Marketing & Sales 
Studies show that events and experiences improve how audiences feel about brands. They also give you a strong push when it comes to driving sales. Over 90% of consumers feel positive about brands after participating in an event. While around 85% will likely buy from you, the benefits of event sponsorship don’t end there. Here’s our list of 15 benefits to check out!
What Are The Benefits Of Event Sponsorship?
- Return on investment (ROI)
- Audience insights
- Direct access to ideal customer profile (ICP) data
- Lead generation
- Social media/website traffic/focused content strategy
- Opportunities for sales closes with warm prospects
- Highlighting a product or service offering
- Brand building
- Enhanced vendor relationships
- Advantage over absentee rivals
- Direct face time with prospects
- Opportunity to reconnect with existing customers
- Increased credibility as a brand
- Platform for post-event interactions
- In-house knowledge and resources
What you gain from events fall under two categories — measurable and not measurable.
Measurable benefits come along with metrics you can track. Non-measurable benefits are those that generally add over time.
Besides visibility, event sponsorship can also help generate leads and sales.
Measurable Benefits
1) Return on investment (ROI)
First of all, event sponsorship drives success only when you have a system to track metrics. For starters, you’d want to know whether joining an event is worth the money and resources.
The key here is to identify your primary goals; sales, lead generation, site traffic? Furthermore, have a system in place to watch the numbers. A decent campaign should drive website traffic, content engagement, and conversion rates.
Related: Measuring Event Sponsorship ROI: Objectives, Goals, Metrics to Track
2) Audience insights
Demographic data and audience preferences from events are ideal for your nurture campaigns. It shows which segment of your market likes a particular type of event and which aren’t.
3) Direct access to ideal customer profile (ICP) data
As an event sponsor, you’ll have stronger opportunities to learn more about your ICPs. Almost all event organizers gather data with surveys, ticket sales, and social media activity. You can’t get enough of these so demand them at the onset.
4) Lead generation
B2B event participants want to experience the event and learn about the brands there. Hence, they are more open to discover new products and services. Together, these participants constitute a pool of potential quality leads for diligent sponsors.
5) Social media/website traffic/focused content strategy
Major events represent a wellspring for high-quality content. So how you create your messaging/pre- and post-promotion determine your web traffic.
6) Opportunities for sales closes with warm prospects
Some participants will likely be existing leads in your nurture funnel. Because up-close interactions with warm prospects help you close the deal, go in prepared.
7) Highlighting a product or service offering
You can use events to launch a new product or updates to an existing feature. Likewise, if you run a pre-promo social media campaign announcing swag/other incentives, that’ll only bring you more users.
Created your marketing budget breakdown for 2019 yet? Check out our handy template here.
Immeasurable Benefits
8) Brand building
When it comes to brand visibility, event sponsorships are the way to go. Media coverage aside, up your audience engagement with giveaways or interactive booths.
9) Enhanced vendor relationships
Certainly, potential leads and warm prospects are not the only ones attending events. Competitors, vendors, and other ecosystem players also do. It’s your opportunity to build meaningful and long-lasting industry/community relationships.
10) Advantage over absentee rivals
As an event sponsor, you gain a competitive advantage over competitors who are absent. For that reason, go in with a game plan and outshine competitors on the sidelines.
11) Direct face time with prospects
Another pro is in-person interactions with customers. Events are fantastic opportunities to drive a connection between your brand and ICP. This is your chance to create personalized experiences with demos/emails/swag, etc.
12) Opportunity to reconnect with existing customers
Be sure to engage warm prospects who attend events that you sponsor. Also, choose your lead nurturing flow based on where your ICP is in the buyer journey. Based on your conversations, you can even go ahead with a well-timed ask for close.
13) Increased credibility as a brand
Driving awareness about your brand is one thing. Inspiring respect and admiration are another. Thus, event sponsorships are a great way to drive positive PR and build credibility. You can also use events to position your brand in your niche accurately. For smaller players, events are active venues to be cast alongside heavyweights.
14) Platform for post-event interactions
Maybe events are short-lived but the relationships you build last a long while. Be sure to grab the opportunities for post-event meet-ups and conversations.
15) In-house knowledge and resources
Finally, the marketing/advertising folks behind an event sponsorship tend to be industry-savvy. Therefore, conversations with these peers are your opportunities to collaborate in the future.
How To Know If You’re Sponsoring The Right Event
Event sponsorship is not as simple as it sounds. Sponsoring the wrong event can probably do more harm than good. That’s why it’s important to ask yourself these questions before you sign up:
- Will the event have a chunk of your ICPs?
- Does the audience’ perception of the event match your brand image?
- Do the event and organizers share similar values as your company?
- What do you know about the event’s track record, attendance rates, and general buzz?
- Does it fit into your event marketing budget?
- Have you established your critical objectives for sponsoring the event?
- Do you have an accurate framework for measuring ROI?
- What kind of measurable returns have the organizers promised?
It’s All About Planning Ahead
Use these 15 ideas to create your airtight event strategy. Above all, setting aside a budget and choosing the right events are your initial hurdles. Nail these and events are one of the most lucrative ways to get in front of your target audience. Spend more time on your event sponsorship strategy and generate more leads.
Bottom line: being a smart event sponsor delivers excellent ROI.
