A Quick Guide to Building Event Sponsorships by Cvent

Sponsor funding is often critical to creating successful and unforgettable events. With the help of strategic sponsor partnerships, you can give your event marketing efforts a powerful boost, promote your brand across new channels, boost lead generation and sales, increase your event ROI, and so much more!

But where do you start? Here’s a quick guide to building your event sponsorships, from finding the right sponsors to crafting a pitch they can’t refuse.

Benefits of Event Sponsorships

If you’re not sure whether your event needs sponsorships, consider these benefits of partnering with sponsors. Beyond boosting your marketing and sales efforts, event sponsorships can help you:

• Grow your event budget and provide attendee discounts where possible
• Boost your event’s credibility with reputable partners and attract more attendees
• Increase your event’s reach and attract new attendees with the help of cross-channel promotions (you promote your sponsors, and your sponsors promote your event!)
• Enhance media coverage for larger events or high-profile speakers when partnering with media sponsors

The benefits of working with event sponsors are endless, and every opportunity to build these partnerships gets you one step closer to a higher event ROI.

Types of Events Sponsorship Opportunities

Event sponsorships don’t all look the same, and your sponsors will expect you to offer packages designed uniquely for them. When building your packages, try to think outside the box, and don’t be afraid to pick your sponsors’ brains about what options they’d like to see!

Sponsorship opportunities can include:

• Onsite visuals like 3D displays, neon signs, banners, interactive displays, social media backdrops, etc.
• Digital, branded experiences like webpages, apps, social media tags and filters, and video livestreams.
• Sponsored lounges for attendees to relax, network, enjoy free snacks, and charge their devices.
• Sponsored programming like speaker sessions, panel discussions, and networking events to attract attendees who recognize your sponsors’ brands.
• Social media posts promoting your sponsor in exchange for posts on their channels promoting your event.

How to Choose Event Sponsors

When it comes time to search for potential sponsors, you’ll need to consider your choices from several perspectives: which sponsors are a good fit for your event, which can benefit from partnering with you, and which will excite your audience and boost attendance.

When researching sponsors, you should consider whether you and potential sponsors are on the same page about:

• Sponsors’ reputation, credibility, and mission – do these align with your own?
• Your target audience, including key demographics and areas of interest.
• The value of event marketing – some sponsors need to see past event ROI to understand the value of your partnership!
• Creating a mutually beneficial relationship where you meet your sponsors’ needs and they help you meet your goals.
• Whether a long-term, multi-year partnership is right for a flagship or annual event.

Hot Tip! When searching for your sponsors, start by checking out events that are similar to your own, and see who’s sponsoring them (and how). This is a great starting point to help you identify sponsors who are interested in your industry and get ideas for packages based on what sponsors have agreed to in the past.

Tips for Pitching Your Event and Landing Sponsors

Sponsors can benefit from event partnerships in so many ways, and making a list of these benefits is the perfect place to start your pitch. Once you’ve identified the general benefits like increased brand exposure, access to attendee data, speaking opportunities, discounted event tickets, and others, you’ll want to create a more detailed pitch specific to each sponsor you approach.

Here are a few elements you can include to make your pitch more convincing:

• Know your potential sponsors’ key decision-makers, audience, marketing objectives, challenges, budget, and sponsorship history.
• Specific metrics like expected and previous attendance and attendee demographics, previous sponsorship ROI and anticipated ROI, social media metrics, and more.
• Social proof like written or video testimonials and case studies highlighting previous partnerships.
• Discuss opportunities for additional exposure, including partnered webinars, branded on-demand content, post-event social media promotion, and more.

Ready to start lining up sponsors for your next event? Click here to start building event sponsorship packages today, with a free tool from Cvent!!