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LAUNCHING SPONSORSHIP PROGRAMMING:
THE DO’S, DON’TS AND WELL, MAYBES TO CONSIDER
So. You want to launch a sponsorship program.You’re in the right place.
Are you a venue that wants to add value to attendees’ experience through partnerships?Are you an event wanting involvement from outside brands and stakeholders?Maybe you’re a property looking for additional revenue streams.
Whatever the case, this is the intro to launching sponsorship programming for you.
If you’re a rights holder looking into sponsorship, this packet is just for you. Launching a sponsorhip program can be daunting, confusing, and time-consuming. We hope to make it less so.
Sponsorship, first and foremost, is about relationships. You will be working with partners to promote both your company and their brand(s). Like with vendors, agencies, or other stakeholders, you want to ensure you have an easy and efficient working relationship with your sponsors. This is going to involve implementing all the tasks and other things you currently do to have strong working rela-tionships, just with a new set of people and brands.
You’ll meet with your partners (or, at first, your potential partners). Before you do, look into their business. See what they’re about: • What do they sell? • What size organization are they? • Are they involved in community or other outreach? If so, what is
it?• Do they currently sponsor any events, teams, or venues?• What are their (apparent) goals, based on products, press releases
or other information you can find?
When you meet with your potential sponsors, remember you’re not selling your assets. You’re selling opportunities. You don’t want to present them with a list of assets - you want to find their goals and performance expectations and discuss how you can help the brand reach those levels. Make sure you’re able to provide information they’ll be looking for: attendance, audience demographics, options, etc. As a rights holder, your job is not to collect a sponsorship fee. It’s to help your partners reach their goals so they keep wanting to pay your sponsorship fee.
DO
INVEST.
RESEARCH.
TAKE STOCK.
Look deeply at both the local and industry sponsorship markets. Determine the most popular asset offerings and the most successful programs. What industries do sponsors typically operate within? Do brands sponsoring multiple rights holders activate in similar ways?
Take the time to look at the sponsorship industry as a whole. Follow industry publications and social media updates. Start to brainstorm how these trends and partnerships could work in your program.
What assets do you have to offer? Do you have onsite signage and activation space? What sort of digital following does your property or event have? These are the tangible elements that will be part of your sponsorship programming; namely, you are putting together a list of just what you can offer a potential partner.
Don’t stop with just the sponsorship assets, though. Be sure to fully consider your team. What bandwidth do they have for sponsorship programming? What are their other responsibilities? Is sponsorship programming better done in or out of house?
Once you’ve taken stock of your team and your assets, determine what changes can be done. Do you need to hire more team members solely dedicated to sponsorship sales or servicing?
Did you find the assets you have lacking in any way? Are you willing to upgrade to attract larger deals and more prominent brands? Find specific improvements - physical or digital - that will make a noticable difference. If the improvement will be neglible, it can probably wait.
DON’T
HESITATE.
RUSH.
ASSUME.
Don’t negotiate with yourself. Consider what you have to offer and ask for what you want. When drafting a proposal, don’t rule out anything you’re looking for: you don’t know what potential partners will say. Value goes both ways, and you can’t recieve what you don’t ask for.
A sponsorship program takes time to plan and to build. Sponsorship is a wonderful opportunity for both partnership and to build revenue, but it is not an instantaneous result.
Your proposals should be compelling and demonstrate a good fit to your potential partners. For that to happen, you need to take time to discover demographics, goals and targets for those partners.
Your independent research may give you a good idea of a partner’s goals and targets; however, don’t forget to ask. Work to build a good relationship prior to placing your proposal to ensure more receptivity. Ask potential partners - even competitors in the same industry - what they’re looking for from their sponsorship marketing programs.
You also want to show partners the details on your property or event. Introduce them to your audience, your programming and how you can reach both of your goals together.
WELL, MAYBEJUMP IN!
SET BOUNDARIES.
HIRE A PARTNER.
Where is the balancing point between doing the proper diligence and delaying entry into the sponsorship game? It’s different for every property or brand, but if you are researching a sponsorship program, make sure you’re ready to jump in when the opportunity is right.
Sponsorship can be about timing, and you don’t want to miss out.
Not every company can manage a sponsorship program - that’s okay. That’s part of what investing in your company means: finding the right option for you. Maybe your marketing team is swamped, and there’s way you can add to their plates. Check out potential partners to take this off your to-do list. Agencies like Tandem have the expertise and ability to help you maximize your sponsorship program.
Let us just clarify: we don’t mean making cookie-cutter sponsorship packages that you do not deviate from. You can’t be a good partner or help your partners reach their goals in that case.
However, there are going to be things your brand or property is just not capable of, or even specific ways you generally need to complete taks. Share these with your partners upfront, but try to be flexible.
