8 ways to make people want to sponsor your event

We recently put together a process for evaluating sponsorship opportunities as they arise.

It contains a bunch of questions to ask ourselves, but effectively they’re all just trying to answer a single question: will it be worth it?

That’s the main thing any company wants to figure out when being asked to part with their cash. And as someone trying to secure sponsorship for an event, you sometimes have your work cut out helping them see the value.

We've seen a lot of conference websites in our time, and sponsorships are presented and promoted in all kinds of ways, from the uncompelling to the inspired. Here’s a round up of some of the best ideas and execution we’ve seen from Tito customers in recent months.

Do the legwork on the sponsor’s behalf

Affiliate World has very cleverly recognised that money isn’t the only consideration for sponsors. Time and energy are also at a premium. Their solution is to take the bulk of the work off the sponsor’s plate, addressing a major potential blocker to sponsoring in the first place.

The process is laid out simply in three illustrated steps: 1) Choose your booth; 2) Send your artworks; 3) Exhibit. This makes exhibiting feel like no more work than sending a couple of emails and showing up on the day, which is a very enticing proposition.

Even smaller event teams can take inspiration from this approach. Perhaps you can outsource some of the work to a trusted contractor and factor it into the price of the sponsorship package. Convenience is worth an awful lot to people — just ask the creators of food delivery apps!

Make sponsors central to the event experience

Event partnerships work best when attendees get something genuinely valuable out of it, as well as the organiser and the sponsor, and Product at Heart does a particularly great job of putting together experiential packages that add value to the overall event.

Businesses can choose to sponsor a curated library of books that get raffled off to attendees, or include their logo on the official photo booth prints, both of which have the potential to leave a lasting impression. And, while ice-cream might be a little more short-lived, it could offer a fun opportunity to come up with memorable custom flavour names!

A lot of conferences and events these days are thinking beyond logos on a banner, and offering more of these kinds of integrated sponsorship packages. And for good reason: it’s a win for all involved.

Make it easy for sponsors to reach you

SaaStock’s “Book your booth” button instantly opens up a link to book a call with their Sales Director, Daniel. Potential sponsors can even choose how long a timeslot they need. 

This shows that the organisers are willing to spend time up front building relationships with partners. On the potential sponsor’s part, this feels a lot more personal and like a stronger initial commitment than simply submitting a contact form. It also makes the process more transparent, as you know exactly when the call will happen rather than having to wait for a response.

Make the sponsorship opportunity feel personal

SmashingConf does a great job of presenting the sponsorship proposal in a way that feels tailored to the individual partner. They use Notion to publish a private mini-site for each prospect. This page includes some universally applicable content, such as details of the conference and magazine, as well as content specific to the partner, like a breakdown of the benefits included in the selected package. The result is fun, informative, and a lot more inspiring than a generic PDF file.

The below example is shared with permission. And we 💙 you too, Smashing!

Mix up your sponsorship calls to action

Another thing SaaStock does is vary their calls to action. In different places on the sponsorship page, they have buttons saying “Apply to sponsor”, “Download prospectus”, and “Download sample attendee list”, all of which open up the contact form. They’re creating multiple opportunities to pique people’s interest and capture their contact details.

It’s tempting to just repeat yourself to hammer a point home, but finding new angles like this could make all the difference between someone deciding to click or not.

Show sponsors that you care about their objectives

Tech Open Air Berlin’s contact form puts the partner’s goals front and center, demonstrating an understanding that sponsors have different reasons to get involved. The ones they list range from brand awareness and recruiting to thought leadership and product showcase.

Knowing what sponsors want to get out of the partnership helps you channel your efforts in the right directions. And when those efforts pay off in a healthy return on investment for the partner, it’ll be much easier to win their repeat business.

Help sponsors visualise their presence at your event

Consumers are famously visual creatures. And, while a sponsorship package is harder to capture in a series of product photos than a pair of sneakers, there are still ways to help potential sponsors picture themselves at your event. WeAreDevelopers World Congress takes place in a 40,000+ square meter space, so their sponsor deck includes a floor plan to help partners envision the practicalities of exhibiting. 

It doesn’t have to be a floor plan specifically. It could be a virtual booth or merch generator, where sponsors can select their chosen product or size, and swap in their colours and logos. The idea is to go beyond a table or a bullet point list, and help sponsors get inspired about the experience of sponsoring your event by appealing to their senses.

Tie the sponsorship process into the vibe of your event

See if you can figure out a way to integrate sponsorship into your event brand and theme. RailsConf’s retro motif is applied to their sponsorship prospectus, where the back page looks like a vintage magazine mail-order form. It feels super on-brand and adds a sense of fun and whimsy to the proceedings.

And you don’t have to stop at the application form. Any stage of the process could be tied into the theme. For an event with tropical vacation branding, instead of having bronze, silver and gold sponsorship levels, you could offer “Seaview Room, “Penthouse”, and “Private Island” packages. The process of building a sponsor package could mimic airline style upgrades. The confirmation screen could look like a boarding pass. Your exhibitor hall could be set up so that booths look like beachfront stalls. You get the idea…

Obviously, time and budget constraints will play a role in how ambitious you get, but all this to say there are opportunities to get imaginative in integrating sponsorships into your event’s personality. 

Conclusion

Five years ago, we published a round-up of our favourite sponsor decks. Since then, we’ve seen event organisers get even more creative, so who knows what new ideas they’ll be bringing to the table in another five years time! Hopefully this post gives you some food for thought in the meantime.