To sponsor or not to sponsor, is the main question for many exhibition marketers these days.
The main reason behind this question is the fact that there is no rock hard data that portrays sponsoring exhibitions that can be fruitful.
However, exhibitions are goldmines of opportunities, and sponsorship can just be the thing for your company to stand design out as a giant that everyone has their attention to.
Firstly, you have to evaluate why you want to sponsor a exhibition?
Are you planning to spread your brand’s image? Or do you wish to support this event because it’s your favourite? This is what is termed as the CEO-trap, where the company’s CEO is a fan of an event and dishes out the corporate dollars into it. No good can come from that, right?
- Reasons Behind Sponsorships – Six-man reasons prevail as the determiners for sponsorships, which are driving sales, differentiation from rivals, image enhancement, enhancing the business, VIP, customer relations, using positive publicity to make your business more well-known, and finally, to act as a “Good Corporate Citizen”. If these are on your list, sponsorship should be an obvious choice.
- Popular Choices – Today, several exhibitors spend approximately 9% of their exhibit-marketing budgets in investments, in the form of sponsoring exhibitions. They are aware that they must avoid missing these significant promotional opportunities at all costs. The popular options are two-fold: –
- Signage sponsorships – digital signage, elevator wraps, show boards, etc. Digital sponsorships – event apps, e-invites, e-newsletters, Wi-Fi access at events, etc.
- Investing in the right kind of sponsorship is paramount for developing critical relationships and successful leads, apart from just marketing your company. Almost all exhibitors agree that their sponsorship investments have either met their expectations or exceeded them.
- Most Effective Vs. Least Effective – Exhibition stall designer who sponsor exhibitions have listed the following opportunities as most or least effective, based on the marketing potential of each: –
- Most Effective – Social media, event apps, show directories, networking events, speaking opportunities, hospitality lounges, show e-blasts, official receptions, etc.
- Least Effective – Hotel key cards, cups, napkins, taxi toppers, wellness activities, hotel in-room television, headrest covers, hotel room drops, and public-transit graphics
