Any small business owner knows the value of brand awareness – and the challenges accompanying increasing it. Anyone who’s ever put time, energy, and money into attending conferences and workshops to network will wonder if there’s a more straightforward way.
Luckily, there is! Want to connect with your ideal audience in an impactful way? Your answer is in event sponsorship. There’s no faster way to gain goodwill, network, and increase brand awareness than this!
While event sponsorship is often overlooked as a brand and marketing strategy because we aren’t doing much other than signing up as sponsors, it has many positive effects on your bottom line. It’s important to see this as a strategy rather than something you fall into, and you’ll quickly see the return on investment.
Three Reasons Why You Need to Start Sponsoring Events
Sponsoring events also takes the pressure off you to attend every event running. We’ve all tried to do it and love workshops, but going to everything takes you away from the core of what you do: running your business. Increase in brand awareness without a drain on internal resources? Sign us up!
1 | Visibility
With so many companies vying for attention, it cannot be easy to get noticed in today’s business world. Sponsoring events gets your brand in front of a large audience, many of whom might not have heard about your business. This is a golden opportunity to take your visibility to the next level.
Think about it. As potential clients read emails about the event, check out social media, and pick up their branded merch, they could see your brand visuals even as they gazed about the room. It goes without saying that the bigger the event, the more media and social media coverage you’ll get both during and after.
This kind of publicity can seriously change your marketing game. It puts you on the map in such a positive way, where clients perceive you not only as a trustworthy name next to other reputable brands but also connect you with a positive experience they’ve had.
On the practical side, remember that this is a strategy, so you’ve got to go into it with a clear plan. If visibility is the main aim of your investment, you want to ensure they have the numbers to make that worthwhile. Whoever you’re contacting about sponsorship, ask them for their email list number or analytics reports. If they don’t want to share this info, that’s a warning sign. Lists of under 500 might be too low; this makes it considerably less cost-effective than simply paying for social media adverts.
While doing this kind of research might seem time-consuming, it’s vital to use event sponsorship to help your business. We might repeat it repeatedly, but crystal-clear goals are the only way to succeed.
2 | Community goodwill
One of our top reasons to be an event sponsor is community goodwill. You know we talk a lot about numbers – and they’re important! – but sometimes, it’s great to get involved in things to do good deeds. Whether it’s supporting a local sports team, sponsoring a charity campaign, or getting involved with a local organization, this kind of event sponsorship shows people that you’re a business that cares.
Essentially, people like people who do good, and consumers love brands that care, which makes them feel motivated to work with you or buy from you. Linking your brand to a worthwhile cause can result in lasting support and strengthen the positive image of your company.
This is also a great way to show how different you are from other companies. Increasingly people are put off by substantial faceless corporations; you need to show that you’re different. Again, think strategically. Use market research to discover what your target audience cares about and choose events to sponsor that mirror this.
3 | Building relationships
We all know how key a strong network is. It would be best if you built your presence to solidify your business. However, as we discussed above, sometimes it’s simply not feasible to do the traveling and attending that’s often seen as necessary to build relationships. Event sponsorship allows you to get involved without being everywhere at once.
Many events will offer unique opportunities for VIP receptions or exclusive networking spaces to their sponsors. These and the usual networking events mean you can connect with other CEOs and CFOs, marketing colleagues and team leaders, and even local business owners. If you follow up after the event, these connections can lead to fruitful and long-term partnerships.
We love the non-competitive relationships resulting from events, particularly collaboration, and ideas-sharing. You might run an event with another company, deliver a podcast or webinar with colleagues from other states, or even work on a panel together. This is the joy of being a business owner; event sponsorship can help you get there.
Cost-effective, high impact, and low effort, strategic event sponsorship can be the exciting change your business needs. Keep the purpose in mind and enjoy this fresh string in your marketing bow.