From charity walks to concerts and parades, local events unite communities and draw crowds — making them prime business marketing opportunities. Event sponsorship boosts visibility, fosters in-person interactions, and drives growth. After all, who doesn’t love meeting their customers?
The return on investment for event sponsorships depends on your firm’s specific goals. Still, events can offer solid financial returns alongside long-lasting reputational benefits. To reap the rewards, it’s important that the sponsorship aligns with your business goals.
Let’s dig into the details of a successful event sponsorship:
How Does My Business Get Involved?
First, start with an event marketing strategy (we can help with that!). The beauty of event sponsorship marketing is there isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach. Each event draws a unique audience and opportunities.
Costs vary widely based on location, type of event, and scale, and there are opportunities for nearly every budget size.
For instance, a base-level sponsorship for a charity walk or career fair could be a few hundred dollars. The top billing of a presenting sponsor for a significant event such as a concert could run thousands of dollars.
Here are a few ways to identify the best event:
- Identify your target audience: Choose events your customers are likely to attend. Want families? Get involved with kid-friendly runs, sporting events, or concerts. Looking for business leaders? Consider high-end events like a discussion with local political leaders.
- Partner with like-minded organizations: Find organizations and activities that align with your business’ values or industry. For instance, a healthcare business might sponsor charity walks focused on medical research.
- Think seasonally: Holidays and seasonal moments, like 4th of July or back-to-school, create natural partnerships and tie-ins with your business objectives.
What Are The Best Sponsorship Opportunities?
Once you’ve identified an event, it’s time to plan your sponsorship. Once again, the opportunities are varied and abundant. Here are some great options:
Title sponsorships: Your company name appears on official signage, merchandise, and marketing, maximizing your brand’s exposure. In addition, your company name is mentioned in all the advertising that takes place prior to the event.
Contests and Giveaways: Everyone loves a contest, so ask attendees to enter to win a prize (such as free passes to the event) with their contact information. You’ll grow your email and text clubs while generating leads for your products or services. Make sure that you're capturing this data through a digital platform and not by having people drop their business card or a piece of paper in a fishbowl. Doing things the old fashioned way costs you the ability to market to these consumers after the event.
Set up a booth or table: Set up an experience where attendees can interact with your employees, try your products, and collect free swag like pens and stress balls. This builds awareness and connection.
The ROI Of Event Sponsorship
An event sponsorship can be successful in a variety of ways, but the goal is to have the hard work pay off. The ROI for event sponsorship depends on your campaign objectives.
Financial benefits: Some sponsorships have direct financial returns, including online and in-person sales or increases in web traffic or in-store visits.
How to calculate ROI: Calculate the total revenue that came from the event and apply the general formula: Revenue - Total Investment Cost = ROI.
For example, let’s say your business spent $5,000 on sponsorship and $1,000 to set up and staff a booth at an event. You attribute $15,000 in revenue to the event, due to sales that happened after attendees signed up for your contest. $15,000 - $6,000 = $9,000. That’s a $150% ROI!
Reputational pay-offs: Events also creates intangible benefits, such as increased name recognition and visibility, or marketing opportunities. Reputational benefits are crucial for long-term growth and name recognition.
How to calculate ROI: While there isn’t an exact formula here, you can track reputational benefits, such as increases in social media following or your email or text club. You might see more online reviews after the event, or get more referrals. Employees may recognize event attendees who stop into your location in the weeks after the event.
Ready to Dive In?
Are you ready to explore event sponsorships or expand your current efforts? Our multimedia marketing specialists can help craft a custom event marketing campaign, from identifying the best events to developing sponsorship budgets and activations, and evaluating the results.
Contact us today to see how event sponsorships can help grow your business.
