Marketing a Sponsorship Program

Marketing a Sponsorship Program

Last week, I pontificated about the difference between sales and marketing. Based on all the feedback I received, I thought I should expand even further this week. Much of the discussion was about sponsorship properties and lack of “marketing” of their products. It is critical that the sponsorship sales “tool kit” include marketing materials. Sponsorship salespeople need to market the products. They do a series of discovery sessions where they are constantly positioning and understanding the needs of the prospect. Then they build the right assets (that have been valued), along with the right budget for the potential sponsor and close the deal.

It is the step prior to that, though, where the real marketing comes in. Too many properties fail to have a great marketing plan in place. There is a need to build your property’s brand and profile. This is what creates the interest and opportunity for the salesperson to get in the door.

No matter what the property, marketing has to be there. Whether you are a pro sports franchise, small charity event, festival, amateur sport organization, municipal facility or program, or otherwise, you need to market your product or it makes it really difficult to sell. Build your product’s brand presence and you will sell more sponsorship. The assets are what the sponsor needs, but to get that sponsor interested, you need to market.

This marketing does not have to be a major investment, though. Sometimes it will require an additional investment, but often it is leveraging what you are already doing (or should be doing)! Here are some thoughts and ideas as well as observations for different sectors.

Professional sport.  They usually do it well—big dollars spent on selling tickets, PR stories, news and sport coverage. People know about the team.

Amateur sport. This is different—they typically fail to market themselves. They are usually the best kept secret—the only people who know about the team or sport are those playing in it. You need to get PR and news stories ongoing, tell the story over and over in public places, advertise openings and recruitment in the sport in public places, get people to say, “Hey, I never thought of squash”—create awareness not just for recruitment, but for your sport overall. This investment will not only draw new people to the sport, but also create a higher profile for your sport or organization. Invest online, look for opportunities for existing sponsors to include you in their marketing. This is beneficial to you and them!

Charitable events. If it is a gala, festival, concert, or run, increase publicity through online, news stories, posters, and flyers. Tell people about the event. When you are asking businesses in your local community to make brochures available or hang a poster, you are marketing to them. Tell them the story. Don’t just leave the product for them to display. When they learn more about your event, who it is attracting, and what the impact will be on the market, they may be interested. This is a lead for your sponsorship folks from the marketing folks if everyone plays the game together and thinks about more than just their silo (making sure the event posters are plastered everywhere).

Municipalities and Facilities.  Often this is being done unbeknownst to the planners! Municipal program and leisure guides reach a large audience. Yes, business people have kids, and use facilities and programs. This is a great marketing vehicle. Why are municipalities not marketing their sponsorship programs in these publications? That is not about offering assets, but about building awareness—ads that talk about reaching this audience through a corporate sponsorship program with the municipality, not “buy a naming right” or “here is a menu of our assets”! The same goes for the website with banner ads and pop ups! If your facilities hold concerts or tournaments, is there an opportunity to let those who attend these events know that you (the facility ort municipality) have a terrific opportunity for them in sponsorship marketing? Economic development offices do this well—sponsorship does not. Tell the story. Build awareness of the product and watch the doors open!

One big key… and I see this all the time… don’t market extensively until you have the infrastructure in place to close the business. You need to have the sponsorship team on board and be part of the marketing plan or it will be a waste. In the past five years, I have seen four major charities receive huge pro-bono marketing campaigns from advertising or PR agencies. In each case, they were terrific campaigns. They built awareness, built brand presence, told the story, and created interest. Unfortunately, the sponsorship folks were told after the campaign to “hit the streets.” It was all over. The infrastructure (inventory asset valuation, staffing, process, prospect lists, etc.) was not in place. By the time the sponsorship folks were ready to go, the hype of the campaign was long gone and wasted!

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