I was listening to a Chicago Blackhawks game when it was announced the goal the Hawks scored was sponsored by a Chevrolet dealership in Frankfort, IL. Some people may not hesitate to think twice about this but as a marketer I'm fascinated by the fact that consumers are being advertised to everywhere. Rest assured that if there's a place, time or event that isn't already saturated with marketing messages, it soon will be.
Call it what you will, I think it's partly creative. It got me thinking, if the act of scoring a goal can be “brought to you by,” what else can be sponsored? How can I leverage sponsorships for my clients? How can businesses without large budgets cast a wider reach? In short, how can small businesses benefit from sponsorships?
This positioned me to begin to answer those very questions. My most recent venture is to offer workshops which allow me to educate a wide variety of individuals: professionals, business owners, and even people interested in general health and wellness (I'm partnered with Sheila Petersen of Life Elemental for this piece.) If we were to bring on a sponsor we would able to provide more value to the event participants, it would also allow us to partner with a like minded business with a similar target market to ultimately expose both businesses to a greater number of people.
As a small business owner you have something very valuable to offer a potential sponsor. The blog you write, the e-newsletter you put out, the social media sites you're active on, are all places to essentially “name” drop. You can link to your sponsors website in tweets/posts, include their logo on printed marketing pieces and share information about their business via word-of-mouth. Since I try to lead by example, I'll share how my experiment turned out.
I presented the idea Sheila who agreed it could be beneficial. Sick Body. Healthy Body. is our next workshop where we are going to discuss, foods to fuel your health, cleansing your conscience, eating from cause and even the marketing science behind packaging and labeling. We determined the appropriate sponsor would be related to the health food industry and Sheila had just the contact. I crafted the message on why strategically the sponsorship could benefit both parties, she presented it and the rest is history.
Thanks to The Green Gourmet Chicago our Sick Body. Healthy Body. workshop can benefit more people. Those who come will receive a special surprise donated by our sponsor! Visit www.lifeelemental.com to learn more or register for this workshop. Contact Jill.Plourde@viracreative for help reaching out to potential sponsors for your business.