Every year, companies spend thousands of dollars sponsoring sporting events, contests and other public events without receiving much more than their company name on some literature as a sponsor of the event.
How did your company measure the success of its last promotion? In many cases, the idea of measuring results or collecting business leads for future sales in not considered in the planning or sponsorship of an event or promotion.
Take golf tournaments for instance. Gift bags full of promotional goodies, ranging from golf gadgets to polo shirts, are handed out to attendees and participants. Sure, the merchandise may display the logo of the sponsor company, but seldom do these items alone create a measurable increase in business.
When committing you marketing dollars for the next event you sponsor, think about ways your time and money can generate business after the event.
For example, a soft drink company launching a new product chose to sponsor a professional golf tournament because they new their target audience, sports enthusiasts, would be attending the event as spectators. At the event, they set up several taste testing booths and offered attendees a free key chain bottle opener if they agreed to a taste test. Additionally, They directed the tasters to their website to obtain a free product coupon.
Not only did they benefit from their exposure at the tournament by building their brand name, the soft drink company was also able to generate and track sales through the website visits and coupon redemption after the event.
Another example from the same event came from a national investment firm that wanted to generate leads that their sales team could follow-up on after the event. Rather than just handing out company literature at the tournament, the company decided to give away a book on golf tips to anyone that filled out a short profile. After the event they were able to quantify the success of their marketing dollars by selecting the hottest leads and pursuing them.
This year’s resolution? When purchasing sponsorships for events, develop new creative ways to develop more and stronger leads.
Written By:
Payden
Managing Partner
