(Interview with Charles Isidi)
How do you recommend companies identify the best events to sponsor in order to achieve growth for their brand?
Some events are high-profile, while others are very niche. Participation in high-profile events can enhance your personal brand and business visibility. However, it’s crucial to research the event type before committing to it.
In researching the event history, here are a few things to consider:
- Investigate the event’s history and tradition.
- Check the consistency and type of sponsors from previous events.
- Events with a long-standing tradition and consistent sponsors are usually a good bet.
In analyzing the viability of the event, the next step is to evaluate the event’s footprint, by:
- Determining the event’s reach and audience.
- Considering whether the event speaks to your segment: For a Nigerian startup, this could mean whether the event has local attendance or not.
- Analyzing the digital media reach and the prevailing audience type: A good way to do this is look at all the times the hashtag has been used. Has the feedback been pleasant? Do people love associating with the event?
Next, you need to assess the suitability of the event for your brand. The following markers would help:
- Ensure the event and the audience align with your brand and marketing goals: For example, if the audience consists of C-suite executives, they may be there to network or relax; determine if this aligns with your event goals.
- Decision Makers and Sponsorship: If your preferred audience is decision makers, identify how many decision-makers will attend. How many of them have been at these events in the past? Also check if prominent brands are sponsoring the event. This helps in deciding whether to sponsor the event or not.
Additionally, you want to assess the cost of sponsoring the event. Does the cost of sponsorship fit within your budget? If it doesn’t, find out if the sponsorship ticket sizes are negotiable or if custom sponsorship packages can be created for your brand.
Another key determinant when it comes to event sponsorships is the event team. You need to evaluate if the event team can guide you to success at the event. You want a team whose relationship with you does not end after you’ve exchanged cash. You should also ensure they offer curated experiences to guarantee a return on your investment.
At the end of the day, it all comes down to your “why”. Identify why you’re attending the event, ask as many questions as possible; ask other brands who have sponsored such events what their experience was and if they can guide your decision-making process. I think this pretty much helps.
Considering the changing landscape of events and marketing, how do you envision the role of events and event sponsorships evolving in the future for company growth?
Of course, the events landscape is changing. And if I were going to give you a future projection, I will say events will become smaller and more community-based. Future events will be made up majorly of people who care about a particular thing and care very deeply about it.
In my opinion, what we call meet-ups now will become the the big events of the future. And so there is an important opportunity for thought leaders to begin crafting micro experiences, like meet-ups and community hangouts. Brands that build communities around specific topics will thrive, and so brands will need to grow with particular audiences, as smaller, niche events will become more common, and large staged events may decline.
Practical Steps for Brands
- Identifying Thought Leaders
- Find people who care about specific topics.
- Help them create communities and micro experiences. - Engaging with Hyper-Connected Audiences
- Brands should stimulate conversations within small clusters.
- Connecting with these niche audiences will be more economically viable and effective.
Future Event Trends
Expect more ecosystem mixers for niche industries: Popular large and big-staged events will slowly fizzle out. The reason for this is because people are trying to get meaning out of every engagement that they have. And so for brands, this will provide an important advantage; you are not just trying to reach a large crowd of multiple types of people, but you are now meeting a small crowd that particularly matters to your product, and your product groups.
In my estimation, this will be so much better for brands. I mean, it’s better to find a needle among three other needles than finding a needle in a haystack. Right? So pretty much I think that’s what the future of events is going to look like.
I think it’s going to be more economically viable to sponsor events in the future because it’s actually very easy to insert your brand into these conversations. And so the smarter brands today are already stimulating those conversations, talking to these thought leaders, and building these communities on their behalf. As a brand, all you’d need to do is connect with these customers that are already in these small clusters.
In summary, the future is going to see hyper connected audiences around a particular niche or topic. Brands that care about those audiences are going to help to either financially incentivize or put together the resources that it takes for these people to meet.
Then, it will be cheaper for you as a brand to reach these audiences in their hyper connected states. That is, a state where they are willing to make a purchase decision instantly, or, they are looking to connect with a brand that thinks the way they do or that is able to solve the kind of problems that they are struggling with.
