Event sponsorship provides creators with many benefits — increased funding and greater promotional opportunities, to name just two. Attracting sponsors for virtual events is becoming easier as the online community grows in the events industry. You can attract sponsors by showing them how your event will reach their audience.
Below are some sponsor ideas for virtual events that will have all the brands knocking at your door.
Table of contents
What is virtual event sponsorship?
The benefits of sponsors for virtual events
What to offer sponsors for a virtual event
Consider the objectives of your virtual event sponsor
Digital offerings and activations
Sponsorship packages and tiers
How to get sponsors for a virtual event
What metrics to track for virtual sponsorship
Sponsorship ideas for virtual events
Start strategizing your branding plan
What is virtual event sponsorship?
Virtual event sponsorship is the same concept as sponsorship for live events: you want to find organizations that provide value in exchange for the value your event offers them. Companies are often willing to provide funding, promotional partnerships, and other benefits.
Sponsoring a virtual event includes placing branding on your promotional materials and on stage dressing, such as banners within the camera shot. Other sponsor ideas include:
- Sound equipment from a speaker company in exchange for an official designation for a music event
- Cheese from an artisanal cheesemaker looking to establish a name, or cooking equipment from a known brand or local home goods store for a food-related event
- A venue such as a local library or community college to cross-promote a seminar or lecture
Ultimately, sponsorship opportunities are limited only by your needs and imagination. Show how you can provide value, and a sponsor will take advantage of the opportunity.
The benefits of having sponsors for virtual events
When you’re pitching to the sponsors you’ve targeted for your event, you want to understand how sponsorship benefits both sides. Know how you’ll both benefit from sponsorship as you prepare to negotiate a deal.
Benefits to the event creator
Sponsorship can provide funds to help your events grow. Increased funding can help upgrade your venue, video and audio systems, and other features. There are also cross-promotional opportunities and access to your sponsor’s social media audience. And you’ll improve the audience experience; attendees can engage with sponsors that match their interests.
Benefits to the sponsor
Know what your sponsors are getting in return. They’re looking for access to your events for several reasons:
- Access to your audience to associate their brand with a fun and positive experience
- Access to your data to better understand your audience’s behavior and interests
- Increased visibility to better establish their brand in the marketplace
What to offer sponsors for a virtual event
When considering your pitch to sponsors, grab their attention by first asking what you can offer them. This inspires confidence and reassures them that you’re interested in building relationships — not solely seeking benefits on your behalf.
Consider the objectives of your virtual event sponsor
Virtual events offer digital branding opportunities, so data may take on new importance. For example, banner ads are hard to miss when the audience is watching online. If branding is important to your sponsor, you should gain greater benefits in exchange.
Digital offerings and activations
Digital sponsorships are often more effective than installing banners or other physical brandings you’d find at in-person events. Some proven digital sponsorships include:
- Sponsored social posts: Established brands usually have large social media followings. Posts on these accounts will multiply your impressions and engagement online.
- Email marketing: Get access to a company’s email library and send direct communications to their customer base. The sponsorship could also include email messages from you to your customer base featuring your sponsor’s branding.
- Banner ads: Including a sponsor’s logo on a banner ad during your event can also entice companies with prime internet real estate. Offer to alternate brands at intervals as a low-cost inducement for companies reluctant to make the full spend.
- Online quiz: Post a quiz featuring your sponsor’s logo during a break and increase audience activation. Tailor questions to increase brand engagement, such as inquiries about overseas destinations for an airline sponsor.
Sponsorship packages and tiers
Forward-thinking brands are increasingly embracing both sponsorship packages and tiered sponsorships. Both offer unique opportunities for audience engagement. Find out how each might work for your event.
Sponsorship packages offer stand-out engagement. These are often entertainment or experiences added to your event to engage the audience more closely than passive advertising. Some examples in a virtual event context include:
- Sponsored entertainment, such as a musical act or stand-up comedian.
- Virtual reality installations, with headsets delivered to attendees beforehand. These allow viewers to enjoy a 3D experience like no other.
- Sponsored closed captioning, sign language, or interpretation. This provides outreach to hearing-impaired and international communities.
- Food and drink activation, such as specially branded foods or drinks shipped to attendees the week before the event.
Tiered sponsorships give brands options. Giving sponsors a range of support levels accommodates lower budgets and more cautious brands. Typical packages might look like this:
- Platinum tier: Banner ads, online quiz, links to sponsor’s website, weekly or bi-weekly push notifications, daily social media posts
- Gold tier: Banner ads, online quiz, one push notification, weekly social media posts
- Silver tier: Banner ad, one push notification, two social media posts
- Bronze tier: Banner ad, one social media post
How to get sponsors for a virtual event
Now you’re convinced sponsorships can help your virtual event expand its reach, you’re likely wondering how you go out and attract sponsors to your event. How do you make your event one a sponsor wants to partner with? Read on and find out.
