This is week three of a TMC series on Measuring ROI. We first looked at the considerations involved before you can even think about measuring ROI in your sponsorship programs. Then we looked at the importance of setting baselines and having a strategy for measuring ROI. This week, we will review the investments that may be required to run a good measurement program.
Here are some ballpark costs for delivering an effective ROI measurement of your sponsorship investments.
- Undertaking polling on site at events can be done in a few ways.
- Hire a professional firm like Enigma Research that specializes in events, and onsite research and reporting. Typical events like a jazz festival would be about $25,000 to $30,000.
- Engage University Research—business school or college event management using students to do the surveys, develop, be on site, and write the reports. Pay an honorarium of $5,000 to $10,000.
- You can require the property you sponsor to do the polling/research. You provide some specific questions you want answered. The rest can be more general that the property can use with all its sponsors.
- To undertake polling/research on the general public is more expensive and would typically require a company like Neilson, Ipso-Reid, Leger, or Environics. Typical investment for a single survey would be $40,000-$50,000. You could undertake several sponsorships and ask about them in a single survey such as this for cost effectiveness.
- Building a basic (non web based) valuation and ROI measurement system (such as on ACCESS or Excel) that would provide a formula-based output determined by set goals and objectives would require an investment of $40,000-$50,000. Such work could be completed by a company like Partnership Group – Sponsorship Specialists®
- Building a web-based program from a company like Pleasant Solutions (far more effective and user friendly) would be $100,000-$150,000.
- Development of a baseline strategy and implementation plan by an industry professional firm such as Partnership Group – Sponsorship Specialists® would be approximately $45,000 to $60,000 and take four to six months to complete.
- Development of a detailed strategy and activation plan for the entire organization by an industry professional firm such as Partnership Group – Sponsorship Specialists® would be approximately $65,000 to $100,000 and take six to twelve months to complete.
Sponsorship is a huge organizational investment. Too often, sponsors think that once the “rights fee” is paid, the investment is done. It has been clearly shown that failure to activate on a rights fee investment is like throwing your money out the window. Activation is critical to success and is often an investment above and beyond the rights fee. (Sometimes, it is built into the rights fee for such things as access, tickets, etc.)
Just as important, though, is the measurement of success or failure. Sponsors need to invest in ROI measurement. The stakeholders (be they private ownership, publicly traded companies, crown corporations, or government departments) must be able to clearly and transparently show that their sponsorship marketing and community investments have delivered an expected or higher ROI. Likewise, if the ROI expectations were not met, the process will allow the sponsor to adjust, alter, or cancel the investment and ensure the stakeholders get their value. But if there is no measurement, it is like running a procurement department without standards, contract measurements, or application requirements. Measurement delivers transparency and consistency.
If you are interested in learning more about sponsorship ROI and measuring it, purchase your ticket today to the WSC – Alberta Forum. At this event, you will engage with and learn from leaders who see the new world and are making it happen!
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