Is your marketing team constantly on the hunt for ways to stretch your marketing dollars? Traditional advertising has lost its impact and marketers are turning to creative marketing solutions. This is where event sponsorship comes into play. Although the use of digital and social media has risen over the years, marketers have learned that there is no substitute for face-to-face interaction. Here are 4 reasons why event sponsorship should be part of your marketing strategy:

 

Reason 1: Effective (Inexpensive) Marketing

It’s no secret that advertising takes a large chunk of marketing budgets. Marketers spend a lot of time and money looking for their target audience. Sponsor an event that does that for you! The event organizers are responsible for marketing their event to a certain audience. Take advantage of their leg work and sponsor an event that reaches your target audience, save the money (and the headache). Spending the same or even less money to be a sponsor at an event is a wiser investment. At Magical Winter Lights 2015, 51% of the surveyed attendees had incomes of $100,000+ and 53% were between the ages of 25-44. The festival attracted a large amount of Houston area families.

Reason 2: Piggyback on Media Exposure

All events have their own marketing plan to make their event successful. In some cases this can mean large investment of marketing dollars on traditional media exposure. By sponsoring an event, you are able to use this to your advantage and piggy back on marketing dollars that are spent promoting an event. Events can provide exposure and visibility in markets that are otherwise unexplored. A credible, local event position a company for great media exposure through event sponsorship. The Magical Winter Lights marketing budget is used through multi-channel platforms including billboards, radio, TV, newspaper, and paid digital advertising. Our team even won an award for our marketing efforts!

Reason 3: Event Sponsorship Can Increase Brand Awareness

Leverage your event sponsorship to increase your brand awareness. Expose the brand outside of traditional marketing campaigns and tap into a new avenue to get in front of your customers. With event sponsorship, you could also have the opportunity to engage with the attendees through customer engagement.

Reason 4: Show off your Community Support

Finally, businesses that are heavily invested in the communities they serve are more likely to get support from the community. By sponsoring an event that is for the community, your company will send a message to attendees that your company are invested in their interests. Create goodwill through supporting the community and the local economy. A large scale event creates partnerships and support from the community at different levels. Examples include several local businesses that are willing to provide essential services and staff for MWL; local artists perform at MWL; and a few charities had a chance to attend MWL where they can spend special holiday times with families.

 

Click here to find out what opportunities are available at Magical Winter Lights this year!