A sponsorship is a method of creating a partnership that benefits both parties. Usually, it involves an individual or product or brand that partners with another individual, product, or brand in an effort to grow both.
As a sponsor, you are paying or exchanging for the right to be aligned together. Sponsorships can take on a lot of different forms. Endorsements are a form of sponsorship. Paid advertising is a form of sponsorship and so are in-kind trade agreements. These are just a few examples of the types of sponsorship agreements that exist but the thing they all have in common is that there are two entities exchanging and receiving mutual benefits.
Endorsements are probably what you think of first with sponsorships. Because they are highly visible and also an extremely wealthy marketplace. An interesting example of endorsements came just a month ago when Olympians Allyson Felix and Simone Biles chose to leave their agreements with the mega-brand Nike and partner with the popular women’s brand, Athleta.
This was a big deal in the landscape of global brand sponsorships. Nike has been a powerhouse for decades but found themselves in some trouble when their female ambassadors felt slighted once they reached mom status.
Athleta is a growing brand, exploding onto the athleisure scene as part of Gap Inc and their goal is to create sponsorships based on shared values that resonate with their target audience.
The growth of social media has also changed the landscape of sponsorship. Influencers and brand ambassadors are relatively new advertising methods. Some brands and businesses are seeing big leaps in eyeballs when they align with the right person with the right size social following.
Increase Visibility
Sponsorships are a marketing strategy designed to get more eyeballs on what you offer. Return on investment is another measurable to take into consideration with sponsorships. You want to engage in partnerships that feel in line with the products, programs, or services you offer.
You will see a much higher return on your investment when you think strategically about the end result to achieve and reverse engineer the program to maximize it.
WOW With Local Sponsorships
W.O.W is an acronym I’ve created to help you work through the process of finding, evaluating, and measuring the success of sponsorship opportunities. I am going to break this down in a way that lets you know how accessible sponsorships can be and how even the smallest of brands or businesses can leverage creative partnerships.
W.O.W is a simple three-step process:
- W: who do you need to reach
- O: opportunity
- W: what is the activation
Who do you need to reach challenges to identify the specifics on the type of people or groups of people most likely to need what you have to offer. Starting with the big picture in narrowing it down, making it come into focus.
If you own a bakery specializing in cakes and I ask you who you want to get in front of and you could say women. That’s a start but it’s nowhere near tight enough.
That target is massive. Think deeper by asking yourself WHO each time. Women who are engaged to be married. Women who are planning kids’ birthday parties. Women who host events.
You don’t have to narrow it down to one thing, you can have a list of a few specific things.
Opportunity Exists
This leads directly into the O, which stands for identifying the opportunity. You have the who and now you need to craft your list of the places and spaces where you can reach that specific target audience. Where does that person spend their time? That’s where you want to be.
If we go back to the bakery example and you want to reach those women you might have bridal fairs, youth sports, and chamber of commerce on your list.
There are a ton of opportunities right in your backyard.
Events, people, and businesses looking for mutually beneficial relationships. Do you have access to a senior living center, a farmers market, summer concert series, schools, performing arts venues, festivals, parades, Chambers of Commerce, zoos, parks departments, to name just a few.
Do you have local television or radio stations in your market that reach your ideal customer? How about non-profits that create special events like 5k runs in your community?
These are all opportunities waiting for you to connect to and have a conversation. About both what you have to offer and what they have to offer you in return.
If you haven’t given this any amount of your time in the past, I recommend taking 30 minutes this week to scroll some of your local community socials and see what kind of events and organizations you can learn about.
Now that you have a list of potential opportunities, it’s time for the final W, and that answering the question, what is the activation.
Make It Work On Your Terms
The activation is another way to describe the action you need to take to fulfill the sponsorship agreement. You can desire something as simple as a logo included in an event program or on a shirt, or something more involved like a cooking segment on your local morning show.
Sponsorships do not have to fit into a specific box, which also means you can find opportunities that fit your budget. If your goal is to drive traffic into your boutique, can you pay for the opportunity to drop a coupon into the gift bags provided to the participants in your local Relay for Life event.
Or can you have an online offer from your business included in the email blast that goes out to new pet owners in exchange for providing grooming services at the animal shelter. Trading goods and services are a great way to get in at the ground level.
If you aren’t sure what’s possible, look for here are some unique ideas to get your creative juices flowing:
- inclusion in email blasts
- social media posts that drive to your business
- event signage
- a presence on-site like a display table or product sampling
- branded sports league shirts,
- a speaking opportunity
- host a giveaway for participants at an event
Try one or try them all. But don’t forget that at the end of the day, you want the sponsorship you choose to work for you. You want it to help you achieve your goals of increased visibility. Hopefully leading to more paying customers and more raving fans of who you are and what you offer.
A sponsorship shouldn’t break the bank and it shouldn’t feel like you are giving more than you are getting in return.
