Are you doing these 5 things with your sponsorship?

posted in: Events, Industry Advocacy | 0

Many events only exist because they are supported financially through sponsorships.  Sponsors are always highly regarded and appreciated by the event organizer, but you can’t just leave it all in the organizer’s hands to make sure your sponsorship dollars are used to their full potential.  If you sponsor programs or events, be sure you are doing these 5 things to make sure you are giving yourself the best opportunity for high ROI:

  1. Promote Yourself

Sure, the event organizer is going to list your name and logo on event promotions when and where they can, but, you should be doing the same.  You’re the sponsor.  You should be letting people know about your support on your website, social media accounts, email notices, newsletters, etc.

  1. Don’t Just Show Up

You spent money to sponsor an event or program, which means you believed in it.  So, the last thing you want to do is show up unprepared.  If you are able to speak to attendees about your company, be sure to plan out what your message is going to be and tailor it to the event or program.  Provide materials for the event organizer to hand out to all attendees and have them fit the theme of the event.  It goes a long way to show attendees that you put a little thought into your participation.

  1. Actually Show Up

What’s worse than not being prepared at your sponsored event?  Not even being there.  Sure, you gained brand awareness in all of the event or program promotions, but now the attendees are wondering where you are and why you’re not there to speak with them.

  1. Ask for the Lead List

Most likely, the event organizer has a list of who is attending.  Since you’re the sponsor, ask for the list.  The worst they can do is say no, and if they do that, you rethink the sponsorship for the next year.

  1. Follow-up

You most likely have a list of who attended – do something with it.  It’s most likely not given to you on a silver platter with a complete email list ready to upload into you Outlook account.  But, you probably have contact names and companies.  Send a post card thanking them for attending the event.  Be sure to include your contact information on the back.  This is a fairly inexpensive way to keep your brand in the minds of the attendees and they will probably remember you as the company that sent a thank you card.