Sponsorship plays a significant role in the success of your event. Financially, sponsorship offsets costs and provides revenue, while strategically, sponsors bring their solutions and thought leadership directly to your audience, further elevating the profile of your event.
We had the pleasure of speaking with TAS’ Sponsorship and Partnerships Manager, Andrea Diaz, who shared her valuable insights on the current landscape, fundamentals of selling events, where the opportunities lie, and important considerations in acquiring new sponsors and nurturing existing relationships.
Andrea’s background
As many associations agree, marketing association events is distinctly different from that of corporate events – and it does require a professional who can work within the organisational frameworks of associations while appreciating the values they uphold for their members.
Over the course of a decade in sponsorship sales, Andrea has dedicated four years exclusively to selling events for associations. This particular focus has equipped her with a unique understanding of collaborating with boards and committees. Moreover, she possesses unmatched understanding into the requirements of corporate sponsors, including their budgetary cycles and decision-making processes.
Current landscape
Comparing the sponsorship budget from five years ago to the present reveals a notable difference. Sponsorship has seen significant fluctuations, marked by a period of growth pre-2019, followed by a sharp decline amidst event cancellations and virtual events. While events, in general, are gradually rebounding, restoring the sponsorship budget to its pre-2019 levels will take time, creativity and flexibility from the organisers.
Andrea says sponsors have undergone a significant re-evaluation of their trade marketing budgets in recent years, leading to a reduction in the number of events in their calendars and a more cautious allocation of funds. This means, unlike in the past where sponsors would target every industry event, they now adopt a more selective approach to choosing where they wish to have a physical presence.
Despite these challenges, Andrea says there are opportunities for associations. “The value of face-to-face events is significant, and its direct impact on the sponsor’s lead generation efforts is not lost on them,” says Andrea. Andrea remains positive, as she shares that changes in the market, like new product launches, industry trends, technological advancements, and legislative changes, are ultimately opportunities that she can chase for associations.
Approaching sponsorship
Though Andrea works across a diverse range of industries – from health to infrastructure, and education to hospitality – she says there are few commonalities in the way she approaches every event.
- Research the industry
Andrea starts with desk research to gain an understanding of the industry at present. However, she says she looks to the committee for industry insights not readily available on the internet. “Google will only get you so far. It’s really the committee’s knowledge on their industry’s pain points and what’s on the upward trend that allows me to widen the net,” shares Andrea. - Research the audience
Presenting the right audience to sponsors is crucial, and that means Andrea has to identify who, in a typical team, are influencers and decision-makers. “I narrow it down to job titles and organisations of particular interest to sponsors,” says Andrea.
“I also look at it from the delegate’s perspective. If I were the director of x and I have the buying power, what do I want to see displayed on the booths, who do I want to speak to, and what are the products and services that are going to add value to my team. Putting on the ‘delegate hat’ is a helpful exercise in thinking outside the box,” shares Andrea. - Offer value in the prospectus
While there is consistent demand for branding opportunities in almost all events, sponsors are increasingly looking to integrate their thought leadership into the program, whether it be via speaking opportunities, written content, brand alignment with a particular topic, or hosting a workshop or networking function. In Andrea’s experience, offering the opportunity to demonstrate their thought leadership, together with a “piece of real estate” on the show floor, are highly attractive to sponsors.
Considerations for associations
Leveraging her extensive experience, Andrea has extracted the essential principles for achieving success in event sponsorship:
- Setting up for success
The cornerstone of success lies in laying down realistic sponsorship budgets that align with the current landscape and recent performance. - Nurturing future opportunities
Sponsors who decline to sponsor an event this year do not necessarily mean they are not open to coming onboard the following year. Andrea says many sponsors are on different budgetary cycles, and you may have simply missed the boat this year. “As long as they specifically say that they are open to hearing future opportunities and ask to be kept in the loop, which they often say to me, those are opportunities to chase,” Andrea adds. - Preserving value, embracing flexibility
Taking care not to downgrade the value of an association’s education, associations are encouraged to be flexible in pricing or adding more value when in talks with sponsors, with the caviar being the possibility of a long-term partnership. - Cultivating long-term relationships
Speaking of long-term partnerships, board and committee members are encouraged to keep the conversation flowing with sponsors during the event. Acknowledging the sponsors’ support, outside the formal agreement, at their booths, and being curious about their interests are essential to maintaining a relationship. As Andrea says, “It’s often through informal chats between the committee and the sponsor that you can gauge whether they will return next year.”
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