What Can I Sell? Top 5 Tips to Uncover Sponsorship Assets 10th August, 2011

We have been doing a lot of Slingshot Sponsorship Boot Camps recently to gear up for the start of September.  As such, I thought I’d start a blog series following what we discuss and some tips to think about when constructing your own sponsorship proposals.

Assets are typically a problem area for rights holders.  Being submersed in their own product, sometimes it’s difficult to uncover something that you see on a daily basis, so these top tips and questions should help you uncover opportunities you haven’t thought of yet!

1.  What communication tools do I have?

Although I am not a fan of badging (plastering logos on any and everything you have), communication to your audience is what the sponsor is after so you need to look at all opportunities to integrate sponsors within those communications, although bearing in mind that engaging communications are better than logos.  Communication can include everything from:

• Email newsletters (to read more on how, check out my blog post on the DMA Email Blog: Email Sponsorship: How to do it and why?)
• Printed communications
• Promotional advertisements
• Online display
• Events

2.  Who are your super stars?

Do you have anyone within your company or anyone your company works with that could potentially be an asset to a brand?  If so, and they are willing, you could work with these leaders to provide benefits to your sponsor by speaking at their events or promoting their brand.  Some ideas of unusual super stars could be:

• Talent or brand ambassadors
• Politicians
• Highly successful CEOs who could act as mentors/speakers
• Musicians/artists

3.  Social media

If you are using social media and have a regular engagement with your audience, this is a great platform for brands to run competitions or promotions.  Typically the audience is younger and more technology friendly so keep the audience in mind when including social media assets within your sponsorship offering.  Social media is a great way for you to add value to a sponsor without much cost, but don’t underestimate the importance of having a ‘working’ social network.  Just tweeting or posting competitions is not enough – you must have a social media strategy which is engaging, both for your property and also for your sponsors.  More about how to integrate sponsorship with social media, read my guest blog post on Content and Motion’s Blog Social Media & Sponsorship: Can Facebook & YouTube Ever Become Co-brandable Assets for Brands?

4.  Partnerships: are there other partnerships that you can leverage for your sponsors?

Media partnerships can be great opportunities to provide content for promotion.  When this works well and everyone is working together these partnerships can be extremely successful.  Integrating these opportunities for your sponsors can add significant value and should be considered, especially if your property does not yet have a large audience.

5.  Extras

Any additional events that you could include, not only add value to the sponsor, but also to your property.  Extras can include providing a Sponsors Lunch or Sponsor’s VIP Reception.  These types of events allow sponsors to network with each other and often uncover other partnership opportunities that can be built around your property through brainstorming synergies.  Especially if these extra events are timed so they coincide with a lull in your marketing schedule, they provide an added opportunity for you to continue building your relationship with your sponsor throughout the year.