10 Ways to Retain Your Sponsorships for Your Virtual Event

Sponsorships are a valuable event asset for both the organizer and the supplier. A critical source of funding, they are the bread and butter for events. In addition to funding, sponsorships create incentives for your vendors to support your event. Vendors depend on sponsorships to gain brand awareness, acquire visibility, and facilitate supplier/attendee networking.

With the mass migration to virtual or hybrid event models, creating a sponsorship deck becomes a daunting task. Typical sponsorship deck options include coffee sponsorships, breakfast sponsorships, badge/tote bag sponsorships, booth sponsorships, and break-out session sponsorships. These sponsorship options are no longer available as a method of funding when deciding to go virtual. If you are opting for a hybrid event, these physical sponsorships will not be able to reach your virtual attendees.

How is it possible to retain sponsorship dollars while still providing your vendors with brand awareness, visibility, and networking opportunities with your virtual attendees? The answer is virtual sponsorships. This tool will allow your sponsors to keep the value of their investment while alleviating costs like printing, editing, and booth set-up fees.

Here are 10 virtual sponsorship options that you can add to your sponsorship deck for your upcoming virtual or hybrid event.

1. Conference Website Banners
   The conference website banner is valuable bringing a great deal of brand awareness and visibility to sponsors. Website banners are visible to all attendees who register or view your conference website. This brand awareness extends beyond attendees to your prospective attendees and media. Further benefits include linking your sponsor’s banner to their website, creating an easy path for obtaining information and initiating contact between the attendee and sponsor.

   

2. Email Broadcast
   Sponsored email broadcast is a malleable sponsorship opportunity. Mass emails can be sent to all your attendees or a select group of attendees through a simple push of a button. You could send these emails before, during, or after your conference.
3. Exclusive Mobile App Branding
   Mobile App Branding is an exclusive sponsorship type that can be reserved for your platinum sponsor. This sponsorship level provides continuous visibility during your event to all your attendees in a physical, virtual, or hybrid event model. Upon entry to the attendee app mobile branding is visible.
4. Mobile App Banners
   Multiple offers for rotating mobile banners can be sold in your sponsorship deck. Your sponsors can include their logo as well as a brief statement regarding their services. You can even include an option that links directly to your sponsor’s website or a link to directly contact a sponsor representative.
5. Mobile App Pop-Ups
   Pop-Ups can be compared to the ads you may be accustomed to seeing when you are scrolling through Facebook or Instagram. Within these ads your sponsors will have the ability to provide a logo/image unique to their organization as well as a URL the pop-up ad can point to.
6. Push Notifications
   A great way to access your attendee’s attention is through push notifications. This sponsorship opportunity allows you to send notifications to your attendees that will appear on the home screen of their cell phones. By pressing on this push notification, your attendees will be able to view a customized message from your sponsors. Push notifications can be scheduled to appear at specific times and dates.
7. Social Posts
   Ads from your sponsors can be pinned to the social wall within your attendee app. The social wall is the networking epicenter of your virtual or hybrid event. It is where your attendees can go to post photos, discuss event related topics, or chat with new or old friends. Giving a sponsor access to this forum allows them to have exposure within the busiest part of the event.
8. Credit Certificate Branding
   Continued Education Credit may be an essential component to your event. CE credit may be the determining factor for why your attendees join. Displaying your sponsors logo on the certificate or report that your attendees earn affords your sponsors invaluable exposure.
9. Sponsored Event Sessions
   It is still possible to offer exclusive sponsorships for sessions within your event. You can directly target exposure by pinning your sponsors logo to the top of the sessions wall and sending periodic push notifications to session attendees. Both methods of brand exposure allow for attendees to have direct access to the sponsor whether it be through starting a chat, creating an appointment, or viewing your sponsors services on their website. Additionally, you can continue to offer your sponsors the opportunity to present and stream their own sessions for a premium.
10. Sponsored Polls/Surveys
    Sponsored polls and surveys are unique ways to allow for interaction between the sponsor and the attendee. It allows for key analytics to be understood through feedback gathered in real time. Lead generation is also available through surveys allowing attendees to submit their contact information to sponsors.

Digital Sponsorships can range from hundreds to thousands of dollars; however, the unique component of these sponsorships is that they are measurable. With this data it is easy to give your sponsors incentive and analytical data on why these sponsorships are valuable. Digital sponsorships also allow you to facilitate the interaction between sponsors and attendees in any event model -whether virtual, physical, or hybrid.

Sign up here for a free consultation on digital sponsorships and how you can offer them for your next physical, digital, or hybrid event.