Unbelievable Things You Never Knew About Sponsorship Marketing

As a sponsor, the thought may have crossed your mind to find out more about sponsorship marketing. Whether you’re new to the game or looking for some fresh ideas, there’s a lot of good information available. So here are 10 things you never knew about sponsorship marketing to give you that knowledge boost you need!

1) Don’t treat sponsorship as part of marketing – it’s completely separate

Last year, 80% of sponsorships were related to sports and entertainment. That’s great news but it doesn’t mean that this is the main way to spend your marketing budget. You should be treating sponsorship as a separate part of marketing and having dedicated marketing campaigns for sponsorship partners.

2) Sponsorship isn’t just about advertising – it’s about creating affinity with fans

Your sponsors are getting something out of the deal too. They don’t just want you to spend money; they want you to use their product, feel good about them, have fun and spread the word that their products are cool. This can be achieved through activities such as engaging in online video or online trading cards.

3) Why not use a free service?

Free is great but no one wants to do a deal if it means doing something for free. Make sure you’re spending money on something that’s going to benefit your sponsor. That could mean media spend or event sponsorship. One way of doing so is by mixing things up and giving things away through free offers such as sponsorship competitions in return for a video or caption on their website.

4) Don’t forget to include other sports in your sponsorship

A lot of people forget that you have to keep on top of deals that involve other sports. It’s better if you do this as often as possible so that you can change the content depending on what sport is involved at the time. Not only will your sponsors like a variety in their marketing, but also having a range of sports covered keeps up interest. If they aren’t relevant to the industry you’re in, they’re not likely to be relevant to your fans, either!

5) Get creative with social media platforms

Your sponsors are looking for new ways to use social media and can get bored with all the same old platforms. There are plenty of great platforms out there that you can use, such as Twitter and Google+, but you’re only using 1% of the available features.. What else can you do? Create a social media wall at your event; use it to encourage customers to submit a photo of themselves with your product in an interesting location or use it as a way for fans to send in images for special competitions, for example.

6) Don’t buy the latest fad

You should welcome new technology and know how it works, but you shouldn’t spend loads on something that won’t be useful to all your sponsors. If you’re not a sports fan, it’s not essential to have a mobile app. If you don’t use social media much, don’t buy an online trading card platform unless it really is relevant.

7) Meetings can be fun!

Sponsorship meetings are a great way to get to know your potential sponsors and make them feel special. This can be achieved with food and drink as well as small mementos such as pens or notebooks. You should also take plenty of photos of these events so that you can show the sponsor how much fun was had during the meeting.

8) Don’t be afraid to ask for help

People are generally happy to help you, because helping is a part of their nature. That’s why it’s worth asking for help from the media team when you’re trying to get some sponsorship. They can also give you background information about your competition and generally make sure that everything is just what you need. They’re also fun to work with!

9) Don’t forget the smaller sponsorships too

While it’s good to concentrate on the big-name sponsorships, don’t forget that there are smaller companies out there that may be able to create value for your brand. Try looking at all your options before you decide who you’ll approach first.

10) Say yes to social media but don’t use it as a main focus of your campaign

Online trading cards are great for getting fans involved and creating affinity. You can also see how engaging and creative your fans get when they’re allowed to post a photo on your wall, for example. It’s not essential though, so if this is going to take up too much of your time with no particular benefit (i.e. the sponsor wants the most likes on Facebook) you could still offer this as an alternative to a traditional competition.