The importance of branding for sponsorship

Companies can be approached by anyone asking for their sponsorship or you may decide you want to offer it and therefore, actively seek out a suitable recipient.

Whatever the reasons, if sponsoring an event ever comes across your table, there are a few things to think about, including branding for sponsorship.

What does it mean to sponsor?

There are a few different types of people who need sponsorship. Many small organisations, like football teams or other local sports clubs, have little or no money and rely on sponsorship to be able to keep offering their services to the local area. Then there are exhibitions or events, who use sponsors to promote themselves as well as your brand to publicise the event. Finally, there is the individual who is anything from a normal person taking on something out of their comfort zone to raise money, or an athlete training for sports events and need a sponsorship to attend events. They will all need different things from money to promotional materials i.e. banners, flyers or programmes. But what you have to decide is; is this a good idea for you and your brand?

Selecting the right events to sponsor

Your business and your brand is something that you have worked hard to develop so you should choose carefully whom you want to sponsor; getting it wrong could spell disaster for you. Think about who will see the sponsorship, does it marry with your target market? If you were a children’s soft play centre, there would be no point sponsoring an exhibition for plumbers, as the two are poles apart, so making sure the target market is correct is first to look at.

Next ask yourself, ‘how would it help get my brand noticed?’ and are there opportunities to get your name on a uniform or offer them promotional materials with your details on? Being able to supply anything from pens, bags, coasters, folders or sweets, are all a great way to promote your brand. Additionally, the consumer takes your brand home with them and sees your name on items which continually reinforces your brand to them – just make sure a website or phone number is on it so they can contact you!

What’s in it for you?

In order to grow, your business needs to build continually on its foundations and, to do this, you not only need to keep hold of current clients, but you also need to attract new ones. If the right event to sponsor is chosen, you have the potential to interact on a personal level with customers, talking to them about how your business helps them, getting feedback from current customers – good and bad – and using that information to grow as a business. It is also a great opportunity to generate new leads, showing potential customers what you can offer and why they’d be better with you. It is not just about the customers; exhibitions are filled with other businesses that are also potential new clients so make sure you network while you are there.

Most events will promote themselves, giving you media exposure without having to do much, all keeping down overall costs of something that could generate a lot of business.

In conclusion, sponsoring an event can have huge benefits for you as long as the event is going to advertise to your target market and you can get as much out of the event as you put in. Branding is a major part of any marketing plan so ensure you do it right. Generating new business, promoting your brand and being able to offer clients old and new the chance to sample you, as a business, is a great way to promote your brand and keep people coming back.