Keeping Your Sponsor Partnerships Vibrant With Virtual Events
Working with partners like Foxtail Catering and Axis Promotions, Kennedy Events guides you through creating opportunities that bring your sponsors into your virtual event—before, during, and after—with creative ideas like a Virtual Booth by SnapBar, live cooking classes, post-event swag, and of course metrics that keep them connected after your event.
Nearly all of our clients rely on sponsorship for their events in some capacity. Sponsor benefit packages for live events seem relatively easy; just sell space within your expo hall or provide an opportunity to host a session at a breakout stage. You can wrap your head around that because you’ve seen it done 1,000 times before. Now that you’ve decided to host a virtual event, things might seem a bit more difficult, but trust us when we say, “DO NOT PANIC!”
At Kennedy Events, we’ve always had a lot of fun imagining innovative ways to incorporate the branding of event sponsor(s) into multiple aspects of our events. It’s natural for us to apply that knowledge to the virtual realm. Here are just a few creative ways to incorporate your sponsors into your virtual event—before, during, and after!
Our friends at Foxtail Catering in San Francisco have the pre-event box down to a science. These specialty boxes are a great sponsorship opportunity, providing cocktail kits for happy hour or snack boxes for an energy boost during an all-day virtual event. The possibilities are *virtually* endless.
Before Your Event
Consider the messaging that is going out to your attendees prior to the event. This might include emails about the agenda, social media posts, or know-before-you-go messaging. Each of these communications lends an opportunity to highlight your sponsors.
Take it a step further and offer a sponsorship package to host a virtual pre-event happy hour to a targeted audience and hire a caterer to drop-ship a snack or cocktail kit custom branded with the sponsor’s logo. Kennedy Events has a trusted list of vendors to make this easy and memorable, and we can handle all the logistics for you. Remember these sponsors are missing out on face-to-face interactions at a booth so offering them ideas to get attention from the right attendees is an incentive for them to participate in clever solutions. You could provide an opportunity for a sponsor to create a pre-recorded video where they appear in the role of mixologist, as they virtually lead attendees through a how-to lesson on creating their signature cocktail using the provided kit.
The more you can make your sponsors' brand visible to attendees prior to the program the better. This will make certain that they are set up for successful engagement during the actual event.
Activities offer another great option for sponsors and will help keep attendees engaged. You might consider a virtual scavenger hunt led by a company like Watson Adventures or invite your sponsor to bring in an expert for a live meditation session.
During Your Event
Now that you have a captive audience, you’ll need to ensure you get those eyes over to your sponsors. There are a lot of ways to make this happen but one of the easiest is to offer hosted sessions; speaker panels with a moderator are a great option for sponsored sessions. You want to make sure that it’s not a product pitch. Instead, present your sponsor as an expert in their field and contributor to the panel discussion.
During a virtual event, all attendees are staring at a screen, so consider the visible design elements and incorporate your sponsors in these visual opportunities. You could add logos to a backdrop or include an animated banner listing sponsors. Kennedy Events has the tech know-how and design chops to make this look polished and professional. Commercial breaks work especially well for virtual events. Ask your sponsor if they would like to produce a fun 30-second video that you can add between sessions. Adding humor is a great way to capture attention.
By now everyone has heard of Zoom fatigue, right? Our team has myriad ideas for sponsored breaks that are activity-based like a “go-run-a-mile-today-and-show-your-pedometer-for-a-prize” challenge. Hire an expert to lead a live meditation session. How about a sponsored scavenger hunt or trivia or raffle? Who doesn’t love a prize? An activity is fun, offers a break from speakers and sessions, provides guest engagement, and incentivizes your attendees to stick around.
At Kennedy Events, we love tracking metrics, and a virtual event offers plenty of opportunities to provide stats specific to each sponsor. Your sponsors can get another chance to be in front of attendees post-event with additional branded swag and prizes shipped directly to each guest.
After Your Event
Just because the show is over doesn’t mean the sponsorship value is gone. In fact, this could be the most valuable opportunity of all: metrics! Offer to share attendee information with your sponsors post-event, from who attended which sessions to how they participated. Just be sure to be in GDPR alignment because virtual events open attendance to a potentially larger, international audience.
Remember those prizes? The fulfillment can include any sponsored branding or additional swag and provide yet another opportunity for your sponsor to get in front of your guests post-event. You could also add some promotional offers to the package.
Post-event thank you messaging to attendees could include appreciation for your sponsors as well as links to recorded content.
Sponsors will be eager to join your virtual event if their exposure is high and their ROI is substantial. Be thoughtful with your event messaging and consider incorporating charitable donations into the sponsorship levels to further engage with attendees.
EXPOSURE IS THE GOAL
One huge benefit of virtual events is that you can reach so many more people than at a live event. Be thoughtful around the messaging you are sharing and the times we are living in. Add a philanthropic element to your sponsorship packages. One thing you might consider: for each sponsorship level, you donate a percentage to the charity of their choice. Another idea would be to drive attendees to engage with sponsors through charitable donations; imagine a sponsor’s message reading “Visit our virtual booth and we will donate one meal to Feeding America.”
Remember that sponsors will be eager to join your virtual event if their exposure is high and their package is substantial. Now more than ever, you need to make sure you’re building compelling content and marketing your event to get the right attendees to their screens. The KE team is masterful at assessing your event goals and delivering solutions that will help you bring in that sponsorship revenue and foster invaluable relationships.
Are You Ready to get Started?
Kennedy Events is offering a free 30-minute consultation with a virtual event expert. Book your call today and let us get you on the right track for your virtual event.
MaRIANNE JACKSON
Marianne Jackson is a senior producer and the creative director at Kennedy Events. She specializes in making our client’s biggest design and decor dreams tangible while also ensuring that the event day menu is worthy of a Zagat mention. (Seriously, her taste and culinary connections are that good). Her fervor for adventure, cuisine, and aesthetics is visibly apparent in every event—whether in-person or virtual—she produces.
About Kennedy Events
Kennedy Events began with one goal in mind—to produce high-level corporate events with just as much strategy as style. Maggie founded the company in 2000, found her match in Paige, and in 2011 the two became official partners. Since then, these two resourceful and brilliant creatives have pooled their strengths to build one one of the most the most sought after corporate event companies in San Francisco, New York, and Los Angeles.
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