The key weapon behind a profitable occasion isn’t simply nice audio system, a cool venue, or sold-out tickets. It’s additionally the sponsors who herald vital income whereas including credibility to your occasion.
When big-name sponsors put their emblem in your occasion supplies, they’re primarily saying: “This occasion issues.”
We all know this firsthand as a result of occasion sponsorships have been an enormous a part of our advertising and marketing technique. We’ve spent an estimated $500,000 on them, sponsoring all the things from intimate business meetups to huge worldwide conferences.
Our sales space at Chiang Mai search engine optimization 2024
Tl;dr: When you’re working occasions, you completely need sponsors like us.
However how do you persuade firms like ours to open their wallets in your occasion? I spoke with Elysa Han, our occasions advertising and marketing supervisor, to be taught what we glance out for in occasion sponsorships.
Contemplate this your insider’s information to profitable occasion sponsors.
For sponsors, each greenback spent on sponsorships is an funding that should ship returns. Right here’s what’s driving our sponsorship selections:
- Attempting to find our preferrred prospects — We wish to meet potential patrons face-to-face. More and more, we’re searching for the large fish: enterprise-level decision-makers who can log off on vital contracts. In case your occasion attracts our goal demographic, you’ve already gained half the battle.
- Creating in-person connections — We crave the qualitative insights that may solely come from somebody’s eyes lighting up throughout a demo or listening to their ache factors immediately. Human connections inform us issues that digital analytics by no means may.
- Construct a more in-depth relationship with our present prospects — Generally our purchasers are within the business they usually run occasions too. Supporting their occasions brings us nearer.
- Planting strategic model flags — We’re searching for visibility that makes an impression, not simply huge logos plastered on partitions that nobody remembers.
We’re not robotically selecting the most important or most prestigious occasions. The dimensions of your occasion issues far lower than the way it aligns with our targets.
Right here’s how we consider occasions to sponsor:
- Viewers alignment — We assess each dimension and high quality. Who precisely shall be within the room? What decision-making energy do they wield? Which industries do they characterize? Nonetheless, dimension isn’t all the things. A smaller occasion with 90% perfect-fit attendees will beat a large occasion with 10% relevance each time.
- Lead era potential — Much like the above, we’re wanting on the high quality of alternatives on the occasion. How seemingly are these attendees to change into our prospects? Are they representing an enterprise-level buyer or are they simply newbies to search engine optimization (and even digital advertising and marketing?)
- Actual suggestions — Elysa digs via Reddit threads, LinkedIn feedback, and conversations on X in regards to the occasion’s earlier editions to seek out unfiltered suggestions in regards to the occasion. Previous attendees (and even sponsors!) are your most credible or damaging advertising and marketing instrument.
- Organizer’s vibe test — Your response to our questions reveals volumes about the way you’ll deal with the precise occasion. Are you clear about attendance numbers? Do you dodge questions on previous sponsor experiences? Generally the deciding issue is in that second when our occasions workforce says, “One thing feels off about these organizers.” In these instances, we comply with our intestine.
By the way in which, these should not set in stone. There are occasions once we break our personal guidelines too.
For instance, we just lately sponsored Nas Summit in Singapore. Whereas it was a large convention, it was an occasion for each present and aspiring content material creators who, on paper, are miles away from our preferrred buyer profile.
Actually, by our personal calculations, 62% of occasion attendees have been unfamiliar with our model.
So, why did we write the test?
The principle purpose was that the worth proposition was too extraordinary. For a modest funding, we acquired the identical worth as what would have price 5X in different occasions. We had a sales space, social media shoutouts, seen branding (e.g., on the media wall), and even occasion tickets.
Although it didn’t match our standards, we couldn’t go up an distinctive supply. So, we turned it right into a model consciousness play as an alternative.
