ROI this and ROI that. They’re common marketing terms being thrown around when it comes to sponsorship or anything that has a cost. Return on Investment. What do I get in return for my investment?
Now determining an ROI on your time, money or product giveaway is important. You have to know what you are getting out of the investment but how do you determine actual dollars earned as a result of this sponsorship? Sometimes it’s easy to directly impact a sale, but often it’s less concrete.
With that in mind and with the interest of actually providing value to a sponsor, I’m more focused on ROO. Return on Objective. And I believe as a racer this should be your focus as well. As a business partner with your sponsor, you should understand what their objective of the sponsorship is. Is it to be more visible in local areas, or to get traction in local dealers? Is their goal to have a sponsored racer in each state or a wide variety of racing types?
These are things you need to tailor to your individual sponsors and why I recommend working with a few good ones rather than a mass amounts of companies. Go back and check out my article (Sponsorship – A Different Approach) to learn more about why I believe working with a smaller number of core sponsors is the best approach for your racing career. Understanding why a company is sponsoring you will benefit you when it comes time to build your social content calendar and enable you to deliver measurable results and value to those that support you.
So there you have it, put ROI aside and focus on ROO for sponsorship success.
As always the ideas expressed above are my own and I make no claims to the success or failure of implementing them. They are suggestions to make you think. Please vet all ideas against your personal goals before implementing them.
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