Sponsorship is form of advertisement, supporting an event financially or with in-kind values in exchange for brand exposure. It is a powerful marketing tool which can help to improve your event.

Here’s our insights on everything you need to have successful sponsorships for your event.

Do you Need Sponsors?

You may be looking for ways to increase the reach of your event and invite more attendees from different target demographics, if so, sponsorship could be what you need. These are some signs your event may require a sponsor:

  • Your event plan and goals are expensive, so you need additional budget
  • Your event has high-profile speakers and guests and has got very large
  • You want to introduce a new customer base
  • You need help with venue, catering, or equipment
  • Your event is new, and you need to build awareness

what are the Types of Sponsorship?

There can be different types of sponsors depending on what you may need for your event. These include:

Financial Sponsor

The main type of sponsors is financial, providing direct financial support by offering money in exchange for promotion or other agreed benefits.

In- Kind Sponsor

Sponsors who provide goods or services instead of financial sponsorship. They can include: Venue sponsor, Prize sponsor, Food sponsor, Digital sponsor or Merchandise sponsor.

Media event sponsor

With media sponsors, companies and businesses spend less time and money on advertisement. Having the media sponsor on board means greater advertisement exposure and publicity. Likely to be larger companies and organisations.

Promotional partner sponsor

Promotional partners differ slightly to media sponsors, as these sponsors will have a large following on social media and be able to promote your event to a large following. These sponsors are more likely to be individuals rather than companies.

How to Secure Sponsors?

Depending on the sponsor you need, it is worth spending time researching, prospecting and connecting potential sponsors to ensure you have the right one for your event. Also depending on your event, you may find you want more than one sponsor to increase the reach of the event and expand your budget.

It is important to consider a sponsor which will understand and help to represent your event goals. You can use different approaches to find the best sponsor for your event, such as:

  • Use digital tools – you will need to have your event goals and budget ironed out as you will be selling your event to potential investors. Use online site such as SponsorMyEvent to advertise your event for potential sponsors
  • Reaching out to sponsors from related events- Businesses who already sponsor similar events to your may want to increase brand awareness and sponsor your event. If not, they may be able to help find similar businesses to them to support you.
  • Get help from your target market- Social media can be a powerful tool, so post on your channels about the want for sponsors and your followers may be able assist you in finding the right sponsorship partners for your event.

Writing a Sponsorship Proposal

To secure the best sponsorship possible for your event, you will need to sell the whole event as an investment with a sponsorship proposal. Per sponsor you reach out to, you should alter the proposal, much like applying for jobs, so the proposal is best suited towards them and more personal.

In the proposal include your company story, your mission statement, what your event goals are and target market for the event. Include specifics regarding funding and the incentives and benefits for them signing up to be sponsors. If you have different tiers of sponsorship include them also, as they may be more inclined to sponsor your event with different options given rather than just one.

Maintaining Sponsor Relationships

Now you have sponsors for your event, it is important to make sure you retain these relationships. After your event make sure to share it all on social media, but especially thanking sponsors and giving them the recognition they deserve. You should also send them a personal thank you such as a handwritten card and small gift, as this will help to highlight to them how grateful you were for their partnership. Moreover, work with the sponsors to create a case study which will be a great additional for both your websites and give you both additional exposure.

 

Final Thoughts

Ultimately, sponsors help to elevate your event with your budget, event reach and increasing brand awareness therefore, making them a must-have for your event. It is essential to have sponsors of which you both represent each other’s interests to have a successful long-term partnership. 

For more helpful tips for event planning and event software, visit ExpoBeacon Insights and news.