Are Event Sponsorships on Life Support? Here’s How to Keep Your Sponsors Alive

Why do brands sponsor your event? Maybe a more important question should be – what would it take for your brand to sponsor someone else’s event? What would you be looking to get out of that event? Cvent does sponsor events – and we plan our own annual event, too: Cvent CONNECT, taking place this summer in Las Vegas. So it's a relevant topic for us as well. So why have event sponsorships been slowly declining? Perhaps brands don’t see the value in purchasing a table in an exhibition hall, or real estate to put their logo on your website, or they simply think they can reach their customer base through digital and social media, so that’s where they invest their money. But event sponsorships aren’t dying. The reality is: Even the Digital Age can’t compete with the value of meeting customers and prospects face-to-face. In fact, according to Oxford Economics, in-person meetings are 85% more effective when meeting with prospects, and 65% more effective when meeting with customers. While they highly value that face time with their prospects, sponsors still want to be able to reach those attendees on a digital platform, in the way that the attendee is accustomed to receiving information. To make your event even more valuable to sponsors, exhibitors and attendees, incorporate digital marketing into your sponsor & exhibitor packages. Sponsors love mobile apps because attendees love them. Mobile event apps give sponsors a smarter way to promote their brand – and they’re willing to pay for it. In the current state of events, sponsorship dollars are declining because expectations aren’t being met at events. The easiest, and most valuable solution? Mobile. Your sponsors will be willing to pay more, because they’re getting face time and digital space in order to reach customers & prospects.