A business cannot succeed without marketing. Through marketing, a small or a big company sells its products and services, engages with the customers, and produces economic commodities based on their needs. A business generates profit when a customer buys the commodities from them and learns about a new product or service through marketing. Hence, marketing aids in business profit.
Marketing comes in various versions. A popular one is sponsorship marketing. Since the concept of sponsorship in marketing came into existence, companies started event sponsorship to grow their businesses, and many have succeeded in their attempt.
Keep reading to know how the companies have boosted their business through marketing & sponsorship and continue to do so! Let’s begin with the meaning of sponsorship and sponsorship marketing.
What Is Sponsorship?
Before understanding what sponsorship marketing means, let’s comprehend sponsorship meaning. A sponsorship is a corporate relationship in which a provider grants rights and associations to a person, group, or event in exchange for financial gain. In simpler terms, the sponsor provides a fee to the sponsee and allows the sponsor to associate themselves with the brand’s identity. This sponsorship works through sponsorship advertising.
What Is Sponsorship Marketing And Types Of Sponsorships?
Sponsorship advertising or marketing is when the sponsor aligns with the sponsee through a sports game, conference, performance, event, television program, or charity. Sponsors can give sponsorships in various forms like:
In-kind sponsors
It is a type of sponsorship wherein the sponsor provides goods or services instead of cash as a sponsorship agreement. Examples include free travel accommodations for speakers, staff, and VIPs, free radio, tv, and digital or print advertising.
Cash Sponsors
In this type of brand sponsorship, the sponsee is provided with financial support. Brands like Coca-Cola, Pepsi, and Mcdonald’s invest plenty of cash sponsorships throughout the year.
Promotional Partners
Promotional partners are bloggers who promote the sponsor’s activities on their social media platforms. This is a common strategy used in social media for marketing. The individuals promote in exchange for speaking slots from the sponsors.
Media Sponsors
In this type, the media promotes the activities through blog posts or television broadcasting.
What Are The Examples Of Sponsorship Marketing?
Many companies have profited through sponsorship marketing and continue to benefit from them. The following are some well-known companies that have generated huge revenue through sponsorships.
1. Coca-Cola and Olympics
Coca-cola has been the sponsoring partner for the Olympics since 1928. It has made many collaborations, the most famous being the #ThatsGold campaign. The campaign got more than 30 million video views, and the drive was quite successful among the customers.
2. TED and Rolex
Another successful marketing & sponsorship was that of Technology, Entertainment, Design (TED), and Rolex. Rolex has been a sponsor of TED conferences since 2007. In 2012, they partnered to create the Surprise Me application. The idea led to 200,000 app downloads, according to Sensor.
What Is The Importance Of Marketing & Sponsorship?
If you want to make a marketing plan, there are various reasons why you should include marketing & sponsorship as a part of your strategy. Many top companies have taken the help of sponsorship to grow in the marketing industry. The following are some crucial benefits of sponsorship:
- It enhances customer engagement. When a sponsor promotes your brand activities, the customer gets an insight into the brand’s products and services and develops a positive feeling towards your brand. The customer engages with the brand by purchasing items from them.
- Marketing & sponsorship help in driving sales. When a sponsee speaks about the product, the customer will likely get intrigued to know about it in detail. They might click on the link directing to the company website or visit the company’s official website manually by searching the name on the search engine, learn about the product, and purchase it if they like. This way, your business can generate more revenue and drive sales.
- It aids in increasing the reach. It is only when more people are aware of your product that the purchases will increase. Strategic sponsorship allows word-of-mouth marketing. It is ideal for attendees of an event you sponsor to interact favorably with your brand and spread the word about your service or product. You have an additional chance to reach more customers if your business name appears on the emails and other marketing items for the event.
- Marketing & sponsorship helps a business to stand out from the competition. When you make plenty of sponsorships, people will talk about your product more than the other products of your competitors, thereby increasing the sales from others.
How Can You Get A Sponsorship?
Now you know how marketing & sponsorship can help your business expand and what sponsorship advertising or marketing is. So, if you’re wondering how to get a sponsorship to develop additional revenue for your business, here’s how! Follow the process to get sponsorships at ease.
2. Inform them about your organization's goals
A sponsor cannot make a sponsorship or host a sponsorship event unless they are aware of the company’s goals. Therefore, tell them about your organization’s key elements, desires, what you expect from the sponsorship, and other details.
3. Offer them sponsor incentives.
Why should a brand sponsor you? You must provide them with lucrative deals and incentives to accept your offer. Here are some incentives you can offer them:
- You can provide them with a free booth for exhibitions or trade shows.
- You can promote them in your email newsletters, blog posts, and social media posts for better reach.
- You can include the sponsor’s name on flyers and promotional banners during the sponsorship event.
- You can offer discounts to customers who purchase the product from the sponsor company.
- You can convince the social media followers to share the sponsor’s daily content.
4. Offer them a trial deal.
If marketing & sponsorship is new to you and you have a small business, it is better to ask for less and make low offerings than claiming something high in return. If you want Rs. 1 lakh, start by asking for Rs. 10,000 and make trial deals with them. If the strategy works out, you can ask for a bigger pay and offer them a bigger deal later.
5. Try to establish a connection with them.
For consistent marketing & sponsorship, you need to develop a good bond with them. If you share your concerns and values with your sponsor, you will build a strong foundation with them. Besides, they might offer you other benefits of sponsorship as the bond gets stronger.
6. Offer your deal at the right time.
Sometimes, when a sponsor says ‘no’ to a deal, it can mean ‘no’ for the time being. So how can you know when is the right time to talk about marketing & sponsorship? While there is no definite way to know the right time to talk about sponsorship, experts believe that September, May, and June are the ideal months to discuss funding as the sales are likely to be high.
7. Know who to contact
For brand sponsorship, you should contact the member who plays a primary role in decision-making. Although it is best to reach out to the sponsorship manager, he will likely be busy with lots of other work. The immediate next option is a brand manager. Since brand managers look after the public image, consider talking to them about funding. If you have a small business, it is better to speak to anyone who handles the grant of a brand.
Conclusion
So, now you know what is sponsorship advertising and how marketing and sponsorship boost a business’s growth. The demand for sponsorship marketing will likely increase as an effective marketing strategy in the coming years as companies benefit greatly from sponsorship events and other sponsorship modes. Like different marketing strategies, this has helped many businesses increase their credibility, enhance their brand image, and build prestige.
Besides, it has helped companies find their target customers and improve engagement. As per Statistica, the revenue through sponsorship and advertising is expected to increase upto US$0.79bn in 2022. With this rate, we can expect sponsorship marketing to contribute immensely to the business expansion.
