Here are some tips to optimize your event sponsorship and get the most out of your investment:
To ensure cost control and efficiently allocate each budget to the different actions that event sponsorship entails, have a well-defined budget in advance and stick to it. From hong kong telegram phone number list the value of the sponsorship itself to the different materials and associated actions, negotiate in the best possible way to get the most value for each euro.
Choose the right events
Budgets are never unlimited, so you need to be very careful. Do your research, ask for feedback, and select the ones that best align with your business goals and target audience. Consider the size, audience, theme, and reputation of the event before committing your resources.
Set clear goals
Set specific, measurable and realistic goals, such as number of contacts, qualified leads, deals closed, potential partnerships, etc., helping to guide your activities before, during and after the event.
Prepare in advance
First, define which team will be involved and who you can count on during the various phases. Prepare marketing materials, such as pop-ups/roll-ups, brochures, giveaways, presentation/video devices and equipment, and some brand activation to boost the space. Note that event sponsorship usually comes with access to the registration list (with due compliance with GDPR). Analyze attendees, speakers and other sponsors to identify potential customers, leads and partners to approach in advance.
Make a checklist
To ensure nothing goes wrong, create a checklist with everything (absolutely everything) that needs to be done before, during and after the event, including what, how, when, who and at what cost.
Use and abuse social networks
Leverage social media before, during, and after the event to increase visibility and boost your company’s presence. Share updates, photos, and videos, and connect with other attendees using relevant hashtags.
Inform and invite your network of contacts
In addition to social media, post information on your website and use email marketing to inform your target audience about your company’s presence and invite them to register. In the case of paid events, the organization often has special prices for sponsors’ guests and even some free places. Take the opportunity to do some “charming” with some contacts. If your company has a newsletter, it is another channel to boost event sponsorship before and after.
Maximize brand visibility
Make the most of the visibility opportunities offered by event sponsorship. Typically, the organizer will include logo placement on all promotional materials, from invitations to banners, websites, signage, presentations and on-site displays, etc. The more visible your brand is, the greater the impact of your sponsorship.
Highlight your presence
Invest in an attractive stand or exhibition space that highlights your brand and offering, preferably in a location with a lot of foot traffic and crowds. Define what furniture, audiovisuals and design you need. Make sure your team is well trained and ready to interact with attendees proactively, and that they have what they need to facilitate their work.
Share valuable content
In addition to speaking to attendees and promoting your products and services in the exhibition area, try to include a session focused on educational content in the event agenda. The goal here is to position yourself as an authority in the field and demonstrate your existing skills.
Organize parallel initiatives
Event sponsorship often also involves the possibility of hosting side events such as happy hours, demonstrations, one-to-one or one-to-few meetings, breakfasts or lunches. These are a great way to connect more personally with attendees and create additional opportunities for networking and lead generation.
Capture leads effectively
Use lead collection technologies and applications to quickly and easily capture information about participants interested in your products or services.
Create special offers
Offer special offers or exclusive discounts to event attendees to encourage conversion.
Consider referral programs
If applicable, encourage leads generated during the event to refer their colleagues or contacts who may also benefit from your solution. Offer rewards or benefits to leads who refer new customers.
Provide timely and personalized follow-up
Make sure to follow up with your leads after the event and maintain a relationship with them, integrating them into your company’s existing marketing/sales platforms so that they can receive your communications. Also, review the entire list of attendees provided by the organizer and contact those that make sense. Thank them for their interest and for visiting your space, provide more information about your products or services, send content related to the event topics and that positions you as an expert (white papers, success stories, articles, etc.), and/or try to schedule a meeting or demonstration if appropriate. Do all this in a contextual way (based on what you know about each lead and not mass-marketing the same messages to everyone) and always take into account GDPR compliance.
Nurture the leads
Even for leads that are not ready to make a purchase, it is important to keep their contacts on the platforms for future nurturing according to their interests, for example through a series of automated and well-segmented emails that provide relevant and educational content over time and encourage progress in the sales funnel. In addition to the more immediate results, event sponsorship can also bring excellent future results and to achieve this, it is necessary to continue to engage with the contacts generated.
