Successful events don’t happen by magic. They take vision, careful planning, teamwork, goodwill, and lots of hard work. They also need funding, as the bills don’t pay themselves.
We are very lucky – and grateful – to have some regular sponsors which enables us to begin planning the next event, but we are always looking for additional sponsors to help us to do more. Sponsorship helps us cover basic costs like venue, food, drinks (teas and coffees), facilitation, and prizes or giveaways like T-shirts or mugs for all attendees. Some (not all) sponsorship seekers are under some big misconceptions about the sponsors they approach. These misconceptions do nothing to advance the potential for getting a “yes”, and if a sponsor thinks you don’t understand their process and their challenges, it’s unlikely they’ll consider your offer. My goal with this web is to give you a heads up about of those misconceptions about sponsors before they hurt your chances. Most of the people who contact them are wasting their time “This is an opportunity not to be missed!” “Please support our very worthy cause.” “I’d like to talk to somebody about sponsorship.” “Dear Sir/Madam…” Most sponsorship seekers don’t understand sponsor needs or expectations at all. They don’t do their homework about the brand or the person they’re contacting. Some of them just write “letters of request”, as if that’s going to get a sponsor to say, “hot damn, let’s send these people a big fat cheque!” A lot of them seem to be looking for free (or virtually free) money. The problem for the sponsors isn’t saying no, it’s the time it takes to review all of the offers, all the voicemails. Plus, all of these terrible offers make sponsors jaded. They wish for great offers, but they assume yours will be terrible unless you prove otherwise. The solution: Be the exception. Do your homework. Customize those proposals so that no two are the same. Make sure every word that comes out of your mouth or your computer is about how you’re going to make this work for the sponsor and how you can help them connect with their target markets. The people with the titles are often not the ones making the decisions If you are approaching the sponsorship manager, chances are, he or she isn’t the one with the authority to say “yes”. The brand manager is generally that person. If you are approaching the CEO, they certainly have the ability to say yes, but they usually don’t. Unless it is a pet project, it will probably be sent down the chain to the brand or sponsorship manager. The upshot of all of this is that, unless you’ve gone straight to the brand manager, it’s going to take some time for your offer to get to the right person, and hounding your primary contact isn’t going to speed it along. The solution: First and most important, go straight to the brand manager (which requires some research). Second, be patient. Follow up, but don’t hound. They are dealing with a lot of politics Within corporations, you would have to look far and wide to find someone with a personal agenda regarding direct marketing. The same can’t be said for sponsorship. EVERYONE’s got an agenda when it comes to sponsorship – what the company should sponsor, how they should use it, what matters, what doesn’t, etc. Every decision about investing in or exiting a sponsorship is going to face scrutiny across a range of stakeholders from the bottom to the top of the org chart. Managing the expectations, critics, and bruised egos (“Mr Subhan, we have determined that your competition sponsorship is at odds with our brand plan and we recommend an exit”) on the way to building an effective portfolio is really tricky and not always entirely possible. As a sponsorship seeker, some decisions are just not going to make sense – why they sponsor Event X and say “no” to you, or whatever. You can create an amazing offer and get your contact super-excited and it can go nowhere. There are many reasons this can happen, but a big one that sponsorship seekers don’t always understand is that whatever you offer has to run the gauntlet of internal politics, and it is likely that a lot of people with opinions, but little expertise, will weigh in. The solution: Sometimes there isn’t a solution. This is an area that is often out of your hands. That said, if you follow the advice, above, and create an offer that works across departments and (if possible) from the local to top level, you are more likely to appeal to the in-house critics. They are managing too many properties
Whether the actual management of sponsorship properties is being handled by a sponsorship manager or brand team, or some combination, an awful lot of them are handling far too many properties. In my experience, one of two things happens: They burn out or they check out. Neither is the best situation for your fabulous proposal. The solution: Make their life easier. Make a business case that is easy for them to sell internally. Provide them with creative ideas for leverage, so they don’t have to – plus, it helps them to visualize the possibilities. Measurement is one of their biggest issues A lot of sponsors are struggling with how to measure the real returns of their sponsorship programs, and as costs fall under more scrutiny than ever, it becomes even more important. Measuring sponsorship is absolutely not your job, but if you can ask some of the right questions and provide some insight as to how they can measure their results, you could add lot of value to the relationship and go a long way toward a renewal. The solution: If you’re going to talk measurement, you need to understand measurement. There are plenty of blogs here that address it. I have also done a free video tutorial, entitled “Sponsorship Measurement Basics in About 10 Minutes”. |
