I am glad to say that most professional rights owners (clubs, leagues, governing bodies, events etc) are pretty clued up on this, but there are a still a fair few, particularly in organisations without strategic marketing resource that could do with a bit of fine tuning.
There are also a lot of people involved with grassroots clubs that are responsible for finding sponsors without the knowledge or experience to do so. As I said in my previous article, it isn’t covered in many marketing textbooks and so you need to learn on the job or from others.
So, here are my 7 top sponsorship tips for rights owners.
1) Go back to the basics of marketing. You are trying to sell something, so think of your customer’s needs. What do they want from a sponsorship? What are they trying to achieve? What assets can you give them? Build your ‘product’ around the needs of your customer.
You also need to look at the competition. What are other clubs and sports offering that your potential customer will find attractive? Can you offer that? Or can you offer something different and better? Whilst you are going to need a generic sponsorship ‘pack’ as a starting point, all proposals should be bespoke to the organization you are going to approach.
2) Make appropriate approaches. Talk to companies who share the same values as you. There is no point spending time on companies with nice big budgets if their involvement will not relate to your fans. A partnership with shared brand values will appeal a lot more to your fans, who will then benefit from the value the partnership will bring, as will the sponsor.
3) Charge an appropriate fee. Don’t think about ‘them’ and ‘us’. Gone are the days of trying to get the most money out of sponsors for the least amount of rights. Be open, fair and honest. Remember that they are going to judge the sponsorship on the value it has brought to them, that is, the return on their investment. If the fee you charge is disproportionate to the value you are giving them, they wont renew. on the other hand, grassroots clubs tend to undercharge and just ask for the cost of equipment to be covered. Think of the value you are bringing to the sponsor and what that is worth to them.
4) Create something new. Be innovative. Don’t get caught in the trap of just offering branding. Yes, companies want to increase exposure and brand profile, but they also want to engage with your fans and with other sponsors. Create something that will facilitate that and will allow them to stand out from your other sponsors. Sit down and work together to build this, really understanding what each party wants and what value it brings to the fans.
5) Manage the relationship. Do not ignore a sponsor for three years and expect them to renew a contract without question. Help them activate their rights. Help them measure their return on investment. Ask them if it is working for them and if there’s anything more you can do. Again, think of sponsors as your customers and treat them as such. You want them to buy from you again and so must deliver good service.
6) Think of yourself as an extension of their sales department. There are many different reasons for sponsoring something and it’s not always to shift product, but most of the time it is the ultimate aim. So, how can you help them achieve that? Ask them how your club can become a new sales team for them. Businesses are always happy to invest money if it brings a good return. Make sure you can prove that return.
7) Celebrate and make them feel special. If they feel part of your club/league/organization and if they feel involved in its development and growth, an emotional connection will grow. Even though you’re trying to sell to a business, businesses are made of people and if you can really engage with the decision makers and their staff, you have gone a very long way to building a long-lasting and mutually rewarding partnership.