Whether you are buying or selling sponsorships/ partnerships you need to have a strategy. Recently I was in Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal and Calgary and had a chance to meet with several industry leaders and visionaries. I was blessed to have had the time with them for coffee, lunch or dinner one on one. And on each occasion the topic of strategy came up. So, I thought I would share with you the top three insights around strategy for a sponsorship marketing program.
- You need to know what you are trying to achieve in order to build the right strategy… too often we design a program without a strategy in mid
- The whole team from across all departments need to be involved in the strategy development – a sponsorship program is not a silo product – everyone needs to contribute. One person noted that an individual bee makes 1/12 of a teaspoon of honey in its lifetime, but it is a team that produces all the honey we eat. Every little bit is important and your whole team needs to contribute.
- It was also interesting because a few people noted that when building out a strategy, ignore your competition and what they are doing. As Leah McNab from the NBA noted in her interview with Gavin Roth on his podcast Influencers of Sponsorship Marketing “Compare against the ideal your want not against others and what they are doing”.
I hope these insights are helpful. They were for me and ultimately for our clients. I appreciate the time and insights of those leaders and visionaries who graciously indulged me and spent time with me just to chat… no business agenda… just catch up and chat about our amazing industry. I feel blessed and honored. If you have tips for building a sponsorship strategy please share with myself or on the blog. Your insights are valuable and should be seen as well.
In all three individual scenarios illustrated by these two fictitious examples, my advice was simple. Have faith is yourself and your ideas. Keep doing what you are doing, keep learning, seek ongoing advice and do not let naysayers dissuade you. That amazing idea may one day work and make someone a ton of money… or it may fail, but you will learn from it. Or it may never happen but that process is learning for you. And when all the odds are against you – just keep going and have faith in yourself. There is a great podcast called “We Regret to Inform You” about the hurdles so many people you know today as “successful” had to overcome to get where they are. Take a listen… there are over 100 shows.
And finally, there is quote I love by Thomas Aquinas.” To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible.” Work with those that have faith in you, they don’t need an explanation. They trust you. And have faith is yourself.
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