Securing conference sponsorship is not just fundamentally important for the obvious financial benefits but if done correctly it can forge a valuable business partnership between your company and another with much greater benefits than just financial!
Event and Conference Sponsorship
So what is sponsorship…..?
As a general overview sponsorship is an agreement you enter in with another company or brand in order to maximize or align your brand, product or service through the investment of sponsorship.
What are the benefits of sponsorship?
Sponsorship is a key component to many businesses marketing strategy and provides a range of valuable benefits:
- Brand awareness
- A platform to connect with new prospects or cement those existing relationships with customers
- Proactive lead generation
- Real human-to-human interaction
- An opportunity to showcase your expertise, services and capabilities to a strategic market
- Increased credibility as a brand
Now with an overview of sponsorship and the benefits this has for many businesses, how do you secure sponsors? Finding sponsors can be challenging, especially if you do not have a core database to begin approaching or if the conference has not previously been conducted with sponsors. With this in mind, it’s important to identify your company’s purpose and value to ensure you can connect with brand’s that will align with the interest of your company and hold value to attendees at the event.
"Identify your company’s purpose and value to ensure you can connect with brand’s that will align with the interest of your company and hold value to attendees at the event."
Finding the right sponsor
Identifying the link between your company and potential sponsors will prove pivotal in the success of valuable sponsorship securement. First, if you have the data, begin with company’s who have previously sponsored your conference and identify the industry’s they fall within. Dissecting this data, will enable you to research competitors within these industry sectors. If you don’t have any previous data to dissect, compile a list of companies that offer products or services that align with your company’s purpose and begin researching these companies to determine if they would be valuable sponsor to have onboard. The ideal sponsor will be one that sees value in being associated with your company brand and the attendee demographic.
Creating a killer sponsorship proposal!
Once you have identified your shortlist of company’s it’s time to develop a killer sponsorship proposal! Your sponsorship proposal must be professional, attention grabbing and importantly informative with clear benefits and fees outlined. The proposal should include:
- A welcome message including the purpose of the conference
- Who will be attending the conference? It’s important to include key information such as; expected attendee numbers, demographic of attendees and any other information potential sponsors may be interested in. Remember attendees are a KEY consideration for sponsors.
- Benefits of sponsorship; provide the top key benefits sponsors could expect if they chose to sponsor the conference.
- Snap shot of a table of sponsorship benefits
- Sponsorship tier-levels
- Sponsorship application form
The approach
Using the short list of companies you researched it’s now time to make contact by introducing yourself and your company via email or phone. It’s important to identify why you are reaching out, how their product, service or brand identity’s with your purpose and how you can help them with the implementation of sponsorship to build their brand, customer outreach and marketing strategy. In closing always offer a date and time to speak with them or meet in person to discuss the exciting opportunity. Should you not hear back, it’s always important to follow up via phone or email.
Signing on Sponsors
When you receive the fantastic news that you’ve secured a new sponsorship deal, ensure the sponsorship paperwork is completed and returned as a commitment of the terms of sponsorship. It is imperative at this point you continue your clear communication with your sponsor and invest the time in to developing a strong business relationship that will support sponsor retention for years to come!
Remember, sponsorship is a partnership and similarly to many partnership in our lives it requires two-way communication, honesty to up hold, and nurturing to ensure longevity. Sponsorship can be daunting task to approach, so if you need any guidance, tips or ticks, please contact a member of our team at BCC Management.
