3 Ways to Attract Sponsors and Exhibitors for Your Next Event
It’s hard to host a successful event without sponsors and exhibitors.
Unless you’ve got plenty of funding, you’ll need sponsors’ support to bring your event to life. The right exhibitors can boost your event’s name recognition, and help you grow your audience.
Here are three methods to draw in more of the right sponsors and exhibitors, and encourage them to invest in your event.
Use Lead Capture Technology to Give Them What They Want
Exhibitors and sponsors both want the same thing out of your event:
Leads.
They want to know that when your event is over, they’ll walk away with a list of potential customers they can easily contact.
Making it easy to attract leads at your event is crucial to attracting the right sponsors and exhibitors.
Fortunately, technology can be a huge help here. You can make your event stand out to potential sponsors and exhibitors by doing away with the archaic forms of lead capture, like business cards or sign-up forms, and replacing them with something new and streamlined.
EventMobi’s lead capture technology simplifies the lead retrieval process at any event. Here are the benefits you can present when reaching out to sponsors and exhibitors:
QR Codes Make it Easy
Using EventMobi’s badge printing and design software, you can place a unique QR code on every attendee badge.
During the event, sponsors and exhibitors can scan these QR codes in a matter of seconds, using any mobile device—including tablets.
Once scanned, the attendee’s information is automatically uploaded and stored in the lead capture portal. No more shuffling through mountains of business cards or manually entering information into a CRM.
Qualify Leads on the Spot or After the Event
Giving your exhibitors and sponsors an enormous list of leads is attractive enough on its own. But you can add an extra layer of value by equipping them with ways to qualify and sort through all those leads quickly and efficiently.
Qualifying leads can be done on the spot—exhibitors and sponsors can type in any details and reminders they need when meeting a lead, and this data will be uploaded to the lead capture portal along with everything captured by QR code.
On the other end of the event, anyone who has access to the lead portal can also help qualify leads by adding custom questions to the form, then filtering leads before exporting them to upload into their system.
These kinds of benefits are hard for sponsors and exhibitors to resist, so if you’re using lead capture technology, put it front and center within your outreach.
Interested in learning how lead capture will help your exhibitors scale up their event ROI?Book a demo with one of our event tech experts today!
Offer Multiple Pricing Packages to Attract More Sponsors
The way you package and price your sponsorship offers can make an enormous difference in how successful you are at drawing the right businesses.
Your pricing structure needs to be clear and benefits-focused, and provide multiple options to choose from. This will give you a much better chance at attracting sponsors who want different things (and have different budgets).
There are two models for designing an event sponsorship package.
Tiered Package Pricing: When you offer several different packages, each with more options and a higher price tag. (Example: A bronze, silver, and gold package).
A La Carte Pricing: When you offer an array of sponsorship options with different price tags, and allow sponsors to build their own packages.
Both are effective—the best option depends on your event and your ideal sponsors. You can try out both models by downloading these free templates:
Showcase your organization and planning
If you’re courting sponsors who have attended events before, they’ll be on the lookout for any sign of disorganization. They’ve likely been burned in the past, attending an event that was poorly planned, chaotic, or underattended.
You can increase the number of sponsors and exhibitors you attract by making it clear that you are prepared to throw an incredible event:
- Give exhibitors and sponsors an advance copy of your show plan
- Share promotional materials with sponsors
- Frequently share accurate ticket sale numbers
- Use testimonials from previous sponsors and exhibitors from your event
- Be on hand to answer any questions quickly and thoroughly
This kind of dedication will show exhibitors and sponsors that you’re trustworthy, and that their investment in your event won’t go to waste.
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