Most drivers thank their sponsors the same way: a caption reading “thanks to [company] for their support,” maybe a logo in the corner of a photo. It’s polite, and it’s the minimum, but it does almost nothing for the sponsor it’s meant to thank.
A name-check isn’t marketing
Think about it from the sponsor’s side. They didn’t back you so they could see their name mentioned once. They backed you because they want more people to know about their business, and ideally to become customers. A caption that says “thanks to Vista Social for their help” tells your audience that a company exists and that you’re grateful, and nothing else. It’s an acknowledgement, not an advert.
Say who they are and how it helps the viewer
Go further. Instead of a name-check, try something closer to: “Have you heard of Vista Social? Here’s what they do, and here’s how it could help you.” Say who they are, what they offer, and how someone watching could benefit from it themselves. That’s doing real marketing work for the sponsor, not just recognising them.
This applies to posts as much as videos. A caption that explains what a partner does, in your own words and in your own voice, is worth far more than a logo and a hashtag, because it’s genuinely informative rather than purely gestural.
Why this gets you asked back
Sponsors talk to each other, and they notice which drivers promote them properly versus which ones treat sponsorship as a box to tick. A driver who consistently explains what their partners do, honestly and in their own voice, becomes a more attractive proposition the next time a budget gets decided, because there’s evidence of real value delivered, not just a logo displayed.
It costs you nothing extra to do this properly, a few more seconds of talking, a slightly longer caption, but it changes what a sponsorship with you is worth. The same principle applies to disclosure once money or product is involved, covered in the ASA’s own influencer guidance and in more detail later in this series.
Keeping this up every week, on top of racing, is usually where it slips. Sponsor and partner posts, plus a proper monthly report on what a partner’s logo earned, are built into our Full Digital Management retainer, so it happens on schedule rather than getting squeezed in once at the end of the season.
Next in this series: where sponsorship comes from, and how to put a proposal together that works.
