Selling Trade Show Sponsorships in a Down Economy

Put yourself in your prospective sponsor’s shoes. What would motivate you to attend an event at a trade show? You would very likely ask these questions of the event organizer:

Who has attended this reception, seminar, luncheon, etc., in the past?

How cost-effective is event sponsorship when compared to other marketing opportunities?

And here is a question you would ask yourself:

With the economy this bad, why should I incur this expense? Maybe next year…

Answers? Consider these:

1) You have to be able to provide the data that will support your contention that the “right people” will attend the sponsored event. Quantity does not equate “right people”. Telling a prospective sponsor that 3,000 people attended the previous year’s sponsored event is not likely to cut it, not in this economy. You have to provide hard data: names, job titles, affiliations, buying authority, etc.

2) Sponsorship - if the “right people” attended the event- is a very powerful marketing tool. It provides name recognition and it provides access. A company’s sales efforts are enhanced if it has positive name recognition. Access to decision makers is a powerful competitive advantage.

3) Right now my competitors are hunkering down. My current marketing efforts will have a more powerful impact in the absence of any marketing push by my competitors. Now is the time to seize the day.

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