Every year companies spend thousands of dollars sponsoring sporting events , business award dinners, and contests; without receiving much more than their company name on the literature as the sponsor of the event.
How did your company measure the success of its last promotion? In most cases, the idea of measuring results or collecting business leads for future sales is not considered in the planning of the sponsorship of an event or promotion.
Take golf tournaments, for instance. Gift bags full of promotional goodies, ranging from the latest 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 trinkets alone create measurable increase in business.
When committing your 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 knew 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 the taste test. Additionally, they directed the tasters to their web site for a free product coupon.
Not only did they benefit from the sponsorship by building their brand name at the event, the soft drink company was also able to generate and track sales through 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 teams 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 of golf tips to anyone that filled out a profile. After the event they were able to quantify the success of their marketing dollars by selecting the hottest leads and pursing them.
When purchasing sponsorships for events, develop new creative ways to develop more – and stronger leads.
