4 Ways to Add Value to Sponsorship Packages

New year, new look, new sponsorship packages… To get the best sponsors, you need enticing packages that reflect the trends shaping events in the year ahead. Attracting sponsors is more critical than ever. For starters, they help you offset rising event costs. What’s more, today’s attendees have high expectations. With so many in-person and online options, they need compelling reasons to travel to your event.

The good news: Great sponsors are like magnets, drawing the right people to your trade shows and conferences. That’s why we created this blog post highlighting four trends driving our industry forward. The article also helps you make the most of these trends to garner incredible sponsors for your upcoming events.

You’ll discover:

• Sure-fire tips for packages to endear your sponsors to attendees
• Innovative tools that make it easy for prospective partners to say YES!
• The best way to prove return on investment and keep happy sponsors coming back
• And more

Let’s dive in.

1. Put sustainability front and center.

Climate change intensifies the call for a transformation in event planning. Sustainable practices are imperative.

The 2024 Global Meetings & Events Forecast by American Express Global Business Travel confirms our industry’s commitment. More than two-thirds of respondents globally said sustainability is “very” or “extremely” important when planning meetings and conferences.

Help your sponsors align with this paradigm shift by incorporating green practices in your event sponsorship packages.

Action Steps:

Goodbye paper tickets, badges, maps, signs, and agendas. Encourage partners to sponsor paperless solutions instead. Consider tools like digital badges, mobile event apps, wayfinding apps, and digital signage. Sponsors will level up brand visibility and support attendee priorities to reduce waste.

Forget plastic, too. Recommend gifts that are good for your partners and the planet. When swag carries the message of sustainability, everyone wins.

Challenge sponsors to stand out in the crowd by giving eco-inspired gifts like these below:

• Branded power banks that run on solar power: They provide a solar panel on the back and plenty of space for a logo on the front.

• Wireless charger/desk accessory made from FSC-certified wood: This handy gift does double duty: charging phones and keeping desks organized. It features space for a sponsor logo, an attendee’s name, and compartments for keys, clips, and more.

• Pens that champion sustainability: These writing tools are adorned with a logo and wrapped in reclaimed wheat straw, recycled paper, or bamboo.

• Bluetooth® speakers made with natural wood that’s FSC-certified: Sponsors will showcase their brand while delighting attendees with crisp sound and a beautiful hand-crafted touch.

2. K.I.S.S. Keep it simple for sponsors (and yourself).

People opt for a self-serve, online approach when booking travel, ordering meals, buying concert tickets, registering for events, and more. Why not give them similar consumer-style convenience when sponsoring events? 

Action Steps:

Let automation lend a hand. For example, modern sponsor and exhibitor management software automates sponsor tasks, content collection, and approvals.

Sponsors and exhibitors take charge of event prep and streamline the process with solutions like Stova’s ExpoPRO. It puts everything they need to prepare for trade shows in one easy app. Sponsors also get recommendations for attendees to connect with based on AI matchmaking.

By automating labor-intensive, repetitive tasks, you’ll save sponsors hours of work. So they have more time to build relationships and generate the quality leads they crave.

ExpoPRO does the heavy lifting for organizers, too. Track sponsor and exhibitor prep progression on one dashboard and ensure nothing slips through the cracks. Breathe easy. And win back time to concentrate on achieving your event goals.

3. Let technology prove event sponsorship value.

Technology adoption has accelerated at a dramatic pace in the past few years. And event professionals are making the most of this trend, according to the American Express Global Business Travel report.

From streamlining communications to automating marketing, organizers turn to technology to boost productivity. As a result, they have more time to focus on the creative and strategic side of events.

Another benefit of technology lies in the goldmine of event data it collects.

Savvy organizers use this business intelligence to measure return on investment (ROI).

Virtual events showed the importance of tracking attendee behavior to demonstrate value. Now that most events are in person again, marketing leaders expect to see the ROI of these gatherings, too.

Fortunately, modern onsite technology and analytics platforms answer the call. You can now demonstrate real-time event value easily in an instant.

4. Add value with hyper-personalization.

With event costs rising, attendees need compelling reasons to travel and meet in person. What’s more, virtual presents an affordable alternative for events where education is the primary goal.

Attendees need to know the trip will be worth their while.

To this end, savvy organizers leverage surveys and data analytics to understand their attendees on a deeper level. They dig into the data to learn exactly what attendees hope to gain by coming to an event. Is it networking opportunities, sales leads, education, or something else?

Action Steps:

Once you know what drives people to your event, tailor sponsorship packages to attendee needs. 

Networking is the main reason people attend, cited by 91% of respondents, according to the German Convention Bureau’s recent “Redefining Event Attendance” report. Ideas and inspiration come in second at 82%.

What does this mean for your sponsorship packages?

Sales reps are more likely to show up at an event if they know they’ll meet prospective clients and build valuable new connections.

If a prospective partner wants to reach sales teams, share data showing they’ll be at your event in full force. Then, invite the company to sponsor a networking event. Or create sponsorship packages featuring mobile event apps equipped with robust tools for meeting scheduling, gamification, and AI matchmaking.

Many marketers come to events to learn new strategies and get creative ideas.

To increase awareness with this audience, invite companies to sponsor an immersive activation in your trade show’s Innovation Hub. Or maybe they’d like to sponsor a keynote by an industry thought leader. Other event sponsorship ideas include offering a workshop, intimate dinner, or 1:1 meeting with inspiring changemakers.

Bottom line: Understand what appeals to a prospective sponsor’s audience and incorporate it into your sponsorship packages. Always connect the attendee experience to the objectives sponsors want to achieve.

Wrapping up

So, there you have it: 4 top industry trends with proven tips and tools to attract a winning lineup of sponsors in 2024 and beyond.

Take advantage of these best practices…

You’ll:

• Create irresistible sponsorship packages attendees will love
• Make things easy for your event partners and yourself
• Prove ROI to keep satisfied sponsors coming back

Ready to level up your sponsorship packages? Download our ebook Building Sponsor-Worthy Event Experiences by Maximizing Attendee Value.