It’s the time of year when we see a flurry of press releases in the racing world that boasts exactly how many sponsors a racer has as he or she launches this season’s racing campaign.
While the world is all about big numbers, racing is different. In racing, you win by having the lowest times and finishing in the #1 spot. 
When I think about adding sponsors, I consider that concept. I evaluate what our team, event or property will be trading off to post another ‘number’. And I advise my coaching clients to do the same.
For every marketing partner you add, you potentially split your time, effort and the attention span of your audience. Keep in mind that if you’re not maxed out on any of those assets, then adding another partner is purely a positive for your team.
But I often wonder when I see lists of 20+ sponsors on a release: is that team providing equivalent value to those partners?
Or are they going a mile wide and an inch deep?
If you have two dozen partners, but each of those businesses only invests in one or two properties, how equivalent is the promotion of that partnership going to be? You’re splitting your time between 24 businesses on your race car, social media, website, and activations. But they’re only promoting you.
The racer is getting the majority of the benefit, as their audience will come to equate your team or property with that business, but your audience is struggling to keep track of who your partners are and, most importantly, why.
As an aside, many racers who struggle to find sponsorship are starting the conversation with numbers that equate to a small businesses’ entire marketing budget, if they even have one. Think about what it means for that business to invest their entire budget into you, while you ask 29 other companies for that same investment.
Having fewer partners that you build deep, significant relationships with is my personal preference for approaching sponsorship.
The benefits of investing heavily in fewer partners can mean a number of things for you and your sponsors in addition to the benefit of not splitting your time, energy and efforts across dozens of businesses.
Your partnerships are likely to become long-term. As your brand becomes intertwined with theirs, and the more of an asset you are to their business, the less likely they are to give up that relationship.
When you’re doing your job well, you become a driver of success in their business. As we’ve talked about in the past, that might mean more bottom-line customer sales, but it also might mean higher employee retention rates, deeper vendor relationships, more positive publicity in a specific community or audience, etc.
Most businesses will not cut out a driver of success in their business. In fact, good business minds will invest more heavily in those assets. Which is another benefit for you: fewer partners generally means more value to your team in the long-term.
In the past, we’ve talked about how serving your current sponsors is the absolute best way to attract new ones in my opinion.
Today, I hope you’ll think about why the number of sponsors you have is most likely insignificant compared to the depth of those partnerships.
Instead of a flurry of activity to add a few lower-dollar logos to your car or the signage at your track, consider investing in your current partnerships and seeding the relationships with a few companies that you can bring significant value to now and in the future.
Yes, a new marketing partner will add value to your team in some way, whether that’s financially, with in-kind products, with publicity or a number of other valuable assets. But what will you give to provide value to that sponsor?
xo.
Kristin
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