Social Content That Sells Product, Not Just Logos

Sooner or later, every sponsor's marketing director gets asked by the boss whether the money sold anything. Likes and views help answer that question, but they don't settle it. The racers who keep sponsors for years make content that moves product: it shows the product working, gives people a reason to buy now, and leaves a trail the brand can measure. Here is how the people who sell the product describe it.

Sponsors are buying a salesperson

Brands have shifted money toward racers who post because those posts persuade in a way ads don't. Kelsey, a longtime Formula Drift driver, explained why. "Companies really want these influencers on social media because it comes across as more organic, versus them putting money towards a commercial, to have real people living real lives, going out to their competitions or races and using these products. It comes across more organic and it helps sell the products better." ▶ Watch Kelsey on the drift panel

That means the most valuable shot is rarely the one racers are proudest of. The general manager of Enjuku Racing, a retailer that sells drift parts, told the Drift Sponsorship Summit: "For us as a retailer, anything that can help sell the product is great." A sticker on the car "doesn't get you a whole lot. But if you had good photography or good videography of the install of, say, a suspension component or exhaust component or a seat, we can use that on our social media, we can use it on the website as install photos." The 4-inch decal shot, he said, doesn't do the job. ▶ Watch the Enjuku clip

Show the product doing its job

Megan Meyer, the NHRA champion who coaches racers on social media, makes this kind of content in her driveway. Her main sponsor is Gunk, and the product she was pushing that season was its engine degreaser. "I've just done homemade videos where I put my phone on a tripod, I open the hood of my daily driver, and I'm like, 'Okay, look, here's the before. Look how dusty and dirty this engine is.' And then I'll show I spray on the degreaser, let it sit for 10 minutes, and then you see the after." She adds closed captions and little else.

The result surprised her. "Those videos do just as well, if not better, than the high-quality, high-production commercials that we get." A before-and-after on a real engine proves the product works, which is exactly what a buyer wants to see. ▶ Watch Megan Meyer explain this

At her PRI Show seminar, Meyer framed the bigger goal: reach people at the moment they're deciding. "You can definitely influence the stage of when they are going to buy this product," she said. When a sponsor launches something new, post that it has arrived, then explain how it works, then keep showing it in use. "Not every post has to be a sales post. You could do a how-to video or an install video or showing the details of the packaging, anything like that. But you are influencing when and how they buy." ▶ Watch Megan Meyer at PRI

Give people a reason to act now

Giveaways are the easiest way to put a sponsor's product in front of the right customers, and brands are usually glad to supply it. "Sponsors love giving away their products, getting their products in their hands of their target market," Meyer said. Ask for a few samples, post about the giveaway once or twice, pick a winner and ship it.

She does skip the usual "tag three friends" format. Friends tagged to enter rarely become fans, and they tend to unfollow a week later. Instead she links to a simple Google form that asks for a name and an email. That shows her who her loyal followers are and builds something she controls. "It's yours, you own it, you own that list. You don't own your followers on social media, you're just borrowing that platform." She calls email "very underutilized in the motorsports industry," and a newsletter list is one more channel you can offer every sponsor. ▶ See the full seminar

Make every sale traceable

A sponsor can't reward sales it can't see. Enjuku gives some of its better-known drivers their own discount codes, printed on flyers at the track and handed out when fans ask. Then the company counts. "We'll track that and see, oh, driver X, 50 people used that coupon this month, and driver Y, 200 did. And that'll definitely weigh into what budget may be allocated to that in the following year," the general manager said. ▶ Watch the Enjuku session

If a sponsor doesn't offer a code, ask for one. A personal code or tracked link turns your influence into a number the marketing director can take upstairs.

Be the person people want to watch

The most effective sellers don't feel like sellers at all. At the Off-Road Sponsorship Summit, two brand owners explained why they back Blake Wilkey, the off-road builder and racer behind Shreddy and the Urban Assault videos. Guy Trotter, president of Surface Sun Systems, said sunscreen is "an afterthought in most everybody's lives," so he needs athletes who make people pay attention. "What Blake does really good, and what really resonates for us, is that he makes people want to watch him." Wilkey uses the product as part of his life, and Trotter now wants to bring him into the company's retail channels, naming Sportsman's Warehouse as an example.

Kyle Ahrensberg, president of Vision Canopy, said a young brand "obviously" looks for sales, "we need sales to keep everything going," and that one versatile creator can replace a roster. "Instead of partnering up with three people, we get the same value out of partnering up with one person because they're so versatile." Wilkey's followers stick, Ahrensberg said, because "he makes the unachievable achievable." ▶ Watch the Helping Sponsors Go Viral session

Wilkey's own approach goes past the logo. Around his Urban Assault 3 release, "we did sticker packs, we had a landing page on Shreddy Life's website, we did shirts, we did posters, and then we wanted to do the scavenger hunt." The scavenger hunt turned out to be the hit. He brought about 500 cards to a three-day show and held half back for Saturday, or they would have been gone on Friday. Some fans were upset they couldn't take part when the cards ran out. His philosophy: "I always want to over deliver and under promise," adding things "instead of it being a logo on the car and in the video." ▶ Watch Blake Wilkey on the panel

The takeaway

• Shoot your sponsor's product being installed and used, with before-and-after results where you can.
• Mix in how-to, install and unboxing posts around every product launch, not just race-day photos.
• Run giveaways with sponsor product, and collect emails instead of tags so you build a list you own.
• Ask every sponsor for a personal discount code or tracked link, and report the redemptions.
• Add something beyond the logo: a landing page, a scavenger hunt, a sticker pack, a reason for fans to show up and buy.