You know that connecting with your fans and sponsors is important—and that if you only do that on Instagram or Facebook, you’re building a house on rented land. If you want to build an audience that you can engage with on your own terms, you need to send your email list a newsletter.
And you probably already have one started from years ago—but when was the last time you used it? What if you hate the idea sending out a newsletter? You just can’t stand sending race updates every week, or you’re totally stumped by what to send during the off-season.
You know that talking to your people in their inboxes is important, but creating the emails themselves is just getting to be too much….
No worries! Here are 7 fresh newsletter ideas that you can use over and over when you’re bored of sending regular updates or race recaps:
1. Featured sponsored products
Remember that your career as a racer who also owns a business is driven by sponsors and their products. Your email newsletter is a great way to highlight your latest sponsors—as of 2021, every $1 spent on email marketing yielded $36 in ROI. When you’re creating content for social media to promote your sponsored products, make sure to use the same info to your email newsletter, as well.
2. Racers you’re currently inspired by
What’s that saying? “A rising tide lifts all boats?” We’ve talked before about how poaching sponsors from other racers is beyond uncool (and unhelpful for your career), so off the track, you’re not in competition with your fellow racers! When our industry gets more respect and awareness, we all win. Use your email newsletter to highlight other racers that you’re feeling inspired by, on and off the track.
3. Personal life updates in your newsletter
Your personal life is part of your brand. Not all of it, just the parts that you choose to share publicly. Your email list is a great place to share updates about your personal life that go a little bit deeper than your totally-public Instagram or LinkedIn profile. An appropriate level of vulnerability will help you build your relationship with your fans.
4. Fun events you’re hosting on social media
What are you up to on other platforms, like TikTok and Facebook? Are you hosting any giveaways, games, or challenges, or promoting something unique for this season? Point your subscribers to participate in whatever else you have going on!
5. How you’re working on the car/engine during the off-season?
Off-season content is something most people are sleeping on but is so popular among fans. They love behind-the-scenes content—and sharing what you’re doing during off-season is totally that! You have the chance to talk about the nerdy details of racing, mechanics, sponsors, and more. Lean into it, and highlight your car, your workouts, and your life.
6. Recap of the year with links to highlight videos in the newsletter
There’s always space in your newsletter strategy to brag on yourself! Reshare a highlight video or two from this year, especially in the off-season, just to keep interests high (and remind them who the best driver out there is). This also shows your partners how well you did this year and why they made a good decision to work with you! You never know what it could lead to…
7. Your future plans
Where are you planning to take your career? Bring your audience on board with your vision and plans so that they can say “I followed them when…” as you reach your dreams and they support you every step of the way.
I know that creating content on social and for email can get overwhelming. But your email doesn’t have to be pages long – stick to 2-3 short paragraphs and a few pictures and you’ll have plenty to share. If you don’t have a newsletter set up yet, but you know it will be valuable to your marketing efforts, I can help! I love using email marketing for staying in touch with fans and sponsors, and I can set it up for you with a newsletter template, a opt-in landing page, and an automatic welcome email. Get started >>> HERE.
