Open Air Business August/September 2018

EVENTS
Getting
it Right
Manage your relationship
with sponsors with advice
from Eventbrite
THE MORE work you put into your
sponsorship relationships up front, the
higher the reward for everyone - you, your
sponsors, and your attendees.
Without that relationship, you’re left
scrambling to find new sponsors every time
you throw a new event. Ready to nurture
your current festival sponsors and develop
relationships with new ones? Use these four
tips to keep them coming back every year.
1 BE TRANSPARENT FROM
THE BEGINNING
When you’re pitching a potential sponsor,
start with the basics:
› Are you giving potential sponsors access to
a local audience? National? Global?
› How many attendees do you have each
year? How much money do they spend at
your event? Remember: brands are buying
access to your audience, not assets
› Be clear about your objectives. What
are you looking for from your sponsors?
Funding only? Exposure to their
audiences/stakeholders? A multi-event
contract?
› Next, you’ll want to dazzle them with
details about how you can help them
achieve their goals.
2 IMPRESS SPONSORS WITH
YOUR VALUE PROPOSITION
Many companies providing sponsorships
have a limited budget, well defined
objectives, and a rigid timeline. They’re not
searching for new sponsorship opportunities
but they may entertain your proposal if they
see a fit with their objectives.
Whether your sponsor would value
exclusive market research into their target
customer or an increase in their social media
reach, you need to make it clear how your
event can connect sponsors with their target
audience and help them achieve their goals.
Before you create your value proposition
for a sponsor, ask these five questions. Make
sure the answers are in your pitch, and in
your follow up emails:
› What are your sponsor’s key objectives?
› What do they need to be successful?
› How will sponsoring your event benefit
their organisation?
› How does your event tie to their brand?
› How does your event tie to their
marketing objectives?
3 PROVE YOUR WORTH
If you can’t deliver on what you promise,
sponsors will walk out the door. In fact,
proving your value is the foundation of a
long-term relationship. Not to mention,
sponsors talk - so if you damage one
relationship, you might damage them all.
After the event, you should compile and
circulate a report to show sponsors how it
all went. If you’re not sure where to find the
right data to populate your report, here are
three easy ways to get it:
› Surveys - integrate a few sponsor-related
questions into your post event survey. For
example, you might ask people to check
off which brands they noticed during the
event. That direct feedback shows how
sponsors stand out at your event.
› Social media – this is your ally when it
comes to proving the ROI of sponsorship.
You can provide sponsors with
information on things like how many
users interacted with sponsor messaging
on your social feeds, how many new
followers came directly after mentioning
a sponsor in a post, and how many times
you mentioned a sponsor in social posts.
› Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID)
- if your event is equipped with this
technology, you can find out things like
how many people interacted with a
sponsor’s station. Attendees don’t need
to manually enter their information on
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Eventbrite is a global ticketing and event technology platform. Event organisers use Eventbrite to boost
ticket sales, promote and manage events, handle on-site operations, and analyse results across multiple
sales channels. To learn how you can be your sponsor’s favourite event, get in touch at www.eventbrite.
co.uk or call 0800 652 4993.
an iPad, instead sponsors can collect
that data and more with the swipe of a
wristband or badge.
4 CONNECT WITH SPONSORS
ALL YEAR, NOT JUST AT
RENEWAL TIME
Whether your sponsors opted to renew
early or not, continue nurturing your
relationships. Regular check-ins will keep
your event on top of your sponsor’s mind
during their budgeting process. And it
doesn’t have to be all about business - send
a happy birthday message, it may lead to
more referral opportunities.
Stay in touch when something isn’t going
well, not just when things are smoothsailing.
Sponsorship is a partnership. While it
may feel counter-intuitive to speak out when
there’s been a mistake, it’s as important as
relaying your successes.
To show you’re committed to a
partnership with your sponsors, ask for
feedback. What did they love? Was there
anything they disliked? What should you do
more or less of next time? As you discuss,
use the time to ask more about their goals
for next year.
MINI QUIZ:
Are you a desirable partner?
If you can answer ‘yes’ to the following
three questions, congrats - you’re a good
catch!
› Authentic: Are you truly invested in your
relationship with your sponsor?
› Flexible: Are you ready to pivot your
strategy to meet your sponsor’s goals?
› Dedicated: Do you have a contact person
on your team who sponsors can rely on?
Finding the right sponsors for your
event can seem like a fruitless effort - and
keeping your sponsors year after year
can feel nearly impossible. However,
with the right strategy, identifying new
opportunities and developing those
relationships become second nature.
74 WWW.OPENAIRBUSINESS.COM