Search for sponsors who share your event’s values
The strongest sponsorship partners are those who engage with your audience. That means aligning your event’s values with your sponsors’ values.
An online music event, for example, will likely find more interested potential sponsors among arts-focused organizations, music schools, and instrument shops. Finding brands and companies with shared values creates a better customer experience for your attendees, leading to shared customers between you and your sponsors.
Create and advertise the online event agenda
When you present your case to your targeted sponsors, come prepared with your virtual event agenda, mapped out and ready to go. It shows you’re organized and experienced, and will reassure sponsors that you’re event is set up for success.
Research potential online event sponsors
Another strategy for locking down virtual event sponsors is researching potential partners. Visit their social media feeds, check out the number of followers, review their timelines, and subscribe to newsletters. Visit their website and go to the bottom: “About,” “Meet the Team,” “Contact Us,” and “Press” all reveal valuable information and convey the company’s voice, which should complement your own.
Contact sponsors from similar events
Another technique to find sponsorships is to check out recent events similar to yours and approach their sponsors. Hosting an online art class? Maybe a recent sculpture class received sponsorship from a local art gallery. They’ve shown they’re interested in reaching a similar audience, so the likelihood of interest in your event is already higher. They’ve also shown they sponsor events, and may be looking to expand their online presence. There’s one way to find out!
Reach out to sponsors
You can also cold email a sponsor’s marketing and promotions department or call and introduce yourself. Do your research first — really know the company you’re calling so you can make a stronger impression. Putting together a topnotch sponsorship proposal can only impress, too.
What metrics to track for virtual sponsorship
To make an impression on a potential sponsor, show them numbers. Data is hard facts; hard facts in a creative industry, like events, are treasured. Show them how many impressions your social media posts inspire and how often impressions lead to purchases. Data is an excellent opportunity for creators, since exclusively digital events offer more chances for data collecting than many live events.
Data to show sponsors
Of course, sponsors won’t be interested in all your data. Tailor it to suit their needs to show them you understand their business and are prepared to provide them with what they need. The data your potential sponsors will be most interested in includes:
- The number of attendees at your events (include trends if attendance has been increasing recently)
- The amount of engagement your webinars have inspired
- The results of post-event surveys that demonstrate audience satisfaction with your events
- The number of leads captured (new email addresses and other contact data)
- The number of impressions your marketing materials received across social media
- The rate of email openings and click-throughs on links to your event information and advertising
Organize your data so it’s clear and easy to understand (try color coding) and be prepared to wow potential sponsors.
Sponsorship ideas for virtual events
When pitching to possible sponsors, make it hard for them to say no. Not sure where to start? We’ve put together some suggestions to get your creative juices flowing.
Branded swag and prizes
Just because your event is virtual doesn’t mean your guests can’t “take home” some swag. Arrange for branded swag delivery after your event to leave attendees with a lasting impression.
Sponsored web pages
On your event website, include sponsored pages with branded content. That puts your sponsor’s content at the fingertips of everyone who attends your event. And because your data shows how many people you typically attract, sponsors will have a good sense of how many people will see their content.
Branded waiting rooms
Branded waiting rooms can be valuable for sponsors; your attendees must sit patiently until being admitted into a virtual event. And this means your sponsors have a captive audience.
Sponsored speakers and sessions
A sponsored speaker or session sets them apart as something special. However, the speaker should be aware of other sponsorships beforehand.
Sponsored entertainment
A sponsored comedian or musician works well for virtual events. Sponsorship can also increase your entertainment budget, allowing you to hire higher quality, bigger-name talent. Try increasing your sound system budget to ensure A-list-ready audio.
Sponsored logo placement
Include your sponsor’s logo on your website, advertising, or a banner ad during your event. Their branding on your content can provide significant value.
Sponsored happy hours
Happy hours can be great networking events — and can work online too. The sponsor needn’t be limited to a drink or food company; anyone interested in reaching young professional types is ripe for your pitch. Create a theme, such as tequila night, and arrange for a bottle of the featured liquor to be delivered to attendees before the event.
Branded breakout rooms
Like branded waiting rooms, breakout rooms are a chance for companies to stand out from the sponsorship pack. Virtual breakout rooms organize attendees into smaller subgroups, allowing more interaction among your guests. Offer banner ads or branding to sponsors for an impactful marketing opportunity — the breakout room environment means attendees are likely to engage with branded content.
Games and challenges
How about branded games and challenges to provide sponsors value? They vary the pace and break up the routine. Memory challenges are fun — quiz attendees about what they’ve just seen or heard to reinforce your event’s message. Games can take place on screen or in-app, giving attendees an extra opportunity to engage with your sponsors.
Start strategizing your branding plan
Now you’ve seen the sponsorship possibilities, it’s time to get your plan underway. Post your virtual event on Eventbrite and get an array of tools and tips to help you put branding to work for you.
