Hi friends! Check out the full notes below from Pitch and Plan Podcast Episode 102— Digital Event Campaigns. You can listen HERE.
In the third episode of Pitch and Plan, April Burks is joined again by guest Antoinette Minor to tackle sponsorships in relation to event planning and promotion. The episode begins with a discussion on current events and how many are worried about their online media presence.
Getting into sponsorships and media, Antoinette explains the things that need to be in place before you can even start pursuing a sponsor. Some reach out to sponsors and only ask for them to be a sponsor. Antoinette urges you to stop doing that as it is like throwing spaghetti against the wall and hoping the spaghetti will stick. The first thing that you must know is what your mission, goals, and tasks are not only for your organization but also for what the event is. Knowing this will help you make sure to align with the sponsors that fit best. The second thing to do is to figure out what you need the sponsors to cover. Know the specifics. When having an annual event collecting information about who your audience and demographic were can be greatly beneficial for your next event. This also can help in determining who your target sponsors are as you will be able to align the groups that you have attending with the ideal target audience of the sponsor.
April poses the question of how early you should pursue sponsors. Antoinette explains that there is no such thing as too early when you are trying to get your sponsors. Sometimes, depending on how big the sponsorship is they can dictate what your event is going to look like and what it needs to do. Antoinette gives the example of if you waited till a month before your event to reach out to a sponsor you may miss out on that sponsorship. Sponsorships are not always just cash. In this example what if the sponsorship would have been a free event space? You would be missing out on thousands of dollars of sponsorship as you had waited too long!
Antoinette continues the discussion by sharing some of the creative ways to offer deliverables.
Antoinette offers that you can actually get someone to sponsor the WI-FI at an event. By sponsoring the event you could have the organization’s brand or logo pop up or make the WI-FI password for the day the company’s name. If 300 people come to an event with their phones and laptops, 300 people will be typing or seeing that company’s name. That is 300 people that have now been exposed to that brand!
With the pandemic, deliverables look a bit different for virtual events. Antoinette says that you can offer to have the organization’s information scrolls across the screen. You could even in place 30-60 second commercial spots which can also benefit your team allowing them to take breaks during transitions. You also can have deliverables in the form of traditional social media sponsorships or lunchtime sponsors for discount codes.
So how do you identify sponsors that would make a good fit for your event? You have to find your mission, vision, and/or goals and the target audience of your event and find sponsors that aligns with that same mission, vision, and/or goals. This takes a lot of deep work as you will want to research a lot and look back at past events that they have sponsored for. It can also work in terms of the target audience if you are attracting a certain audience that a sponsor is targeting this would be an ideal fit for a sponsorship.
The best way to pursue a sponsor once you have determined it should be a good fit is to work on business development. This term often gets misrepresented as business growth. Business development is defined as an activity of pursuing strategic operations or opportunities for a particular business or organization. This means that pursuing a sponsor is a totally relational tactic in order for both parties to benefit from whatever it is that each party wants to do. The only way that you can do this is to build a network of possible connections, prospect them, and sell. Selling is really just building the relationship between the two parties as you build your network a partnership will come. Antoinette offers the advice of giving gifts, congratulatory cards, and emails to maintain a healthy connection.
During an event you will want to collect as much information about your audience as possible and gather information on their thoughts of the event. You can share this data with your sponsors as it can benefit them as well as continuing your relations. After the event, you will want to follow up and continue to communicate with your sponsors. Including them in follow up interviews and sending thank you cards, and gifts allows you to stay in the loop and communicate.
When networking you want to try to be a well-versed person. Be you but a well-versed you. Do not be afraid to learn other skills and things that can facilitate in building connections. People will often do business with people they like so go out there and start connecting!
Links to Look At:
Want to Connect with Antoinette Minor?
Antoinette Minor Website | [https://www.antoinetteminor.com/]
Antoinette Minor Instagram | [https://www.instagram.com/antoinettekminor/]
Antoinette Minor Facebook | [https://www.facebook.com/antoinettekminor]
Antoinette Minor LinkedIn | [https://www.linkedin.com/in/antoinetteminor/]
TYP Social Media Co. Website | [https://www.typsocialmediaco.com/]
Referrals and Rants Podcast | [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/introduction/id1452061863?i=1000429522816]
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