Unlock the Power of Your Sponsorships
Setting Expectations
Jim Richards
CEO & Founder of The Market Share Group
We love sponsorships! They work to increase brand awareness and association with lifestyles, events and organizations.
That said, it’s easy for sponsorships to under-deliver against expectations. Why? The problems could lie in your expectations themselves. Not in the expectations for results. Those should stay high. We’re more concerned about what you expect the property to do for you.
Are you expecting them to do too much? Did that expectation come from a bad assumption, or did they overcommit? To keep your sponsorships on track, take time to lay out and agree on your expectations. No assumptions or guessing allowed.
Consider the following:
- Sponsorship: A cash or in-kind fee paid by a sponsor[1] to a property or entity in return for access to the leverageable marketing resources associated with that property/entity.[2] When it comes to your sponsorship, properties provide access to fans and leverageable marketing assets. That’s it. Expect them to have ideas and cooperate when you make requests. Do not expect them to have all the answers.
- Leveraging your access and marketing assets is what matters. This is your responsibility. Own it. You are the one who knows how to sell your product. The property can’t do this for you.
- Find a good agency partner to expand your capacity. You have limited time. Learning the sponsorship landscape can be complex. A partner with industry knowledge and relationships is a great investment. Just make sure they are working exclusively for you.
Sponsorships are relationships that should work for years. Setting expectations early in the relationship will help you achieve your ROI goals. The best time to have this discussion is at the beginning of the relationship. The second-best time is today.
[1] American Marketing Association, AMA Dictionary.
[2] The Universal Marketing Dictionary; Common Language in Marketing Project Team, 2018