When it comes to being sponsored, one thing I’ve seen make or break a deal more than once is when all parties involved can’t define what value means to them.
One thing that will always be on the mind of companies looking to offer corporate sponsorships is: “Will this provide my business with the exposure or ROI we need?”
If you’re wondering how to get sponsored, you could save yourself a lot of rejections and improve your chances for a long-lasting and successful relationship by taking a moment to consider the ROI your sponsor will receive.
Here are 3 ways to help give value to your sponsors and help them achieve their business goals.
1. Conversation: Sending a sponsorship proposal to each brand you want to work with no longer works. While this was the traditional way of getting sponsorship, long gone are the days when a sponsor would simply write a check because you asked for it.
How to get sponsored: Take the time to get to know your potential sponsors and spend time and effort learning more about them and their goals. Instead of randomly sending out a standard sponsorship proposal with the same price and benefits for everyone, create a conversation with your potential sponsors. The purpose of this conversation is to educate them on how your property could be a good fit for them and to understand their business goals and objectives.
two. Personalization: I have always written personalized sponsorship proposals instead of the typical “boring” proposal that people use when learning how to get sponsored. Why? Well, I learned that brands were tired of the same type of sponsorship proposal that listed the same benefits with different prices in a large percentage of the sponsorship proposals that came across their desk. They wanted customization. They wanted sponsorship proposals that would help them achieve their goals. Corporate sponsors receive hundreds, if not thousands, of sponsorship proposals requesting their assistance and funding.
How to get sponsored: Be the proposition that is seen by creating a custom sponsorship proposition with personalized benefits and pricing to help your sponsors get the exposure and value they seek.
3. Access: It has often been said that “no man is an island”, and that goes for sponsorship as well. Most companies and organizations will want to be sponsored by more than one brand at a time. Frankly, if they fit, I highly recommend it. One mistake I made for the first time in sponsorship was not connecting my sponsors before the “go live” date of whatever sponsorship property I was working on. When we got to the event, book tour or non-profit function… I noticed that most of our sponsors didn’t know each other and I spent most of the VIP reception making introductions. Was it that bad, NO! Is there a better way, YES!
How to get sponsored: A great way to provide exposure and value to your backers is to introduce them to your other backers. Facilitating these introductions allows you to “be the star” by ensuring your sponsors are aware of other non-competing brands sponsoring properties within the same niche or space. They’re going to meet each other eventually, be the one to make that introduction! Oh, and you never know, they could possibly come up with additional ideas for cross-promotion to get even more exposure! It’s a win/win/win!
