Event sponsorships offer a unique opportunity to connect with our target audience, boost brand visibility, and create unforgettable experiences that resonate long after the event wraps. However, maximizing the return on investment from these sponsorships requires more than just showing up with bottles in hand. It demands a strategic approach that aligns with our brand’s values and goals, reaches our target audience effectively, and provides tangible value to the event attendees and our brand.
Drawing on our experience and industry insights, this blog post will explore six practical strategies to help your brand turn event sponsorships into a goldmine of opportunities and generate a significant return on investment.
Pick The Right Event
While this might seem like an obvious suggestion, there’s a bit more than meets the eye. First things first, before you sign on the dotted line, you always want to consider the event’s target audience and tailor your messaging accordingly. This will help you create a more effective event sponsorship that resonates with the right people.
Event sponsorships often come at a hefty price tag. To get the most from your opportunities, savvy brands should take advantage of cross-promotional opportunities with other brands or organizations at the event to maximize exposure for both parties involved while also increasing ROI for each one of them individually. An example of this might be a whiskey brand that partners with a popular BBQ food truck at an event for a special cocktail-food pairing. Both brands feature each other at their booth and benefit from the synergy.
Stand Out From The Crowd
Use evocative visuals such as logos, videos, or photos to ensure your message is seen by attendees even if they don’t stop by your booth or participate in any activities you may be offering at the event.
If you’re going to go the swag giveaway route, it’s a great idea to lean into something that will be useful for attendees. For example, a branded bandana face mask will surely be a hit at summer music festivals like Coachella or Bonnaroo, where dust can be a significant environmental factor.
Whatever you do, make sure you strive to generate distinctive content that distinguishes itself from other brands, all while remaining aligned with your brand’s mission and values.
Liquid to Lips
According to a recent US On Premise Impact Report by CGA Strategy, 34% of music festival goers tried a new drink brand at an outdoor music festival/concert and continued to drink it. People attend events like these with an open mind, ready to discover their next go-to beverage. If you can get liquid to lips at your event, it’s certainly worth the effort.
But, as crucial as getting your product into the hands of new consumers, it’s only half the battle. Ensure everyone interacting with your brand leaves your booth with a taste of your product and a healthy shot of your brand story.
At the end of every sampling event, be sure to report on the effectiveness of the event. How much product was given away? How many people who sampled ended up purchasing the product? How did this event compare to previous events? Did you see any sales lift from the effort?
Experiential Marketing
Maximize the potential of experiential marketing opportunities at the event by curating interactive experiences that captivate attendees and leave a lasting, impactful impression.
If you’ve got the technical savvy or budget, your brand can utilize technology such as augmented reality or virtual reality to create an immersive experience that will help draw attention to your brand and keep customers engaged.
Experiential marketing doesn’t have to break the bank, though. Simple games or giveaways can work well. There are some best practices to remember if you go this route:
- Immerse attendees into your brand story and culture
- Make your audience feel something (excitement, competition, fun)
- Include a social sharing element, a custom hashtag to share photos from the event
Data Collection
One of the most critical aspects of an impactful event sponsorship for your brand is making sure you leave the event with lots of first-party data. Whether you’re giving away samples, swag, or entry into an enter-to-win (ETW) contest, one of the best ways to manage the process is through a QR code.
Require an email or SMS opt-in to participate, and ask everyone to scan the QR code you print on your POP materials within clear view of anyone you’re interacting with.
Here are some tips for data collection:
- If you plan to use the person’s name in a retargeting email or SMS message after the event, be sure to ask for First Name in a separate input field than Last Name
- Whenever you ask for a mobile SMS opt-in, you must include legal opt-in language
- Geographic Data (like ZIP code or state) is crucial to have for all new opt-ins to deliver highly relevant messaging, especially for retail campaigns
- Set up an email or SMS journey or flow that sends an automated thank you message and triggers a drip marketing sequence after opting-in to capitalize on the consumer’s excitement for your brand in the moment
The Party Never Stops
Leverage the power of data analytics to track customer behavior before, during, and after the event to ensure an optimal ROI. Companies like Heineken run extensive social media campaigns around their Coachella sponsorships, exciting consumers about the upcoming event before it kicks off and reminding them of how amazing the experience was after the festival concludes.
The typical method of reaching out to customers after interacting with them at an event would be to remarket to those who opted-in through SMS or email. But, there are some other quite effective tactics to reach, including:
- Geofence the event, creating an audience of people whose devices were in attendance and put out some post-event awareness ads to reinforce your messaging
- Create a custom audience from the first-party data you acquired at the event to serve paid social media ads to any recognized profiles
Remember, at the end of the day, it’s all about creating memorable experiences that speak to your audience. Optimizing your event investments means understanding what resonates with them and capitalizing on this knowledge with relevant activations.
Tap Drinkubator Today
Whether you’re just starting out with events or looking to level up your game in the spirits industry, having an experienced partner in your corner is essential. That’s why we recommend calling Drinkubator today for expert guidance on launching your spirits brand with event marketing strategies that will maximize ROI and ensure success well into the future.