The quickest approach to lose our curiosity is to cover behind imprecise claims like “well-attended” or “business professionals”. We wish to see all the things laid naked, so inform us:
- Actual attendance numbers from earlier occasions
- Detailed demographic breakdowns that transcend job titles and embrace issues like seniority ranges, firm dimension, and extra
- Candid recaps of what occurred in earlier editions
- Clear and complete sponsorship data that spells out precisely what we get for our funding
Elysa additionally likes to hop on discovery calls with the occasion organizers to be taught extra data and get a really feel for the folks concerned.
What sort of sponsorship data can we wish to see? Listed here are the packages we’ve seen to this point (which may inform yours):
- $2,000 – $3,000 — Solely visible branding (e.g., logos on stage and web site)
- $5,000 — Visible branding + small on-site sales space
- $10,000 – $20,000 — Visible branding, larger sales space house, and full attendee registration checklist
- >$20,000 — The entire above, however with a good larger sales space house. Additionally features a talking slot. You might also get to incorporate your swag within the convention’s goodie luggage.
One factor’s for sure: each sponsorship package deal is simply a place to begin for negotiation. We’ve by no means accepted a sponsorship package deal precisely as offered, and neither will most sponsors.
Because the organizer, you need to count on that and be versatile. Simply since you’ve structured a sponsorship package deal that means doesn’t imply it needs to be mounted that means. Sponsors might have price range constraints and might want branding alternatives which can be completely different from what you’ve considered.
For instance, they might not simply need visible branding but in addition shoutouts in your owned media channels, like the web site, social media, and e-mail e-newsletter. Or they might need their standees to be on stage, along with a large emblem.
Or they might need additional shoutouts on stage for his or her model or for attendees to take a look at their cubicles.
When you’re working your occasion greater than as soon as, the hot button is getting the sponsors to return. That means, you don’t should consistently take into consideration buying new sponsors.
However how can we determine if we wish to sponsor the identical occasion repeatedly?
A very powerful issue we take a look at is our workforce’s autopsy. Inside days of the tip of your occasion, the on-site workforce conducts a brutally sincere evaluation that covers:
- Whether or not the attendees matched who we have been searching for
- Who we talked to and whether or not they have been potential enterprise leads
- (If we had a sales space) Whether or not the sales space was positioned the place you stated it might be, whether or not we acquired the promised foot site visitors, or have been you caught in a nook the place no one got here
- Whether or not our swag was common or everybody ignored it
- Whether or not the occasion ran easily or had tons of logistical nightmares
Right here’s an instance of a report performed by my colleague:
If we do not need an on-site workforce, i.e. we sponsored just for model consciousness, then we’ll test suggestions on social media.
We additionally give numerous bonus factors to occasion organizers who’re proactive. The perfect organizers we’ve labored with:
- Ship common e-mail updates — They replace in regards to the progress of their occasions, the audio system they’ve secured, different manufacturers which have sponsored, and many others.
- Assist us maximize worth — They help with branding, logistics, and different alternatives to extend our ROI.
- Take full possession — We’ve had occasion organizers willingly supply us reductions for the subsequent version as a result of they have been personally disillusioned they didn’t get us the outcomes they thought we would.
In the end, sponsorships—not only for occasions however for creators too—are all about relationships.
Don’t be shocked after I say this however typically we sponsor an occasion as a result of the organizer is an enterprise-level prospect or buyer. And typically occasions give sponsors reductions as a result of they see them as a long-term accomplice and need them to return usually for all future editions.
Ensuring your occasion is worthwhile is vital. However don’t overlook that relationships run the world. Anticipate to be versatile and negotiate in direction of a win-win for each you and the sponsor.
Remaining ideas
Securing occasion sponsorships is all about creating mutual worth.
Probably the most profitable occasion organizers perceive what sponsors are searching for and construct packages that ship actual outcomes. By being clear along with your knowledge, versatile along with your choices, and proactive in your communications, you’ll construct relationships with sponsors that final past a single occasion.
Keep in mind: sponsors like us are searching for ROI, however we’re additionally searching for companions who perceive our targets and are dedicated to serving to us obtain them.
Making an attempt to prepare an occasion as an alternative? We additionally organized our personal convention and wrote up how we did it:
