Sponsorship from the Company’s Perspective

This was a guest blog I did for www.rodeosponsorshipstrategies.com

When you are out looking for sponsorship for you or your event, here are a few things to keep in mind, from the company or marketing director’s side of the table.

1. Think about it as “partnership marketing” which will get you in the right frame of mind. You help us, we help you.
2. We don’t need you. We have hundreds of options for spending our limited marketing budget. If we sponsor you, how will we sell more product? I am not going to connect the dots, you need to show me how it will help us, because I have to justify my budget spending to my boss and show him next year that I made a smart decision. We don’t sponsor to be nice, we need to sell stuff. Think like a business person.
3. Do your research. Know my company, what we already sponsor, and what my products are. If you are a bullrider or announcer, don’t ask me to sponsor you with a horse trailer company because you aren’t hauling horses to events, and not showing off my product.
4. Impress me. This means professional looking KIT, not an email or Facebook message with grammar errors. In this kit (digital or paper) you should include: your bio/background, what you’ve won, photos (we want our product to look good on you/your horse/at your event), where you plan on competing next year, who your other sponsors are (we want to be in good company and not with a competitor). If you are an event, we want to know your demographics, which means how many people attend, from where, how old they are, how many men vs. women,  how much money they have, and photos of your venue. I won’t spend the time looking or asking for this information, because the other people who want my money have done it for me.
5. Product only sponsorships still cost us money. Yes, we will want you to use our products and get them out in the public eye, but product isn’t “free.” If all your photos show you using the competitor’s product, why not get them to sponsor you? Don’t say that you love my product when the photos show that you don’t even use it. On a big item like a trailer, find someone who has one of our trailers and tell me specifically what you like about it.
6. Look and act professional. We don’t want our endorsees representing us by acting immature or partying or having questionable PR on their Facebook pages.  You represent your sponsors, take that seriously in everything that you do, 24 hours a day.
7. Be loyal. Don’t jump sponsors every year or go with whoever offers the next better deal. If I see your history of a logo jumper, I won’t be interested. We invest in you; you need to help us build a brand together. Come to me with ideas on how we can work together, or opportunities you see when you’re out on the road or doing projects with your other sponsors. Be proactive in PARTNERING with us. Once you’re signed, NEVER be caught using a competitor product, because that will be the one photo that gets back to me.
8. When you’re signed/sponsored, make my life easy. Volunteer to be part of photo shoots and autograph signings. Take initiative and don’t make me call you 12 times. The endorsees that are easy are the ones I will promote in articles, photos, catalogs, websites and they are the ones that won’t get dumped in budget cuts. Be my star and I will fight to keep you.

Justify People Spending Money

At this time of year, most folks have put together a budget plan for their marketing for 2013 (get on it!). But on the other side of things are the magazines, associations, and individuals who want companies to sponsor them, buy ads, etc. In order to justify anyone spending money, you need to prepare a sales/media kit! In this kit, you should include any numbers and reasons why the business would give you money. Businesses are in it to make money, not to be nice. If you don’t have these numbers, you need to get them. How many events do you have? How many people attend the events? What are the demographics of your readers (where do they live, how much do they make, what do they purchase?). For individuals who want sponsored, put together a package showing your accomplishments, and your plans for how you will market the business in 2013. Without this preparation, the chances are slim that you will get any corporate money. Money is tight for everyone right now, you need to show me how you will help me sell more than the 85 other people who want my money for this year.

Marketing Planning for 2013

It is that time of year again. Is everyone working on their marketing plan for 2013? It is time to evaluate what worked and what didn’t work for 2012, and make a solid, INTEGRATED plan for 2013. What are your goals? Yes, everyone wants to sell more/make more money. But how are you doing that? New customers? Sell more to old customers? Expand your product line? Cut back and focus? What worked last year? Social media? Ads? We can help you wade through all of this information and make the most efficient use of your budget for 2013. Integration is key to maximizing your marketing budget and getting the most return on your investment. For those in the Western Lifestyle industry, watch for our upcoming article on Sponsorships in Western and English Today magazine, coming out in the January WE Today Source.

Tradeshow Marketing

I’m working/attending a tradeshow this weekend. It’s a wholesale, to the trade show. How many of you have tradeshow marketing as part of your plan? Walking around, I see a vast difference between those who take a tradeshow seriously, and those who just show up and throw some catalogs on the supplied black covered tables. Tradeshow success depends a lot on your pre-planning. Does your booth represent your brand or is it generic from tradeshow services? Will customers REMEMBER your booth? What do you have that will draw customers into your booth? Are you a destination booth? Do you have plenty of updated marketing materials to hand out? I see some booths that are always “the place to be.” I see others that are quiet, uninviting dead zones, where its not pleasant to hang out, even if you did have to write an order. Make sure your booth is a comfortable, inviting space and encourage old customers to linger, and new customers to want to hang out. Think about all the senses…have things to touch, see, hear, and maybe taste! Food and drinks is always a hit with tired shoppers!

Email Identity-Do Your Customers Know Your Name?

I’m sure this happens to all of us from time to time, we get an email from someone we don’t know. A lot of these end up in our junk folders, or look suspicious from the subject line, with ahem, too many bad words or !!! or misspellings. But, I also get emails from small businesses that I have signed up to receive their information, with names I don’t recognize, and they are missing my business by setting up their email marketing incorrectly.

Real life #1: a salon by me, that I would frequent or use their specials, the owner sends out mass emails under her own name. I don’t know her, so her emails (usually with generic subjects like “Sale” or “July Specials”) gets ignored. She should send out emails from “Rumors Salon” so I recognize the emails as something I signed up for, a salon in my area where I have already made purchases.

Real Life #2: A small equine tack store by me sends out emails from TTC. What/who the heck is that? Again, with generic subject lines that give no clue as to the sender. Most people won’t pay any attention to this.

Real Life #3: A store I know sends their marketing emails, nicely done, but under the owner’s name again. While the owner is a very visible and memorable part of the store, and well known in the industry, maybe people signed up online for a specials newsletter, or purchased online, and don’t know the owner by name! These emails will get overlooked in our customers overloaded inboxes.

Lesson: please, if you are sending out email newsletters, have them come from your store name. It is easy to reconfigure this or add an email address to your system. When the email is in the customer’s inbox, it should say from: Jim’s Bait Shop. Not James Rodansky. And subject lines should be specific: July Special On Minnows. Or 50% Off Green Line Rods and Reels. Not just “sale” or “special” or “coupon” or “newsletter” which can all be spam/generic. Do not over use exclamation marks, and always check for spelling.

Email marketing can be very successful, if you are targeting your market, and if you are communicating to them in a clear fashion. Your customers who signed up are already interested in your product or service, so don’t miss your mark on your messaging by using an obscure name or generic subject. People don’t have time to do detective work to find you.