The title of thought leader Simon Sinek’s shortest and only illustrated book is Together is Better, a phrase that in just three words sums up the value of forging more collaborative partnerships with event sponsors.
Too often, though, interactions with event sponsors are solely transactional: a company pays to have its logo on marketing collateral and perhaps gets comp tickets. Yet, there is so much more we can achieve when we work more effectively—together.
Try these 10 tips to maximize your moola—and results—for everyone.
Start early
Know your prospects’ fiscal calendars and plan accordingly. Reach out at least nine months ahead, or budgets may already be allocated.Stand in Your Sponsors’ Shoes
Learn about your prospects’ values and missions. Then make a strategic marketing case for your value proposition. Most prospective sponsors want more brand awareness; to engage, in real time, with prospective customers; to build community and social impact; to showcase new offerings in unexpected ways; and to recruit top-performing employees. Realize, too, that partners will also need to invest additionally in activating sponsorships with marketing collateral, staffing and product distribution.Add Value, Offer Choice
For each investment, allow your sponsor to choose from, say, five experience branding options. Or begin engaging with your audience as soon as the contract is signed, plus three months after the event.Score a Quadruple Win
Sponsors often subsidize external presenters’ fees, and in this arena, you can chalk up a bigger win. Negotiate with your speaker a second, separate session at a local school while she’s in town. You get a great speaker, your sponsor basks in a spotlight that supports their social-action mission, your audience gets a great experience and a group of kids is inspired by the presenter’s message. That’s a win fourfold!Do More with Data
The more you know and communicate to prospective sponsors about your audience demographics, the more moola you’ll uncover. Is yours a meeting of female scientists? Tai chi lovers? Traveling retirees? How many, what ages, what income and education levels? Sponsorships become more valuable when you can quantify audience composition.Report Robustly
Deliver a comprehensive report of audience engagement data after the event, such as reach on social media, metrics tied to a photo booth or customer activations from coupon codes.
Be Unconventional
The most visible brands are inundated with requests for sponsorship—sometimes dozens a day. At an event I worked on, we didn’t hear back from ubiquitous Starbucks, but Stumptown—a smaller, worthy competitor—courted us.
Save Money on Speakers’ Travel Expenses
Think beyond cash and look to travel companies for travel vouchers and in-kind donations. (Only some speakers will accept flight vouchers for their air travel.)
Make Your Sponsor Activation Truly Active
At TEDxSeattle, we worked with our top-level partner to build custom experiences where guests interacted with speakers’ content in ways that mattered to them—like their own financial wellbeing, not the company’s marketing collateral! The partner considers the value of this partnership immeasurable and comes back year after year.
