Category Archives: B2B Sponsorships

Sponsorship Negotiation Tricks: How to Maximize your 2013 Sponsor Dollars Webinar

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There’s a lot of science that goes into securing a well-designed sponsorship. Much is at stake here- your brand, your time, your investment. We’re hosting a webinar on Thursday, December 6 11am PCT, 2pm EST where our SponsorHub co-founder and CTO Andrew Reid, will explain how to minimize risk, and make the most out of your sponsorship dollars in 2013.

Previously, Andrew was VP, Products at Kaleidoscope, a division of Interpublic Group (IPG), where he spearheaded the creation of IPG’s SponsorScience product, a platform for evaluating and managing major sponsorships for Fortune 500 companies.

You will learn:
- Sponsorship negotiation tricks and best practices
- How to effectively manage your sponsorships
- How to track and measure your sponsorship dollars to ensure high ROI

Don’t miss out, click here to register.

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Print vs. Digital – Appealing To Your Target Demographic

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We live in a world that moves faster than ever before; computations that would have taken decades a hundred years ago take mere seconds now, and logistical operations that would have been considered impossible in the days of the Wright Brothers are now mere trivialities.

Being part of an industry that chiefly depends on reaching the highest number of people in the most effective fashion at the most efficient degree requires us to closely consider which form of media not only accomplishes this goal, but appeals best to our targeted demographic. The form of media that appeals to our parents, and their parents, may vastly differ from the kind of media that appeals to us, our children, and eventually, their children.

1) Print Media: The oldest form of mass-media, dating back to 1440 when Johannes Gutenberg conceived the print press, print media holds a certain nostalgia amongst many ‘baby boomers’ and their Generation X offspring. However, the relevance of print media in this new digital age is increasingly being called into question – and with good point. Why pay to have a stack of papers printed and distributed when the same content could be uploaded remotely to a server and then shared over Facebook or a blog? Because paper still has an appeal; advertising initiatives that combine direct mail with online advertising commands a 25% higher response rate, and print media is widely considered “more credible” because it is tangible and cannot easily be edited.

2) Digital Media: YouTube, MySpace, Facebook, Reddit – never before has it been possible to reach millions of people in mere seconds with any kind of content – be it textual, audio, visual, or all three. The advent of the internet, the birth of social networking sites and Moore’s Law suggests that the appeal and breadth of digital media will only grow from here on out. Digital media has proven, unlike print media, to be largely recession-proof, ensuring that businesses using it as a medium can continue to do so despite market conditions. As far as demographics, Gen Y (The ‘Millenials’) and Gen Z are the primary users and aggregators of digital content. While your advertising might never reach the virality of Carly Rae Jepsen’s “So Call Me Maybe”, it is guaranteed, given effective advertising, to connect with a greater number of possible leads than print media alone. The growth of PPC (Pay-per-click) ventures and their like have given businesses that depend on reaching a broad base ways to accomplish their goals in a way print media has never afforded them.

While it might have been obvious from the outset that any generation prior to Generation Y might not respond as well to digital advertising, what isn’t readily apparent is the chief strength print media still holds, and will always hold – tangibility, and the effects it has on the beholder. While digital media might prove to be more steadfast in a rough market, or appeal to more people, considering a combined approach might be a more effective approach.

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If Content is King— Sponsorship should be its Throne!

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Recently, the leaders of two different technology events each told me exactly the same thing—they have completely revamped their sponsorship sales approach and have made customization key in all their sponsorship efforts going forward.

And not just on the simplistic level of understanding a Sponsor’s need for brand positioning or new leads—they are looking to offer much more.  One of the producers went so far as to say that they are moving beyond the creation of white papers, into full-fledged book publishing on behalf of their largest tech event sponsors.

This may be further than most event management producers are ready to go, but I believe the principal expressed is going to increasingly drive our industry: Events have to do more for their Sponsors!

The lead generation and branding benefits we have relied on in the past are now just the table stakes. Increasingly sponsors will be, and should be, demanding true “Content Marketing” programs from the events they participate in.

Sponsors are taking to heart the dictum “Brands are Publishers” and the need to provide value to their audiences. This creates a hunger for content to fuel their social marketing engines.

They’ve got Facebook pages, Twitter feeds, blog posts, SlideShare & You Tube channels, Google plus feeds, LinkedIn status updates, Pinterest pages, and more every day.  Where does the content come from to fill all this? Especially content that offers relevant value that moves the needle with their customers and prospects?

Smart event producers are recognizing that we can help our sponsors successfully meet the challenges of content marketing.  Our events include video, social media, written reports, photos, blog posts, etc… and these assets, if packaged correctly, can provide huge added value for our sponsors as fuel for that Content Marketing engine.

How do we make this new approach real, and profit from it?  We’ll address that (along with some leading examples) in part 2 of this post.

http://www.buildingalliances.com/

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“You’ve Reached Full Content Capacity”

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You’ve got your signage, your brands are gaining (as promised) high visibility. You’ve got the President of one company writing a guest blog post on your conference website, while the Founder of another company has a downloadable podcast. The photography team you hired for the conference returns to you after the event with enough photos to cover your site wall-to-wall. You have more webinars than you can remember. Your Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram accounts are overflowing with notifications. Congratulations; you’ve reached content overload!

Now before you go patting yourself on the back, consider this: as with anything in life, there is such a thing as too much of a good thing. In this digital age, it’s hard to tell whether we’re creating content or curating content; and though it’s absolutely necessary, it’s of utmost importance that you stay relevant.

Here are some suggestions on effectively managing your content:

1. Distribute content sporadically. Most sponsors look for pre and post sponsorship activation benefits, giving you more time to get their brand out there. You can sort what order it’ll reach your attendees according to the level of sponsorship they pledge to your event.

2. Don’t go on email overdrive! Going off personal opinion, I can tell you that any event who mails me more than once a month is being sent to my spam filter.  If your content doesn’t reach your attendees, then your message is useless.

3. Limit the amount of lead generation you’re willing to leverage in exchange for sponsorship dollars. Sure, it’s great for the guys who are willing to spend large amounts; but not everyone needs access to your attendees; protect what is yours.

4. Use social media to spark conversations with attendees versus using it to spam them with updates. It’s called social media for a reason! If you wouldn’t say it to one of your coworkers in passing, then it doesn’t belong on Twitter! This also opens up the door for feedback that you may not otherwise receive.

5. Keep it simple! Your site doesn’t need to bear every photo ever taken of your event, nor do your attendees want to have to dig for your registration page. If your site remains clutter-free, people will be able to access what they’re looking for with a considerable amount of ease.

The sponsorship industry is currently experiencing a huge shift in the way we leverage marketing dollars in exchange for the event experience. Technology makes it easy to stay in touch, and stay engaged with attendees long after the event has come and gone. All of these are wonderful aspects of sponsorship, but can prove to be detrimental if abused. Use your content marketing strategy wisely!

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