10 Tips for an Effective Sponsorship StrategyKeep these ideas in mind to create sponsorship proposals that will succeed.
Television could perform a great service in mass education, but there's no indication its sponsors have anything like this on their minds. Sponsorships are a critical funding source for all sorts of events, from trade shows and music festivals to nonprofit galas. And savvy brand marketers know that event sponsorships can provide a unique and meaningful opportunity to connect with a target audience. Several experienced professionals share input on how to help planners and sponsors connect in ways that create positive outcomes for both sides.
Research is required.
According to Subhan, since the recession of 1999, brands have become more focused on measuring the value of their sponsorship activities, so planners must deliver meaningful data. “One of the things we often see is this long diatribe about how great an event is but there’s very little about what the brand can extract from that information that will be helpful for them to discern ‘what’s in it for me.’ So it’s important for event organizers, instead of taking a shotgun approach, to really take some time—not three weeks out but a year out—to think about what kind of sponsor really makes sense to be involved in their event. [Then] meet with the potential sponsor in advance to find out what it is they want to accomplish and to really figure out what their key performance indicators or benchmarks are in determining how they measure their outcomes,” he says. One size does not fit all. “We can never repeat enough: Your sponsorship proposal is a conversation starter. You should always be open to customization and work with your sponsors to create the best experience possible for them,”. Stay on top of business developments affecting potential sponsors. This will help identify signs for the best time to approach them. “Some of the common ones that are useful in kick-starting a conversation are when a new marketing executive is hired, a new product is released, shifts in customer demographics, or geographic expansion to new markets,”. Clearly communicate who will be attending your event. “I recommend merging statistics with visuals. Saying that 80 percent of attendees are vice president-level or above in XYZ industry can be powerful, but showing that via a video or a gallery of images is important,” Subhan says. If you will have reputable speakers at your event, say so in the proposal. “Indeed, sponsors consider that in most cases, a good speaker panel will attract a good audience. By having an industry leader talking to your event, you make your event more valuable to the eyes of sponsors and optimize your chances to attract the right audience,”. Be aware of other sponsorship deals happening for similar events. “It's easy to be envious of others that get a big sponsorship deal, but that doesn't mean the money's been spent,“ Subhan says. “To the contrary, we often see sponsors that stick to a strategy that's working and sponsor the same types of events over and over again whether that be music festivals, meetups, or Judo teams.” Sponsorship strategy is no longer a function housed solely within a brand’s marketing department. “I think that’s important for people that are looking to get sponsors to understand: internally to a brand it’s a multi-channel decision. It’s not just sales, it’s not just marketing. It’s also public relations, it’s also human relations. And it’s a part of a company’s overall corporate social responsibility,”. Numbers are critical. Clearly outline how many people you expect to reach, both at the in-person event and through traditional and social media outreach. “This is a key, tangible way that sponsors will analyze your deal,”. Include testimonials from past years' sponsors. Subhan suggests recording a video with sponsors right after an event that can be used in future marketing efforts. Let sponsors know you will provide a post-event report. “It’s important to help a company prove, through a recap, what kind of a value you generated from your standpoint,” Subhan says. We need strong personalities and only one world champion to attract sponsors - Anatoly Karpov |