Make sure your event sponsorship isn’t actually costing you money
Making sure you put the proper value on sponsorship for your event is the first step in creating great relationships that benefit you, your sponsors, and your guests.
Sponsors are often vital to an event's success. But when putting together sponsorship packages and negotiating a value, remember that an excellent sponsorship relationship is a true partnership with more than monetary value.
The first question you need to ask yourself is:
Is this sponsorship actually costing you?
If you’ve ever chased sponsorship for an event, you’ll know there’s a lot of work involved in finding potential sponsors, getting them on board, and then servicing that sponsorship. It can take a lot of time, which can add up quite quickly and completely erode any value from the sponsorship.
We also know that sometimes the sponsors with a lower value can have the highest expectations and cost a lot to service. This is because the sponsorship represents a more significant part of their budget, so they have higher expectations.
How to get real value from your sponsors
At a bare minimum you need to do a realistic calculation of all the costs it takes to secure and deliver sponsorship and ensure that it brings in more than the cost. However, looking at sponsorship from a purely monetary value is a very narrow way of viewing things. An excellent sponsor partnership should bring a lot more value than just cash. Some examples of this are:
The sponsor’s networks can be used for promoting the event (and the more that attend, the greater their exposure)
Experts from the sponsor can be presenters
The halo effect of the sponsor’s brand can further legitimise your event, add to its cool value or both!
Any activations or competitions your sponsors may run can serve to enhance your event
You’ll notice that most of these also add value for your sponsors. Understanding what gives them value helps you get those sponsors to sign up and builds strong and lasting relationships. This, in turn, reduces the effort taken to get them to sign up again and makes them easier to service.
What do sponsors want?
To find out what sponsors want we talked to Greg, the Vervette who once worked in the dark arts of advertising. “Not all sponsors want the same things from their relationship with you, so it’s worth being aware of all the different motivations they might have for supporting your event,” says Greg before giving us some of the most common reasons:
Exposure of the brand—this might be as simple as logo placement, but it might be more than that. Most sponsors love to see their logo, but they also want people to be able to experience their brand. So, knowing the sponsor’s brand values, voice, and vibe helps you create opportunities for them that align with those brand qualities.
Exposure of their people - this is slightly different to brand exposure. Getting critical team members exposure in the right events helps extend networks. A good event concentrates precisely the sorts of people your sponsors want to see in one place.
The halo effect goes both ways. A newer brand might want to get legitimacy from involvement in your event or use your event as a launching point for a new product.
Corporate Social Responsibility - this is tied to brand. Your sponsor might want to support your event because it is the right thing to do or because it is something they believe in.
Access - getting access to deliver a targeted message to your event’s audience. And beyond that…
Influence - being at your event might give your sponsor access to key demographics or decision-makers
Content—Many events are content generation powerhouses, and a savvy sponsor can leverage content created at your event for a long time after the event has finished and everyone has gone home. Giving them opportunities to create content can also help promote your event in the future, so make sure you ask for copies of whatever they’re creating.
When you look at value from both sides of the relationship - everyone wins
When you consider the total value picture for your event and your sponsors, you end up with great relationships. These relationships benefit you and your sponsors well beyond the mere dollar value. They lock in long-term relationships, lower the cost of securing future sponsorships, and bring value beyond dollars and logos on a screen.
There’s a final part of the sponsorship equation that gains extra value when partnerships are good - the attendee. They get an enhanced experience, which makes them more likely to attend your event again, bringing further value to everyone. It’s a great cycle to get your event into, making it easier and more fun for everyone.