How to Craft Profitable Year-Long Sponsorship Opportunities for Annual Engagement

As we await a potential recession with live event costs increasing by the day, many clients are asking us to help strategize ways to ensure their events are still profitable. It’s a problem troubling over 90% of B2B event organizers this year. One way we’ve done this successfully is by cultivating year-long sponsorship opportunities for annual engagement with the business’ audience. 

Now more than ever, companies are looking for long-term relationship-building opportunities. So, why not leverage your audience to offer this incredibly valuable opportunity to your sponsors? 

Today, we’ll show you how you can land up to $50-100K per sponsorship. Are you ready to take some notes to finally achieve your six-figure event revenue goals?

Start by Surveying Your Existing Partners & Sponsors

There’s nothing quite like data, guys! It helps take some of the stress and ambiguity out of decision-making as you design your sponsorship kit. If you know exactly what your sponsors want, then there should be no question about where you’re providing value for them! Doing this makes pitching easier because you know what they’re looking for. This can also help you identify sponsorship benefits you’ve been offering that may not be as valuable to your sponsors as you thought. 

Don’t have partners or previous sponsors you can survey? Make a list of your dream sponsors and Google events they’ve sponsored in the past. If you can, download that sponsorship kit to get an idea of the benefits they may have been offered. Comparing competitor offers is one thing we don’t see people do enough. This will show you if you’re competitive enough to land the big fish or if you’ll be left flailing. 

Plan Your Annual Event Strategy Earlier Than Usual

We see so many companies miss out on the opportunity to leverage year-long sponsorship packages because they don’t plan far enough in advance. You can’t do any shotgun, last-minute planning if you’re offering an annual event sponsorship package. 

Aim to have a general plan by June of the prior year, so you can approach companies well before budgeting season, typically September-November for most large businesses. Approaching them too late will mean you’re losing out. 

It may seem crazy to plan that far in advance, but trust us, you will reap the financial reward. Big businesses get approached to sponsor more often than you can imagine. If you have your strategy firmed up, dates and locations in place, and attendee data ready, you’ll impress and pique their interest. That’s what we need to ultimately get them to sign on the dotted line!

Items to Include in a Year-Long Sponsorship Package for Annual Engagement

So, what do you add to a year-long sponsorship package for annual engagement? The only limit is your creativity! Here are a few ideas we love: 

• Be the headlining host for a networking event at two (2) events of your choice – one virtual and one in-person
• Digital display ads on-site at every in-person and hybrid events hosted throughout the year
• Keynote co-speaker opportunity for the annual conference. For this one, ensure the quantity is one and at the top tier only. Use this to pique interest and get people to sign on more quickly because they want to snag the spot!
• Access for one (1) team member to intimate, exclusive client networking events hosted monthly year-round
• Attendee names and emails (for those that opt-in only, of course)
• Headline sponsorship for charging and wellness lounges on-site
• Admission to monthly virtual roundtables with clients
• Interstitial ads at every virtual event 

The key is mixing in things that happen monthly and periodically throughout the year, so you’re giving them the chance to build relationships with your audience (their target audience) on an ongoing basis.

Offer Opportunities for Sponsors to “Make Their Own” Package

Now, with this, one way you can pique a sponsor’s interest is by letting them choose what they want rather than you telling them what they’re going to get. 

What do we mean by this? 

Create different tiers for your sponsorship package. Within each tier, add different sponsorship perks covering each of your events for the duration of the year. Then, sponsors who choose the top tier can be allowed to choose a certain number of perks from each tier. Similarly, if someone chooses the lowest tier, they only get to choose a few options from the lowest tier. You get the picture. 

Giving choices at a time when people are super analytical about their spending will cultivate greater opportunities to land sponsors. They want to be in control, and with this, you’re giving that to them within your own limits and parameters. It’s a true win-win! 

Want Help Landing Big Fish Sponsors During Uncertain Times? Let EBA Help.

Our team has weathered many storms in the past decade of business. We’ve never been more ready to help you achieve profitable events, despite an impending recession that’s causing businesses everywhere to tighten their purse strings. We can help you identify the value you serve up and how to price and pitch accordingly! One-third of businesses out there spend over 20% of their budgets on sponsoring events, so the opportunity is out there. 

Let’s chat about how we can increase your event revenues with year-long sponsorship opportunities for annual engagement. Schedule your complimentary 20-minute strategy session now!