engagement. That’s consumption. Engagement, by quantifiable standards, means taking action. Let’s talk about two of the most popular platforms: Facebook and Twitter. On Facebook, engagement means a: • Like, • Share, • Comment, or • Click on a link. On Twitter, engagement means a: • Retweet, • Favorite, • Reply, • Click on a link. You can imagine what engagement looks like on the rest of the interwebs – for example, on Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube and your email newsletter. What you probably already know is that Facebook treats engagement differently. Your content is ‘edge-ranked’ by Facebook’s algorithm based on a number of factors that influence who sees your content and how often. Engagement is a major factor in that equation. And while the other networks – including race tracks – don’t use engagement to determine your level of exposure to your fans, it’s just as important. The more action fans take with your content – whether that’s what you do at the track or online...
by Kristin Swartzlander | May 28, 2015 | Media and Public Relations, Motorsports Marketing for Tracks, Teams and Businesses, Racing Social Media, Racing Sponsorship
Over the next two weeks, I want to explore a topic that’s always hot when it comes to marketing and almost never talked about when it comes to racing: engagement. First, let’s talk about how to define engagement and why you should care. Generally, engagement is: emotional involvement or commitment. In our social media and online marketing, engagement means likes, comments, shares, and other actions like subscribes, purchases and referrals. At the race track, engagement is generally less quantifiable. It starts when a fan or driver enters the speedway and, for example, gets built by: Forming relationships with other fans, drivers and track staff, Cheering for their favorite driver, Attending an autograph session, Bringing a friend or family member, Buying apparel and souvenirs, and Sharing their experience on social media, bringing the concept full circle. As you might notice above, social media engagement feeds the at-the-track actions and at-the-track engagement can feed social media. If that doesn’t give you enough of a reason to care about engagement, here’s the what it boils down to: The more engaged your audience is, the more consistently committed they are to you and your brand. So, what does that mean to you? For drivers, engaged fans might mean more apparel sales, more cheers from the grandstands, more fan votes in contests, more sponsorship opportunities and better performance for your current marketing partners. For tracks, engaged fans might mean more consistent, higher attendance numbers, more apparel and souvenir sales, more sales of signature concession items, a higher propensity to share their experience at the track, more sponsorship opportunities and better performance for your current...
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