Sponsors are more than just a source of funding for your events. Yes, they provide a financial backbone that brings the meeting to life, but their role extends beyond the monetary. They’re crucial partners for expanding your event’s reach and adding credibility, attracting a larger and more engaged audience. Think of them as co-pilots in your meeting’s journey to success.
Naturally, building long-term relationships with these partners is key. Transforming a one-time transaction into a longer collaboration will help your events grow exponentially. But why should sponsors come back to you? What do they actually look for when collaborating in STEM meetings?
What Sponsors Really Want
The days of simply putting a logo on a banner are long gone. Today’s sponsors are sophisticated business leaders with clear objectives. Sponsors are not just looking for exposure; they’re after tangible returns, genuine engagement, and a partnership that extends far beyond the event.
But no worries! In this article, we’ll break down the key aspects sponsors prioritize and how you can tailor your meetings to be more attractive to future sponsors.
1. High-Quality, Relevant Exposure: Beyond Just Being Seen
The core of every sponsorship is the desire for visibility. But simply having a booth at an event isn’t enough; sponsors want targeted visibility, to be seen by the right people. Sponsors prioritize engaged, relevant audiences, especially when it comes to STEM conferences.
For example, a sponsor at a medical conference isn’t interested in just any attendee. They want to connect with clinicians, physicians, and decision-makers who are actively involved in the industry.
Sponsors seek platforms that allow them to:
- Reach their ideal customer profiles: Events must demonstrate a clear understanding of their audience demographics, professional roles, and interests, and how these align with the sponsor’s target market.
- Stand out from the crowd: Generic exposure is less valuable. Sponsors want prominent placement and opportunities to showcase their unique value proposition.
- Engage in meaningful conversations: Beyond just brand recognition, sponsors want to interact directly with potential leads and collaborators.
2. Measurable ROI: Showing the Important Numbers
However, sponsors need concrete data to justify their investment. As an event organizer, you must provide access to transparent and compelling data that shows the value delivered and a measurable ROI.
Key metrics sponsors typically want to see include:
- Leads captured: The number of qualified individuals who expressed interest in their products or services.
- Impressions: The total number of times their brand was seen (e.g., website views, app impressions, social media reach).
- Engagement rates: How attendees interacted with their content, booths, or representatives (e.g., click-through rates, time spent on pages).
- Booth visits: For in-person or virtual events, the number of unique visitors to their exhibition space.
- Content views: How many times their sponsored sessions, whitepapers, or videos were accessed.
Providing comprehensive post-event reports that clearly outline these metrics is essential for demonstrating value and fostering repeat sponsorships. The good news? For hybrid and virtual meetings, a reliable software vendor can compile and share all this information in just a few clicks.
3. Thought Leadership Opportunities
Most sponsors attend events not only because they want to be recognized as vendors, but also because they aspire to be industry leaders. STEM meetings offer an invaluable platform for them to showcase their expertise and contribute to the topic discussed. In a nutshell, it’s their chance to act as a trusted voice within their industry, not just a seller.
You can offer sponsors speaking slots, panels, or workshops (just a few examples). By providing these opportunities, you help sponsors to build credibility, influence opinions, and establish their brand as an authority in their field, moving beyond mere promotion to genuine contribution.
4. Year-Round Visibility: Extending the Lifespan of Your Event
While events might be a singular occurrence, their impact shouldn’t disappear once the doors close. We’ve explored several ways to extend the lifespan of your meetings. Just like you, sponsors are increasingly seeking year-round visibility that extends their exposure far beyond the event window.
Here’s how you can achieve it:
- Email marketing: Include them in event newsletters, dedicate sponsor spotlights, or feature them in promotional emails sent to your attendee database throughout the year.
- Event apps: Maintain their sustained presence on the event app, even after the live event, with easy access to their profiles, content, and contact information.
- On-demand content platforms: Ensure sponsored sessions, webinars, and resources remain available for viewing long after the event, potentially even gated for lead generation.
- Website presence: Offer dedicated sponsor pages or continuous logo placement on your event website.
- Social media promotion: Include regular mentions and tags across your event’s social media channels.
5. Seamless Digital Integration
With the growth of hybrid meetings, leveraging modern platforms and technologies to maximize sponsor interaction with attendees is a must:
- Virtual booth access: Intuitive and engaging virtual booths that allow for live chat, video meetings, downloadable resources, and lead capture.
- Robust networking tools: Platforms that facilitate easy connection between sponsors and attendees, enabling one-on-one meetings, group discussions, and virtual lounges.
- Branded interactions online: Opportunities for sponsors to brand various digital touchpoints, from loading screens and session backgrounds to virtual meeting rooms.
- Data analytics capabilities: Digital platforms that can track and report on engagement metrics in real-time, providing sponsors with immediate insights into their performance.
6. Creating Sponsorship Packages that Truly Deliver
But understanding what sponsors want is only half the battle. The other half is designing sponsorship packages that genuinely meet their needs. This requires creativity, flexibility, and a deep understanding of your event’s unique value proposition.
