Event planners can be leveraging sponsorships for their events in a big way. Sponsorships bring more brand support, funding, and exposure. But for those struggling to launch, pitch, and close sponsorship deals, keep reading. There are strategies to be implemented and insights to consider to ensure you’re closing those valuable sponsorship packages.
1. Outreach and Cold Calling
How effective are you at outreach efforts to sell your sponsorship packages? Do you have a lead generation process online? Are you sending mass emails to corporate contacts? If you feel you’re not gaining the traction you should be, there could be areas of improvement worth exploring. Get personalized and customize those emails. Take a more strategic approach to identify your target sponsors, creating a list of brands and companies who want to reach your event’s audience. And don’t be afraid to get out there in person. Share your sponsorship opportunities during networking events and among colleagues, too, to shake loose some great referrals.
2. Drive Sponsorships with Data
The most effective way to sell sponsorships is by sharing available data and metrics. When you connect with a potential sponsor, they’ll want to know the value of their investment, and it’s your event audience data that will convey that value. However, you’ll want to share more than just attendee numbers, traffic, online impressions, and guest demographics.
Not audience, but audience alignment: Convey to sponsors what your event guests value, and share details about who your attendees are, including goals and lifestyles. You want sponsors to recognize that their target personas are coming to your event.
Not likes and shares, but engagement levels: Don’t sell sponsorships based on social media likes and shares. Instead, position a sponsorship value rooted in audience engagement metrics and participation data.
Not cost, but ROI: Get your potential sponsors to recognize the value in investing as a sponsor. Share how quickly your event sponsorship can recoup the initial investment. Then paint the picture that demonstrates additional volume, frequency, scale, and value.
3. Sell Enthusiasm with Your Sponsorship Packages
Sometimes, even with all the right sales elements in place, event planners still struggle to land maximum sponsorships. It could be that you just need to boost your enthusiasm. Remember, your event is exciting. Being a participating sponsor should be exciting, too. Be enthusiastic about the opportunity and value you’re pitching. Your enthusiasm will be contagious, helping to solidify your exclusive offer.
Elevate your event sponsorship sales efforts by tapping into these three tips. And keep up with our ongoing blog series for more sales, marketing, and sponsorship insights to help grow your event planning business.
We’re already hard at work planning The Event Planner Expo 2023. If you thought 2022 was incredible, wait to see what our team has in store for the events industry in 2023! Get on the waitlist now, and don’t miss a single announcement!
