With so many sponsorship options, it can be hard to decide which to invest time and money in. Ultimately, it's about which generates enough sponsorship value.
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Sponsorship opportunities are everywhere. However, many businesses say they don't get the right return on investment (ROI) from partnering with companies that offer them. Today, we'll discuss different types of sponsorships, how to choose the right sponsorship opportunities, how to evaluate your existing sponsorships, and what you can and should expect from different opportunities.
Events are extremely effective promotional opportunities. They position you as a thought leader and present opportunities for you to connect directly with people who are interested in your business. You'll see many of the same faces at some legacy marketing events, which isn't a fluke. Those people recognize real value from the events they're at and continue to invest in filling their pipeline. However, there are a few considerations to keep in mind.
Will you be talking about something you are passionate about and well-versed in? If not, your presentation may have the opposite effect, driving potential leads away.
Who is the audience? Is it your desired audience? For Imarc, we seek out C-levels, specifically CMOs in the technology field or those utilizing technology for other verticals. We would not present at a conference tailored to marketers who have just entered the field. They wouldn't be decision-makers, which wouldn't drive more business for us.
What's the cost (the full cost)? If you are speaking at the event, you'll likely want to bring your team to support you and to field leads. Line item out exactly how much tickets, hotels, food, and promotional items will run you, and compare that with how much a potential lead could bring in. If the math isn't mathing, this event isn't a match for your business.
As an advertiser
Where will your logo or brand be placed at the event? Is it just a logo, or do you have the opportunity to drive people back to your website or another destination? Putting your logo in a catalog as a sponsor is so 90s. While some very interested parties who already know you might see it, no one new is searching based on your logo to find out more. If new leads are your goal, ensure an actionable path back to a conversion spot.
Is there early bird pricing? If you have the luxury to plan, you can take advantage of the best possible pricing, giving the opportunity a higher margin of ROI.
Digital marketing sponsorships
Co-branded digital campaigns, sponsored content engagements, ongoing sponsored programming, and many other digital-first investments fall under this umbrella. When executed correctly, these are typically mutually beneficial and highly actionable.
Are you considering sponsoring media like a podcast? Make sure the product is a good fit with the audience that is listening. No one likes to hear about products that completely miss the mark, especially when they interrupt their true crime listening time!
Choosing the right sponsorship opportunities
Sponsorships are partnerships, and a good partnership should:
Be mutually beneficial
Provide value (think leads)
Be engaging and open
Champion what makes you each great
Align with your goals
When seeking a partner, you need to:
Determine what each lead you would get from said sponsorship
Use your historic lead-to-close rate to decide whether enough leads will be generated to make a difference.
Get metrics on the estimated engagement you can expect.
Find out how communication will work regarding results and providing your materials (for example, sponsored content).
Make sure you have industry alignment that can translate to the right leads coming in.
Evaluating your existing sponsorships
No matter what you do, sometimes a bad fit sponsorship slips into your strategy. That's why it's important to evaluate them regularly.
Determining a good fit
Write out activities completed on each side of the partnership and make sure they are equitable.
Do the math to see how many leads you received, see how many of those leads turned into clients, and most importantly, determine if the cost of the effort that generated the leads was less than the revenue it brought you.
If your sponsorship goal is awareness, see if your market awareness has grown through engagement. You can measure this with surveys.
If you've engaged in sponsorship to position your business as a thought leader, you can run market surveys to see if your brand recognition has increased or if your name is known by people in your ideal audience. You can also measure unofficially by noting if people have heard of you since you started sponsoring.
It's not quantifiable, but if you maintain open communication and collaboration between yourself and your point person. If you feel respected and cared for, that matters, too!
When it's not going to work
Your point person is unresponsive and treats you like a number.
The rate of return from your investment is consistently low or non-existent.
If you haven't sponsored something yet, but are already hearing bad reviews, it's probably not going to get better.
Three sponsorships that add value for Imarc
The Mass Technology Leadership Council (MTLC) has been partnered with Imarc since [Insert Date], and said partnership through sponsorship has only become more valuable over time. We enjoy working with them as they are open to regular check-in communications, they provide their content requirements in advance, they surface opportunities they think would work well for us, and they speak to one of our primary audiences. All-in-all, an excellent fit.
WordPress VIP has been a smart choice for Imarc. While we did build WordPress sites before partnering with them, this new level of collaboration, which has led to speaking engagements and promotional options, is exciting and very welcome. We like having an organization that will champion us to leads that are already looking for things we do well.
Clutch is a platform that was already generating leads for us because it showcases the work that our clients have enjoyed creating with us. However, recently, we chose to enter into sponsorship. We did this to shine more light on the top work we do and the people we do it for. So far, it's been wonderful.
We do other sponsorships, too, including sponsoring our employees' professional development, but those three are our biggest ones.
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What sponsorship have you found to be most valuable? Do you know of something Imarc should sponsor? Would you just like to talk? Say hello.
