“Oh, you’re the people who….”
When you sponsor an event, this solidifies your name and brand in the minds of potential customers. You become a member of that community and your brand recognition skyrockets.
Event sponsorship is a marketing opportunity your business might overlook, but you shouldn’t. When an audience is gathered in a specific location, and that audience fits with your brand, an event is the ideal marketing opportunity.
However, like any marketing, your business must choose your sponsorship opportunities wisely. The right event and the right type of sponsorship can make all of the difference. How can you maximize the return on your event sponsorship?
How Event Sponsorships Increase Brand Visibility
Event sponsorships have long been part of business marketing strategy. Providing financial support, services, or resources to help an event succeed shows that you’re community-minded and helps your business strategically reach out to the people you’d like to connect with in the future.
Event sponsorships allow you to target your audience. Event organizers know the demographics of who will attend their events, so you can determine what events you should sponsor based on those demographics.
It also allows you to reach out to potentially unexpected new markets who may be at the event. For instance, a brand might reach out to expectant parents at a pregnancy-related event and might inadvertently discover that future grandparents are a strong market.
When you find the right match between your brand and an event, you can share who you are without going to the trouble of planning a large event yourself. The people are there, and you are part of their experience.
Types of Sponsorship Opportunities
There are innumerable types of sponsorship opportunities within any event, and the ways that you engage with the event audience are limited only by your imagination.
- Financial sponsorship, giving money to an event
- In-kind sponsorship, providing goods or services in your area of expertise
- Specific sponsorships of the food, prizes, or digital tools at an event
- Venue sponsorship, donating your space to an organization
- Advertising or promoting the event
In exchange, your business has the opportunity for logo placement, direct promotions, or other benefits that allow you to market yourself to the event audience.
Why Event Sponsorships Work as a Marketing Strategy
Event sponsorships are a powerful way to connect with prospective customers. Not only is your marketing targeted, but it is a seamless part of the event itself. You don’t need to go out of your way to become visible. Your brand is embedded in the positive experience of the event itself.
When your business sponsors an event, you get to choose whether the event synchs up with your mission, vision, and values. You can also select events that work for specific needs that you have right now. Will an event allow you to engage with attendees in a way that builds up your understanding of your customer base? Will an event help you target a new market? You can choose events that work with your specific objectives.
Choosing the Right Sponsorship Opportunities
If you choose the right partners, event sponsorships are ideal marketing opportunities. How do you know if a partnership is right for your company?
- Does it synchronize with your brand voice?
- Can your message stand out?
- Is it at the right time and place?
- Is this the right way to transmit your message?
- Does it highlight your products and skills?
- Does it fit within your marketing budget?
Are you looking for innovative marketing solutions? Visit us at Hangar12. We’ll help you become a CPG marketing expert in one click.
Topics Brand experience