Any form of marketing is going to cost you, be it just the logos on your car, or the website you set up, but hopefully with the desired return on investment. Yet these are ‘one-way’ forms of advertising, asking for a response from the right person who happens to come across your message. However, one form of marketing that doesn’t have to be soulless, is ‘sponsorship’

Revving Up

Advertising on a listings page gets you squeezed in with all the other ADIs in your area and probably seen by readers from outside of your area. Meanwhile, sponsorship can target a more localised audience, in a different way and with much higher interaction. Local sports teams traditionally suffer from a lack of funding and, as such, any potential sponsor is going to be greatly received and appreciated. A sign at the ground and a name on the shirts are the obvious benefits, but these days you can also get listed on the team’s website and in their social media and subsequent tweets, all of which are targeting your ‘local’ audience and, as we all know, referrals are the best form of advertising and that is essentially what the club would be doing. Add to this, any personal interest in the sport of the team you are sponsoring, then you also gain a warm feeling of being involved and supporting them. Add in the factor that sponsorship can be offset against your self-assessment accounts, then sponsorship should score highly on any marketing plan you have in place.

Profitable Pit Stops

Last year I sponsored a local motorcycle racer, initially just for my amusement at seeing the name of my company on the side of a racing motorbike, but the greater potential soon became obvious. Across the racing season I was able to invite potential clients for a day’s racing, with paddock passes to see the teams in action. It was a different experience that attracted new clients through raising ADI Network’s brand profile.

In It To Win It

Closer to home, and specifically targeting new students for me to teach, I offered up a Christmas Fair raffle prize at my local school; a block of lessons. As my prize had the most value, it naturally caused the biggest stir with all the parents who bought tickets. The result is not one (the prize winner), but five new pupils. An alternative way of raising my driving school brand, with the bonus of referral by the school.

Chequered Flag

It’s a great feeling to support a good cause, whether the local school or a local sportsman, and I feel smug as a bug, when the sponsorship pays off in getting me new pupils and new clients. Sponsorship will now always be a part of my marketing plan for the year. It doesn’t have to cost the earth, but the results can be very rewarding for all. Competition: See my sponsorship in action. WIN a pair of tickets to see motorcycle racer Simon Edmondson compete. Go to: intelligentinstructor.co.uk