How to Create Motorsports Marketing ROI?
In our last edition of the Motorsports Promotions newsletter, we spoke about ROI (Return on Investment). This week we will talk about how we get from motorsports marketing looks right for our company to an ROI.
Lead time
Involvement
Focus
Consultation
Partnerships
Understanding
These six areas are necessary for the success of a motorsports marketing program.
Lead Time
The understanding of lead time in a motorsports marketing program is critical from the beginning to end. Lead time is why your, track, series or team needs a dedicated SALESPERSON for your process. The sales representative must go through a sales cycle, if you are not a sales orientated person when you are asking for 30, 50 100k+ this does not happen via phone or a single lunch. Lead time, a company with a budget large enough to be involved at these investment levels needs to integrate this into their budgets. The realization that they are assessing where the marketing dollars for 2023 are going on now means lead time. Do you have time right now as a track, series, or team to be managing even fifty solid leads to be a partner in your motorsports marketing program for 2023?
Great news it is August 1st and you have signed a deal with a new partner, are you starting your marketing as soon as your vinal person can get the logo done? Lead time again, just because the logo is ready for the hood does not mean this program is ready to go. Was the transporter part of the package, apparel, do you have the branded booth ready for your new business partner? Lead time is essential for all parties involved. You cannot buy radio ads and be ready to hear your ad the next day, it takes lead time production and a plan to leverage the outcome you are seeking as a business engaging in a motorsports marketing program.
Lead time will benefit both parties, from the company standpoint sufficient lead time will allow for the true customization of your motorsports marketing program, from the track website banner and track billboard to the team transporter and vehicle the ability to create that unique and unforgettable visual takes lead time. Using lead time to determine the best events to have that interactive booth or off-track event, these are some of the most critical items of a motorsports marketing program, this is the conversion point.
Involvement
Involvement is needed on every level and at ever point along this journey. The marketing department, the sales department and C-Level management all need to play a part in a successful motorsports marketing program. We are all aware that marketing is the department that is going to drive this program, however it will not be successful nor sustainable without all aspect of the company becoming and staying involved. In the planning stages, the C-Level management involved will be projecting the process, ideology, and projected ROI to the executive group and potentially a board of directors about this motorsports marketing package. Sales needs to be involved as they are held responsible for the outcomes in the sales metrics, getting them to buy in with the outlet partners with the marketing materials, getting those outlet partners to use the team vehicle in ads. Involving stakeholders throughout the company drives the use of the partnership in employee retention and recruiting, social media, sales and building a relationship with the entirety of your target markets. The engagement of stakeholder on all levels of a company, track, series, and team are critical to the long-term sustainability and success of a motorsports marketing program.
?Involvement from tracks, series, and teams, we will touch on this more under partnerships, however if your motorsports marketing package does not engage your business, with a track, a series, and a team you do not have the right package. Anyone of these by themselves can create an outcome, none of them individually will create the outcome your company visualizes. Each entity offers a unique set of opportunities, therefore a package that involves tracks, series and teams are the most successful.
Focus
Focus is an integral part of anything, with a motorsports marketing program it is imperative. What is the focused goal or goals of this program? What is the focused geographic local of this program? Are you focusing on the attendees or is the focus on the B2B market of the participants? Do not be afraid to reevaluate that focus, did your company start by seeking loyalty rewards signups and realized you need to recruit people? Were you looking to drive consumers to your retail outlets or dealers and realized the B2B opportunities were great? Readjust the focus and move forward, a motorsports marketing program does have the flexibility to readjust that focus. Unless your primary goal is B2B, do not focus on the track series or team, focus on the attendees, these are your customers primarily. Staying engaged with these attendees, making sure you focus on trends within the sport, engage with your team.
Consultation
As a company that is coming into motorsports, understand the people associated with motorsports are your consultants, the ability to adjust and customize a motorsports package is virtually unlimited and as such make sure your motorsports marketing partners participate in the conversations. The knowledge and understanding about the intricacies of the sport will give your company an edge in every aspect of the implementation of a motorsports marketing package. This consultative aspect includes size of logos and color combination based on years of visuals of high-speed moving billboards to placement of your message on the transporters. Think about billboard placement or website banner placement, is there an action spot at this track that your billboard would be in the background of more pictures or videos? What do most visitors choose to seek information about at the different websites, points, schedule, results? Consulting about the right series, this is mostly a geographic consultation, however series overlap in several cases and using the consultative abilities to participate in the right events within a metro area.
