Sponsor info.
- Thread starter cwilmeth
- Start date
Suprised no one responded to this yet...
Look at it like your opening a buisness People want to see the bottom dollar. Create a mock expense report show them where the money is going. Show them your expected attendance numbers. Show them how to get there money back out of advertising or marketing their products.
Also if this is for a tour... PLEASE ESCROW AND GAURANTE THE MONEY!!!:wink:
Other then that dont limit yourself beat down every open door and every locked one... Every pitch is a 50/50 chance.. Yes or No...
Good luck
Look at it like your opening a buisness People want to see the bottom dollar. Create a mock expense report show them where the money is going. Show them your expected attendance numbers. Show them how to get there money back out of advertising or marketing their products.
Also if this is for a tour... PLEASE ESCROW AND GAURANTE THE MONEY!!!:wink:
Other then that dont limit yourself beat down every open door and every locked one... Every pitch is a 50/50 chance.. Yes or No...
Good luck
As a marketing person who has sponsored quite a few events in billiards as well as a number of other industries, I can give you some insight into what I look for in a pitch (please note however that I am not looking for pitches, as PoolDawg is not currently looking to sponsor any additional tours beyond the WPBA at this time).
This will not be the case for everyone, but for me all I focus on is ROI. I want to know exactly how I'm going to get a return on my sponsorship investment. I know exactly how much in sales I need to generate from a campaign or an ad spend, so I want to hear how the event is going to get me to that number.
Beyond ROI, there is also a branding aspect to most sponsorships. Because branding is often difficult to measure, I have to come up with core metrics to look at and attach a dollar value to those metrics. How many people are going to see the event? Are the people watching in my core demographic (keeping in mind that there are huge differences in customer segments within the billiards industry). If it is being televised, what is the expected viewership? Are you contracted for 2nd and 3rd airings, etc. What else are you going to do to get my brand eyeballs other than putting an arena banner up. Once I have an idea as to how many eyeballs I'll be getting, I can then attach a conversion number to those eyeballs and make some basic assumptions about how many customers I will acquire and add that to my overall ROI assumptions.
Before you make a pitch, look at each of your sales points and honestly ask yourself if there is real value there. Put yourself in the shoes of the potential sponsor and see if you think the pitch is attractive. If a key point to the pitch is something along the lines of a verbal announcement at an event where 200 people are in attendance, think about it from a CPM (cost per thousand impressions) perspective. How many impressions are you going to get your sponsor and how does that measure up to other forms of promotion (radio, TV, print, etc)? Keep in mind that PR is part of this calculation. If you are going to be able to get your press release out to AZ, Billiards Digest, etc. and you are attaching the sponsors name and links, there is value there. In some cases, the value of the PR will exceed the value of the arena banner or the verbal announcement.
Hope this helps and sorry about the long rambling response.
Mike
This will not be the case for everyone, but for me all I focus on is ROI. I want to know exactly how I'm going to get a return on my sponsorship investment. I know exactly how much in sales I need to generate from a campaign or an ad spend, so I want to hear how the event is going to get me to that number.
Beyond ROI, there is also a branding aspect to most sponsorships. Because branding is often difficult to measure, I have to come up with core metrics to look at and attach a dollar value to those metrics. How many people are going to see the event? Are the people watching in my core demographic (keeping in mind that there are huge differences in customer segments within the billiards industry). If it is being televised, what is the expected viewership? Are you contracted for 2nd and 3rd airings, etc. What else are you going to do to get my brand eyeballs other than putting an arena banner up. Once I have an idea as to how many eyeballs I'll be getting, I can then attach a conversion number to those eyeballs and make some basic assumptions about how many customers I will acquire and add that to my overall ROI assumptions.
Before you make a pitch, look at each of your sales points and honestly ask yourself if there is real value there. Put yourself in the shoes of the potential sponsor and see if you think the pitch is attractive. If a key point to the pitch is something along the lines of a verbal announcement at an event where 200 people are in attendance, think about it from a CPM (cost per thousand impressions) perspective. How many impressions are you going to get your sponsor and how does that measure up to other forms of promotion (radio, TV, print, etc)? Keep in mind that PR is part of this calculation. If you are going to be able to get your press release out to AZ, Billiards Digest, etc. and you are attaching the sponsors name and links, there is value there. In some cases, the value of the PR will exceed the value of the arena banner or the verbal announcement.
Hope this helps and sorry about the long rambling response.
Mike
This is a great answer, Mike. I would add that you are going to have to start low in the beginning. Don't make promises you can't keep, otherwise you won't be able to renew your sponsorships year to year. Expect that your sponsors are going to want to come in on the low end and have you prove to them your product is going to make them money. Once you prove that, make them pay.
Most of the potential sponsors you speak with won't be able to see passed the ROI aspect into impressions and brand exposure, unless you are dealing with major national companies that do large sports marketing campaigns regularly. Try to develop programs that function on a level to turn all/most of your participants into customers of your sponsors. (e.g., all tour participants get 10% discounts with your sponsor, etc.) Make the sponsorship beneficial for participant and that will in turn benefit the sponsor. Signage is a great support for a more in-depth program, but when displayed on it own, whose bottom line does that really help and how can you prove that when push comes to shove?
Finally, remember that what you are offering is very "grass-roots" and not comparable to other major sports opportunities. Budgets are low all over the sponsorship industry, so consider each sponsor prospect differently. You will need to analyze THEIR business in order to figure out what will work for them best. Make the pitch about them, and not about you and what you need.