Now Is the Perfect Time to Sponsor
At the moment your business operates in a haze of uncertainty, between the pandemic, financial crisis, reckoning of racial equality, climate crisis, and a bitterly divided country about to square off in a contentious election.
And still we must keep going.
Uncertainty typically cues a rollback of spending, particularly marketing investment. One of my clients told me about sponsors of hers, two multi-national consulting firms whose business is to advise corporations on best practices, and they’ve frozen their marketing spending.
Frozen or Fearless?
This reflexive action is one of the worst steps businesses can take.
What kind of signal are these consulting firms sending to clients by closing up marketing shops and slashing their budgets?
And this is exactly why now is the perfect time for your business to sponsor.
Your competitors have battened the hatches. They are hunkering down, waiting for the uncertainty haze to lift.
Now is your opportunity to invest in powerful marketing opportunities, like marketing-driven corporate sponsorship. You will standout and, in these challenging times, become the most talked about hero to the events and organizations with which you collaborate.
Meanwhile, your frozen competitors will have to spend even more money once they thaw out because no one will remember who they are.
People are craving any semblance of our pre-pandemic life. We want to see people, and for now, the best we can do is virtual events and interaction. And that’s where you want to be.
Three Sponsorship Tips to Get More Mileage From Your Investments
Here are three sponsorship tips so that you make wise decisions and get the most from your investment.
1. Great partner. Now more than ever, you need to work with a great partner and not someone who’s just happy to take your money. A great partner is focused on your business and marketing goals, asks questions about your marketing and sales operations and what you want to accomplish, and shares lots of great ideas about how you can be involved with their sponsorship opportunity. It’s all about you and your business, and together you’re co-creating your sponsorship opportunity.
If you don’t have that dynamic, move on to a different opportunity.
2. Eye on ROI. You and your partner must focus on ROI, return on investment. (Hint: Gold, Silver, and Bronze packages are not what I mean.) Evaluate all your activities and all the value provided by the sponsorship opportunity through a strategic lens of ROI. Will these activities and benefits put your product, service, or brand in the hands, as well as hearts and minds, of the audience of the virtual event or opportunity? Will it provide important ways to engage customers or special audiences, such as your employees, most important vendors, or a segment of customers?
If not, continue co-creating with your partner so you have just the right collaboration. If you’re unsure what to ask for, ask your partner for suggestions. Or turn to an external advisor who has sponsorship expertise.
3. Work it. While your business is smart to continue making marketing investments, be wise and efficient at the same time. One way you can expand your sponsorship ROI is to tie other departments and initiatives into the sponsorship execution. For example, you’ve probably negotiated marketing value. What if this virtual event has a volunteer component? Could you tie in your HR or CSR team to develop a volunteer experience for your staff? Get creative and allow your sponsorship program to be a focal point for several initiatives.
The worst thing you could do is commit to a sponsorship, send off your check and logo, and check out. Leverage this opportunity so that you get a lot of mileage from it.
The best sponsorship-selling organizations need revenue to support events and other initiatives, have plenty of value to offer, and if you find a great partner, they are driven to assisting you in realizing a return on your investment.
When you find a great partner, stick with them through good times and challenging ones. Build brand equity at their event as you focus on your own goals.
Are you a meeting planner looking for sponsorship? Check out Gail Bower’s tips for you here.
And still we must keep going.
Uncertainty typically cues a rollback of spending, particularly marketing investment. One of my clients told me about sponsors of hers, two multi-national consulting firms whose business is to advise corporations on best practices, and they’ve frozen their marketing spending.
Frozen or Fearless?
This reflexive action is one of the worst steps businesses can take.
What kind of signal are these consulting firms sending to clients by closing up marketing shops and slashing their budgets?
And this is exactly why now is the perfect time for your business to sponsor.
Your competitors have battened the hatches. They are hunkering down, waiting for the uncertainty haze to lift.
Now is your opportunity to invest in powerful marketing opportunities, like marketing-driven corporate sponsorship. You will standout and, in these challenging times, become the most talked about hero to the events and organizations with which you collaborate.
Meanwhile, your frozen competitors will have to spend even more money once they thaw out because no one will remember who they are.
People are craving any semblance of our pre-pandemic life. We want to see people, and for now, the best we can do is virtual events and interaction. And that’s where you want to be.
Three Sponsorship Tips to Get More Mileage From Your Investments
Here are three sponsorship tips so that you make wise decisions and get the most from your investment.
1. Great partner. Now more than ever, you need to work with a great partner and not someone who’s just happy to take your money. A great partner is focused on your business and marketing goals, asks questions about your marketing and sales operations and what you want to accomplish, and shares lots of great ideas about how you can be involved with their sponsorship opportunity. It’s all about you and your business, and together you’re co-creating your sponsorship opportunity.
If you don’t have that dynamic, move on to a different opportunity.
2. Eye on ROI. You and your partner must focus on ROI, return on investment. (Hint: Gold, Silver, and Bronze packages are not what I mean.) Evaluate all your activities and all the value provided by the sponsorship opportunity through a strategic lens of ROI. Will these activities and benefits put your product, service, or brand in the hands, as well as hearts and minds, of the audience of the virtual event or opportunity? Will it provide important ways to engage customers or special audiences, such as your employees, most important vendors, or a segment of customers?
If not, continue co-creating with your partner so you have just the right collaboration. If you’re unsure what to ask for, ask your partner for suggestions. Or turn to an external advisor who has sponsorship expertise.
3. Work it. While your business is smart to continue making marketing investments, be wise and efficient at the same time. One way you can expand your sponsorship ROI is to tie other departments and initiatives into the sponsorship execution. For example, you’ve probably negotiated marketing value. What if this virtual event has a volunteer component? Could you tie in your HR or CSR team to develop a volunteer experience for your staff? Get creative and allow your sponsorship program to be a focal point for several initiatives.
The worst thing you could do is commit to a sponsorship, send off your check and logo, and check out. Leverage this opportunity so that you get a lot of mileage from it.
The best sponsorship-selling organizations need revenue to support events and other initiatives, have plenty of value to offer, and if you find a great partner, they are driven to assisting you in realizing a return on your investment.
When you find a great partner, stick with them through good times and challenging ones. Build brand equity at their event as you focus on your own goals.
Are you a meeting planner looking for sponsorship? Check out Gail Bower’s tips for you here.
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