Event Sponsorships: Maximising ROI In The Digital Age
Event Sponsorship is a billion-dollar industry and having sponsors at your event can take you just about everywhere. To get a large piece of this billion-dollar industry, event planners have to think beyond putting a sponsor’s logo on their website or mobile event app. Today, sponsors are interested in opportunities that can help them make the most out of your event and increase their ROI.
To create more valuable partnerships in this digital age, you first need to understand the attendees coming to your event and then create a strategic plan for sponsors. How well do you know your attendees? You may think you know your attendees – after all, you asked about their dietary preferences, their age group, their interest and the industry they are coming from. But is that enough? Both sponsors and attendees have a symbiotic relation, and your event acts as a facilitator.
Understanding the audience type can help you better pitch to your sponsor the value they will get from your event. It will also help them network with the right set of the target audience to generate meaningful leads. Let us look at these two strategies to attract high-spending sponsors at your event to maximise ROI.
Understanding your attendees is your master key
If you understand your audience, then you and your sponsor can leverage that information to create personalized attendee experience. Confused? To put it in simple words, creating more valuable sponsor partnerships starts with a deep understanding of your event audience. After all, your sponsors know too closely their target audience. If you can supplement their information by having the exact information of your audience, then high-value sponsors will surely love to come to your event. When understanding your audience, be as specific as you can. If possible, learn about your attendees’ interest, where they live, what are their preferences, what they care about, etc.
It may seem quite intimidating to gather all this information, but it is not so in this digital world. Tech-savvy event planners would already know how to collect this information using event technologies. In any case, below are a few ways that can help you collect valuable information and draw more high-value sponsors at your next event.
- Send surveys: The easiest way to know more about your audience is by sending pre-event surveys. Some event management software providers have survey features that can help you effortlessly ask attendees questions about their needs, wants, and preferences.
- Conduct a focus group: Before your event, run a focus group to know your attendees’ perceptions about event sponsors.
- Analyze your website: Event management software and social media: Tools like Google Analytics, social media platform and even your event management software can give you insights into your audience’s age, gender, occupation, and other characteristics that sponsors want to know. Event management software can also help you know their content and session preferences that you can leverage while pitching to sponsors.
Collecting this information is vital since these insights can facilitate superior networking amongst sponsors and attendees. This brings to the second strategy – using a business matchmaking app.
Use a business matchmaking app to increase event engagements
One of the reasons why people attend events is the networking opportunities that events provide. But just by giving exclusive sessions for networking is not enough. In today’s digital world, both the attendees and sponsors expect a lot more. That is why business matchmaking app has gained prominence in the recent years. These apps are a sure shot way to increase your value to sponsors as it allows them to make connections with attendees and other businesses associated with your event.
Business matchmaking apps add values for the sponsors in two ways: it not only allows meaningful networking but also allows sponsors to put their logos on your app. Here are some of the ways how this magical technology can help your sponsors:
- Have one-on-one meetings
- Schedule, accept, reject, manage and reschedule appointments
- Add comments and notes to appointments
- Facilitate social networking even after the event is over
Business matchmaking apps like MatchLeads by Eventdex is a great way to attract high-value sponsors as it gives them a highly customized solution to build meaningful connections and get the most out of your event.
Conclusion
With these strategies in place, you’ll make it hard for sponsors to refuse your event. Even if you are planning on a tight budget, having these high-value sponsors at your event can boost your event ROI. It is up to you now!