Meetings and events are doors through which attendees can access valuable education, networking and business opportunities. But a door can't open itself. Before people can pass through it, someone must turn the key, rotate the knob, then push it ajar. At meetings and events, that someone is typically a sponsor, whose dollars give meeting planners the resources they need to turn ideas into reality.
Sponsors are not easy animals to hunt, however. To catch them, meeting professionals must be quick, cunning and creative.
"Event sponsorship can be a tricky skill to master," author David Epstein declares in a post on The Bizzabo Blog, published by event software company Bizzabo. "It means that you'll need to be more than an excellent event planner; you'll also need to be a … great salesperson."
Epstein is right. At the end of the day, those who secure the most sponsors aren't always the best meeting planners; rather, they're the savviest salespeople. If you want to infuse your event with more sponsorships, you must treat your meetings like products that you're peddling at a market.
Put another way: You've got to stop thinking like a meeting planner and start thinking like a merchant. Here are five tips that will help you hock your wares:
1. Sell benefits, not features.
Merchants know that customers respond best when they hear about a product's benefits instead of its features. When you're buying a new microwave, for example, you don't care how many megawatts it has; rather, what you care about is how quickly it can heat up last night's leftovers for dinner. The same is true of sponsorships. Instead of merely promoting the features of sponsorship -- logos on event signage, for example, or a preferred placement in the exhibit hall -- emphasize the benefits of sponsorship, such as increased social media impressions, more customer leads or easy access to a desired demographic, author Stephen Kim advises in another post on The Bizzabo Blog.
"If the goal is to find companies that are interested in sponsoring events, the primary step should be to understand why these companies are looking for sponsorships," Kim says. "In the end, sponsoring an event is a significant investment, so it is important to become knowledgeable on the types of event ROI that these companies are expecting to see."
2. Deliver the goods.
Merchants have a hard time selling products on spec. After all, a customer is more likely to buy a product that they can take home today than a product that might or might not be delivered to them at some point in the future. The same principle applies to event sponsors, who are more likely to sponsor when they are guaranteed to take something tangible from the event -- like hosted buyers, whose presence gives sponsors actual instead of theoretical leads.
"A [strategic] step for your event would be to invite a few hosted buyers and schedule meetings with those buyers and your sponsors," reads a tip from the event planning community eventplanner.net. "There's nothing more appealing for your sponsors than to take advantage of the environment you are providing and create new prospects for their businesses. Keep in mind that you may have to pay travel and accommodation costs for some buyers, but it's worth the investment if it means attracting new sponsors."
3. Deploy data.
Merchants know that when they promote products, customers are more likely to make a purchase when the product's claims are backed by hard data. Imagine a cleaning product, for example, that has been proven to kill a certain number of germs, or a car that has been proven to be safer during collisions. Both products are likely to outperform competitors that can't make such claims. Event sponsors are equally receptive to data, author Dan McCarthy suggests in an article for event planning software company Social Tables.
"At the end of the day, your sponsors will have their own financial goals for your event. And the more confident they feel about achieving them, the better. But it can be hard to prove exactly what kind of return on their investment they can look forward to. Unless, of course, you use some event data to back it up," explains McCarthy, who recommends aggregating and sharing data points from past events, like gross revenue from promotions, number of event check-ins versus registrants, number of active community members, visit-to-purchase conversion rate and social media engagement levels, just to name a few.
4. Provide an entry-level product.
Merchants that have high-end products to sell often can attract more customers and generate more revenue by having a more affordable, entry-level product to sell alongside their primary, premium offering. Grocery stores, for example, offer both name-brand and generic products. Butchers, likewise, offer both premium and budget cuts of meat. Meeting planners should consider offering a similarly tiered sponsorship structure, author Julie Ritchie suggests in a blog post for marketing software company Marketo.
"Not all sponsors will be able to invest at the same level, so it's important to create sponsorship packages that include at least three levels -- for example, you might offer a silver, gold and platinum level. This gives your partners the flexibility they need," Ritchie says.
5. Sweeten the deal.
Successful merchants know how to seal the deal with small but meaningful perks. Meeting planners should take a page from their book and offer similar incentives, according to McCarthy.
"Sponsors want as much bang for their buck, of course," notes McCarthy, who says potential incentives include giving the sponsor a free booth, encouraging social media followers to share the sponsor's content, giving event-related freebies or discounts to customers that purchase the sponsor's product, etc. "If you're willing to give more than take, it shows the sponsors that you're serious about making the event a success."