Tiered Sponsorship Models
A one-size-fits-all approach rarely works. Implement tiered sponsorship models (e.g., Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze) that offer varying levels of benefits and price points; the key lies in providing custom options.
- Flexibility: Allow sponsors to mix and match benefits from different tiers, or to propose unique ideas that align with their specific goals.
- Niche opportunities: For STEM events, this might mean sponsoring a research track, a startup pitch competition, or a dedicated lab tour.
- Problem-solving focus: Instead of just listing benefits, frame your offerings around how they solve a sponsor’s marketing or business challenges.
Blended In-Person and Digital Benefits
With the rise of hybrid events, sponsorship packages must offer a compelling mix of both in-person and digital benefits. This ensures maximum reach and engagement, regardless of how attendees participate.
Examples include:
- Hybrid booths: Physical booths with integrated digital components (e.g., QR codes to virtual resources, screens for video calls with remote team members).
- Branding focus: Consistent branding across both physical signage and digital platforms.
- Exclusive content: Offering sponsors the opportunity to host a session that is only available to in-person attendees, or a webinar exclusively for remote participants.
- Networking parity: Ensuring sponsors can connect with both in-person and virtual attendees through dedicated networking platforms.
Exclusive Sponsor Perks
To truly stand out, consider offering exclusive sponsor perks that go beyond standard branding. These can be high-value opportunities that create memorable experiences for both sponsors and attendees.
- Category exclusivity: Guarantee that a sponsor is the sole representative of their industry segment.
- Private meeting spaces: Include dedicated areas for sponsors to host one-on-one meetings with VIP attendees or potential clients.
- Data insights: Provide exclusive access to anonymized attendee data or post-event survey results for deep market insights.
- Early access to opportunities: Give returning sponsors exclusive news on prime booth locations or speaking slots for future events.
7. Proving Your Value: Showing Sponsors Their Investment Pays Off
Delivering on your promises is one thing; effectively communicating that delivery is another. Transparency and straightforward reporting are crucial for building trust and encouraging repeated attendance. Now, it’s time to show your sponsors exactly where their money went and the profit it generated.
Sponsor Dashboards and Post-Event Reports
Sponsor dashboards are used for real-time tracking during the event, and they should offer:
- Real-time analytics on booth visits, content views, lead captures, and engagement.
- Ability to download lead lists instantly.
- Metrics on their sponsored sessions (attendance, Q&A engagement).
Post-event reports are more in-depth documents and should include:
- Executive summary highlighting key achievements and ROI.
- Detailed breakdown of all relevant metrics (impressions, leads, engagement, social media reach).
- Attendee demographics and insights.
- Qualitative feedback (testimonials, survey results).
- Recommendations for future partnerships.
- A clear articulation of the event’s overall success and future growth plans.
Communication and Support
Consistent communication and support are vital throughout the entire sponsorship lifecycle to establish a long-lasting relationship.
Here’s how to cultivate this connection:
- Assign a dedicated point of contact: Assign a specific individual or team to manage sponsor relationships, ensuring they have a primary contact for all their needs.
- Do regular check-ins: Schedule pre-event, during-event, and post-event check-ins to address concerns, provide updates, and gather feedback.
- Offer technical assistance: Offer robust technical support for virtual platforms, booth setup, and content integration.
- Seek feedback: Actively solicit feedback from sponsors to understand their pain points and areas for improvement.
8. The Secret Sauce: What Keeps Sponsors Coming Back
Retaining sponsors is usually more cost-effective and beneficial than constantly seeking new ones. Building effective long-term sponsor relationships requires:
- Trust: Sponsors must trust that you will deliver on your promises, provide accurate data, and genuinely care about their success. This is built through consistent communication, transparency, and a track record of strong performance.
- Innovation: Events that continuously evolve and offer new, cutting-edge opportunities will attract and retain sponsors. This might involve adopting new technologies, exploring novel engagement formats, or exploring emerging industry trends.
- Consistent Value Delivery: The strongest retention factor is consistently delivering on the value proposition. When sponsors see a clear, measurable return on their investment year after year, they are far more likely to renew.
- Personalized Attention: Go beyond generic packages; treating sponsors as true partners, understanding their unique business objectives, and tailoring solutions to meet those needs fosters a strong sense of loyalty.
- Community Building: For events, especially in niche STEM fields, creating a vibrant community around the event can be a serious draw for sponsors. They want to be part of an ecosystem where their target audience regularly converges and interacts.
Wrapping Up…
Attracting and retaining valuable sponsors requires a strategic approach to your event planning. It means designing sponsor programs with strategy and data in mind, moving beyond a simple transactional approach.
Platforms like cOASIS equip organizers with the tools to deliver measurable, high-impact sponsorship experiences. This means sponsors get the data, insights, and engagement they truly crave. The future of successful events hinges on understanding and delivering what sponsors want, transforming them from mere funders into invaluable strategic allies.
Ready to plan an event that really resonates with potential sponsors? Our solutions can support your goals.
