I was recently asked if my company (i.e. me) would like to sponsor an association event. It’s been my experience that the economic buyers that attend events look down on the sponsors and vendors as lowlife scum to be avoided at all costs. One of the many benefits of sponsorship (ironically, I think, for us speakers) was “3 minutes at the microphone to introduce your product/service” Ha!! Good luck stopping us after 3 minutes <Grin>.

My professional opinion as a marketing expert is that for professional speakers and independent professionals, association and event sponsorships are a total waste of time and money… but I’m also eager to hear some success stories to the contrary if you have them.

Here’s my 2 cents to prime your pump…

Sponsorships are a form of awareness and brand-building marketing; they are NOT a form of direct marketing or lead generation. Thus, for large organizations who want to penetrate a target market and have a year-round marketing mix of activities which includes both brand awareness and direct marketing with lead generation, sponsorships might be effective. [One example would be a global recruiting firm and their longstanding sponsorships of Human Resources association events and celebrations.]

But solo professionals are different from large corporations – and we need to market differently, too. We have much smaller budgets for marketing. Awareness campaigns are practically useless for solo professionals. We don’t need THOUSANDS of 1-time impressions on THOUSANDS of people. We need DOZENS of impressions on a highly targeted audience – with direct outreach, personal networking, speaking, publishing, and referral-building being the best tools to develop new leads and new clients.

Sponsorship is a form of corporate/institutional marketing and that just doesn’t doesn’t work well for 1-person “institutions.” Frankly, I’d be much better off attending the event and getting to know 5-6 prospects on a more personal level, from which I could perhaps get 2-3 new clients rather than an expensive sponsorship which would very likely lead to zero new clients.

Your thoughts?

– David Newman | Tel 610.716.5984
http://www.unconsulting.com
NSA-MAC Board of Directors 2007-2009
Cigar PEG Benefactor