These are the five most important things to do before you approach an event sponsor.

These are the five most important things to do before you approach an event sponsor.

For any event marketer to be able to sell their ideas successfully to sponsors in these highly competitive markets, the marketer must be aware of the image/brand factor that the event possess. This enables the product (event) to be attractive to sponsors.

To make your event more marketable, you should be able to express the meanings and perceptions that are associated with the event. The content of the event is not much of an attraction to sponsors, rather it is what the content means to the people that attend.

Take for example a charity fashion show, the guests enjoy the designers and the side attractions, however, to a sponsor they are looking at the charity’s cause. Similarly, for a private organisation organising a fashion show, the sponsors will be interested in emotional attraction to the show. Therefore, identify the emotional associations between your event and your audience.

Sponsorship is a key branding opportunity; therefore, you must understand how your event helps to bring value to the sponsors brand and be able to convey how your event helps to position the sponsors brand in the minds of the consumers as well as helping them gain a competitive advantage.

In summary, before you approach a sponsor do your research to find out what the sponsors are looking to get out of their sponsorship. Try to find out the part sponsorship plays in the marketing mix of the sponsor, meaning how does sponsorship add to their marketing. You can understand this more by looking at how, what, when and where they are marketing.

Furthermore, it always helps to have sponsorship packages that fit the sponsors marketing strategy. Understand what your event means to the consumers and how this relates to the sponsors brand and finally market your event in line with the commercial and reputational needs of the sponsors.