As we recently mentioned in our blog about organising an event with a low budget, sponsorship can be the key to unlocking extra revenue when preparing an event. But, what if you’re on the other side of the proposal? Sponsorships work because they are designed to be mutually beneficial, meaning that both parties involved walk away happy. Many events and elements of events are sponsored nowadays, with businesses jumping at the chance to put their name to something in the event world. But what’s the benefit for them? Here, we take a look at the key benefits for businesses when testing the waters of event sponsorship.
Considerations
Before we dive head-on into the benefits, it’s worth taking a minute to think about the considerations when choosing events to sponsor. Relevance is key here, as you certainly won’t want your name to look out of place – for example, florists won’t want to be sponsoring tech conferences. Make sure you choose an event that resonates with your customers. Budget is also a big consideration, as many sponsorship packages can be costly investments for small and medium-sized businesses. Weigh up the potential positives and understand precisely what’s involved, also, don’t be afraid to negotiate. Finally, think about whether you’d feel comfortable co-sponsoring an event with your direct competition. Some niche events will only have a small pool of sponsors to draw from meaning you could end up side by side with your worst business enemy.
Benefits
Now that we’ve outlined the main considerations to take into account when looking at event sponsorship, let’s look at the potential benefits.
Collective Credibility
If you’re a small or medium-sized business, sponsorship is a great way for you to get your name up in lights alongside other titans of industry. When your name appears alongside other, larger or more prominent brands, it will look to be in the same ‘crowd’ as the others and grant the same credibility. If the event is successful, then your brand will benefit as it will be seen as a reputable and reliable name within the industry. This perception could help your brand in the long term as people will feel comfortable returning to your company in the knowledge of your brand ethos.
Brand Awareness and Visibility
Depending on the event you choose to sponsor, this will likely place your name in front of people that have had little to no experience with your brand, allowing you to access a brand new audience. Not only this, but you’ll also have the chance to engage with new and potential customers on social media as people will be posting about the event in the leadup, using specific hashtags etc. This can be a great way to build awareness of your presence at the event and create anticipation.
Targeted Marketing and Creating Leads
Events typically involve the gathering of lots of like-minded people in one place; sometimes one day, others can be numerous days. From festivals to exhibitions, sponsorship allows you to connect with these people in a targeted and one-to-one way, unlike daily business. It will also allow you to have extended conversations with current loyal customers about what they like and don’t like about your brand, giving you direct insight that can be used for planning going forward.
Typically, a lot of time and money is spent generating leads for a business. Whether you’re a B2B company looking to create great partnerships or a B2C looking to expand your audience, events will deliver a large number of compatible customers into the palm of your hand, leaving you to do the rest.
Audience and Competition Insights
Not only can you use this opportunity to expand your customer base and generate increased sales, but you can also use this to extract information from customers and competition. Offer incentives such as discount codes or promotional items in exchange for the completion of a survey that looks at varying aspects of your business. This information can be used to adapt and alter your business decisions going forward.
Return on Investment
Although some businesses choose to sell merchandise at events, typically, sponsorship focuses on awareness and building relationships. Ideally, if you’re a B2B company, you’ll want to leave the event with a pocket full of business cards and a book full of leads that you can call after the event to continue the conversation. If you’re a B2C company, ideally you’ll want to see an increase in sales over time, or at least an increased conversion rate. Before heading to the event, decide on a couple of metrics that you’ll be measuring to determine the success of the event. This way, it’ll be much easier to see whether the event sponsorship offered a strong return on investment.
If you’re an events company in the process of organising an event, make sure you enlist the help of Gallowglass to manage your crewing. We have event crews in London, Manchester and Birmingham that can support your event. Get in touch to find out more! You can also check out our other blogs on event organisation and the event industry in general by clicking here!
