June 2005 - SPONSORSHIP MARKETING

By Ernie Saxton

Just about everyday of the week, we have racers, event organizers and even sponsors telephone to ask questions. We are going to share with you some of the questions with our answers to the questions most often asked.

My longtime friend Sylvia Allen, the marketing guru when it comes to sponsorship marketing for events, helped us with this question: “What should I be including in my marketing partnership/sponsorship proposal?”

Sylvia shares many of the same thoughts that we do. You have to do some homework… read newspapers (we read five each day including the Wall Street Journal), visit company websites, ask for a company prospectus, and try to talk with someone in marketing at the company you are approaching. You may be pleasantly surprised to find that many company representatives are happy and very willing to talk about their company and share some marketing secrets. Ask a few questions such as:

n Actually the first question should probably be to find out if the company has an interest in sponsorship marketing? That one questions could save you a lot of time, expense and aggravation. If they have no interest in sponsorship, you will not have to ask any of the other questions.

n  What are their budget parameters? If you are looking for X dollars, why not make sure they have X dollars available to spend.

n  Now that you have that out of the way, ask what is the company criteria for sponsorship?

n How do they measure success for their sponsorship involvement? This is good to know so that you can incorporate some measurement ideas in your proposal.

n How will your sponsorship be integrated into to their marketing activities?

n Are sales, profitability, and employee attraction/retention important components of asponsorship offering? It is amazing to us how many sponsorship seekers seem to feel that the only thing that companies are interested in is gaining media exposure. This is not a priority with many companies but if you can show how your sponsorship package can impact their bottom line, you will probably have a much better chance at success.

n  Many companies place hospitality and entertainment above media exposure when it comes to sponsorship programs. So make sure you find out if hospitality is important to the potential sponsor and address it in the proposal.

n  This is very important. Find out who get involved in the actual decision making process? This will save you from spending a lot of time with someone who leads you to believe he or she is a decision maker but does not have the authority to order a dozen pencils.

As Sylvia Allen told me, if you get answers to these questions, it will provide great direction for your presentation. DON’T BE AFRAID TO ASK QUESTIONS! Make sure you do some research on the company that you are contacting. AND MAKE SURE YOU DO A LOT OF LISTENING! I never learned anything while talking.

We can put you in touch with Sylvia if you would have interest in buying her book, “How tobe Successful at Sponsorship Sales”. Though it is designed for those seeking event sponsorship, it has a lot of useful information for anyone involved in sponsorship sales. I use the book often.

A racer from California asked, “How can I get information about companies that I want to contact regarding sponsorship? If you are looking for local sponsorship, in your home area, check with the local Chamber of Commerce to see if they have a directory available. Most Chamber of Commerce directories list all the member businesses and key people along with phone numbers and more.

I also suggest that you spend time reading the local newspapers which often include business news. And most newspapers include new business listings on a regular basis. Some of those new businesses could be looking for ways to market themselves and you could be in a position to offer that opportunity.

And in many cities there are Business Journals. We subscribe to the Philadelphia Business Journal because it keeps us informed on what is happening with area businesses. And on a regular basis they offer a list of new businesses. We send them a “good luck with the new business letter” and follow up with a telephone call to see if we can be of service — set up a meeting after asking some of the questions we suggested earlier in this article. You want to get out and have face-to-face meetings with as many businesses as possible but you want to be well prepared for each meeting and you don’t want to be wasting time with those who have no interest or no budget money available.

Ernie Saxton Communications can be contacted at 215-752-7797, fax: 215-752-1518 or by e-mail at esaxton144@aol.com. Web: www.saxtonsponsormarket.com.

View Past "Sponsor Search" Articles