?The perfect example in motorsports marketing of scheduling consultation. Your motorsports marketing program is scheduled for fifteen on track events, three events are scheduled within the geographic footprint of two major metropolitan cities in a 30-day period. Do you go for the saturation and have all three be a part of the schedule? Do you choose two of the three based on proximity to each metro area? Do you choose two of the three based on attendee and ability to convert for desired outcomes? This is exactly where your company wants to have continued dialog with your motorsports partner. The ability of a team to pivot and change the schedule in the middle of the season is much greater than a company realizes.
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Partnerships
Motorsports marketing programs are unique from the standpoint that the entirety of the program is based on a partnership and less than a vendor, vendee relation than anywhere else in marketing. As a partner in motorsports, you will shake hands with the owner of the sports venue, when is the last time your company shook the hand of the owner of the printing company that was contracted by a marketing company to create your brochure? Did you meet the owner of the radio station, you will know the owner of the series on a first name basis? You will share potluck buffets with your team and sit around campfires and drink beverages. Those are partnerships not venders, and other business owners will want to partner with you.
The partnership aspect of motorsports marketing is ingrained in the motorsports industry. Teams are independent contractors that freely choose to participate at a variety of tracks and with a variety of series. This creates the partnership bond immediately as the team only has a place to race if a track or series exists to partner with to participate. These series manage the rules and regulations of each series these teams choose to participate and partner with. These series partnerships with both the tracks and teams closes the partnership loop from the competition side, without this partnership there would be no fans.
This partnership mentality is the benefit a company gets from a motorsports marketing program, these three entities work together to create a great entertainment product, that entertainment product brings loyal fans to these venues to be the captive audience that wants to reward your brand for partnering with these tracks, series and teams.
Understanding
Understanding that motorsports is a multi-channel platform with opportunities to manage multiple messages of focus on a specific message and outcome. Understand each component of a motorsports marketing plan and the role that item plays within the partnership of opportunities. Understanding of the role lead time plays in the desired outcome. Understand the role involvement of all stake holders internal and external to your company and the outcome goals. Understanding what is important to focus on, the spectators, the message, and the desired outcome not necessarily finishing position. Motorsports is driven by winning, if your business is involved with the right series and tracks, your team will NOT win all the time, it is that competition that is bringing the potential customers to the event. Understand what is important, wining is a benefit not a prerequisite. Understanding the consultative services available by your motorsports marketing team, they are specialist in positioning your brand for the greatest exposure, reaction by the fans and in turn conversion to your brand and lifestyle. Understand the ideology of partnership is ingrained in the motorsports industry, this ideology and business model is the single greatest asset to a marketing program, those involved will look at your business partnership with the dedication no other marketing program can even come close to creating.
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?Activation
After all the planning, coordination, and creation it is time to put the plan in action. Transporter is branded, vehicle is a piece of artwork, your team looks just as described a team with an unmistakable identity. Billboards, websites, and events are all in place, that first motorsports car show is here the branded booth, the hero cards and the activation is on. People are taking pictures with this brand-new team sharing with a hashtag or promo code. They are buying the new swag to represent their team in the new lifestyle branded merchandise.
What is the activation goal?
?Are you collecting online resumes?
?Signing up people for a loyalty program?
?Sampling and couponing your product?
?Creating a different call to action?
Tracking?
Events are happening, social media hits are being generated, activation interaction is in full swing. Now the tracking and the summarizing of those outcomes. The sharing of this data and the ongoing discussion of focus will continue to make a motorsports marketing program a successful, fun, and interactive marketing program.
?Do the Math for ROI?
?To have a conversion of impressions, we must first have impressions.
?Creating three million impressions in a single year for the basis of this example.
?A conversion rate of just 1% would create 30,000 sales
?You know your product, 30,000 sales at your average retail price, what is that value?
?Do you have a big-ticket item and conversion is only .0001?
?That is still three hundred sales.
What is your ticket price? What is that value?
?We can show three million impressions with the most basic of packages.
Motorsports Promotions has upgraded two of our Day at The Races to A Party in The Pits. This is a perfect opportunity to experience everything about how to enhance your brand and drive a new customer base to your brand through motorsports. As guests of the tracks, and Motorsports Promotions you will enjoy food and beverage, tours of the garage/pit area, meet potential spokes persons and have an exciting time. Each of these events will be limited to twenty-four guests. Do not delay get your company on the guest list today.?
We hope you will join us at one of the events to experience everything that is and could be included in a branding package with Motorsports Promotions.
Contact us today at [email protected] with your email address for an invitation to “A Party in The Pits”
The links below are a reminder for you of that date and the event associated with that date.
For more information about Motorsports Promotions see us at?www.motorsportspromotions.com
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Thank you
Jim Naumann
Motorsports Promotions
Stock Car Driver and Instructor, Owner/Operator @ A&B Growers LLC
2 年This is a great article!! Thank you for sharing.