Sponsorship can be an extremely lucrative part of live, virtual and hybrid events and is certainly something you should consider as an organiser.
Below, we share our top tips for putting together attractive sponsorship packages so your event is the talk of the town!
1. Understand their objectives
Companies who sponsor your event aren't doing you a favour, they're paying because they expect a big ROI in return. To help them do this as best they can, make sure you understand their objectives and main goals for sponsoring. Is it lead capture? Brand awareness? Product announcement? Whatever their reasoning is for sponsoring, make sure you know exactly what they want and how to help them achieve it.
You could also tailor your packages to specific sponsors if you think it will be a lucrative partnership. Don't forget, the greater their experience (and ROI), the more likely they'll be to partner with your events in future.
It's important to also bear in mind that there are two types of audience here - in-person and virtual. Make sure you know what your sponsors are hoping to get out of both and structure the packages accordingly.
2. Create tiered packages
As well as understanding your sponsors' objectives, it's important to be flexible in order to try and accommodate these objectives. To do this, create different tiers to suit different budgets. We recommend creating 3 or 4 different tiers of packages (such as Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum). This will create a sense of exclusivity for the top tiers, and will also encourage sponsors with smaller budgets to still participate.
Make sure that there's enough of a difference between each tier, otherwise sponsors may just go for the cheaper option if it's nearly identical to the most expensive one. Create your packages with the sponsor in mind; if you were them, which package would you go for and why?
Standardised packages are great to help the sponsor visualise what sponsorship might look like, but ultimately if the packages aren’t suited to their objectives then they're not going to get on-board.
3. Offer plenty of branding opportunities
There are endless branding opportunities at a hybrid event. As well as all the standard venue branding, sponsors can also get front and centre on the virtual event platform you're using for the virtual audience.
Some branding opportunities include:
- Venue branding, pamphlets and other collateral such as lanyards and pens
- Sponsoring sessions or taking part as panellists
- Sponsoring the networking sessions
- Branding on the virtual event platform eg homepage, push notifications, delegate emails, in-session ads
- Sponsoring stages or spaces within the venue and event platform
Hire Space Top Tip: Arena, the brand new hybrid events platform created by eventprofs for eventprofs, is fully brandable and customisable, meaning your sponsors have plenty of opportunities for presenting their brand and expanding their reach. Chat to our experts to find out more about Arena's sponsor/exhibitor functionality.
4. Enable sponsors to reach virtual and hybrid attendees
Provide them with the tools to be able to reach in-person and virtual attendees equally. It's fairly straightforward to engage with the in-person audience, but they may need a little help with engaging with the virtual audience simultaneously. Offer them different solutions such as having 2 separate booths (one in-person, one on the virtual platform) or even just allowing them to have an extra company representative on the physical booth to take care of the virtual meetings and enquiries.
Ensuring the virtual audience have access to the sponsors and vice versa is in your best interests as the organiser - you need to provide value for both sponsors and attendees, so don't neglect one or the other.
5. Offer in-depth reporting
Companies aren't going to sponsor an event if they don't how valuable it will be for them. Show potential sponsors previous event stats, inform them of the metrics you'll be able to measure and what a sample data insight report might look like. Sponsors need to know that they'll get full visibility of their particular metrics and that they'll be able to prove ROI to their stakeholders.
Common data insights sponsors will expect as standard include:
- Number of attendees
- Attendee demographics and contact details
- How many leads they captured
- Information on booth traffic (online and in-person)
- Engagement stats
- Social media reach
- Survey responses/feedback
6. Guide sponsors through the process
Sponsors may not be familiar with the format of a hybrid event, so provide them with a comprehensive guide to the event including how it will work, what it will mean for them as sponsors and provide them with all the tools and information they'll need so there's no stress on the day. This includes providing access to the virtual event platform, any passwords, information on setting up their virtual booth etc.
Keeping sponsors in the loop is really important and will make for a smooth experience for everyone (hell hath no fury like a sponsor scorned!).
Hopefully this helps you consider how you can attract sponsors for your hybrid event. If you're ready to start organising your hybrid event, book a free consultation below with our experts and we'll be happy to help.
For more guidance and advice on how to plan unforgettable hybrid events, check out our ultimate guide, and be sure to also check out Hire Space 360; our full-service offering providing assistance with venue and supplier sourcing, unlimited tech access, standardised digital contracting and much more. Check it out to see how we can help transform your event programme.
Author
Izzie Lachecki
Izzie brings a deep understanding of the events world to Hire Space, and keeps busy by writing lots of Hire Space and EventLAB content and managing the Hire Space social media presence.
