How can you incorporate branding and sponsorship into your live event without being intrusive?

1 Understand your audience

Before you approach any potential sponsors or design any branding materials, you need to understand who your audience is, what they value, and what they expect from your event. Research your target market, create personas, and survey your attendees to find out their preferences, needs, and pain points. This will help you identify the best fit for your sponsors and the most effective ways to communicate your brand identity and message.

2 Choose relevant and aligned sponsors

One of the most important factors to consider when incorporating sponsorship into your live event is relevance. You want to choose sponsors who offer products or services that are related to your event's theme, industry, or niche, and who share your vision, values, and goals. This will ensure that your sponsorship is perceived as valuable, credible, and authentic by your audience, and that it enhances rather than detracts from your event's content and experience.

3 Create a sponsorship package

Once you have selected your sponsors, you need to create a sponsorship package that outlines the benefits and opportunities that you can offer them in exchange for their support. A sponsorship package should include different levels of exposure, recognition, and engagement, depending on the sponsor's budget and objectives. For example, you can offer logo placement, banner ads, social media mentions, product samples, speaking slots, or exclusive access to your attendees. Make sure that your sponsorship package is clear, concise, and customized to each sponsor's needs and expectations.

4 Integrate branding and sponsorship strategically

The key to incorporating branding and sponsorship into your live event without being intrusive is to integrate them strategically throughout your event's lifecycle. This means that you should plan ahead and decide how, when, and where you will showcase your sponsors and your brand, and how you will measure their impact. For example, you can use pre-event marketing, registration, welcome emails, event app, website, and social media to create awareness and anticipation; use on-site signage, stage design, swag bags, badges, and live streaming to create visibility and recognition; and use post-event surveys, feedback, testimonials, and follow-up emails to create loyalty and retention.

5 Be creative and innovative

Finally, you can incorporate branding and sponsorship into your live event without being intrusive by being creative and innovative. You want to avoid boring or generic branding and sponsorship tactics that will make your event look like any other. Instead, you want to create unique and memorable branding and sponsorship experiences that will surprise, delight, and engage your audience. For example, you can use interactive displays, gamification, contests, quizzes, or live polls to create fun and excitement; use storytelling, video, or animation to create emotion and connection; or use VR, AR, or AI to create immersion and innovation.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?