The Complete Guide to Virtual Event Sponsorships

The Complete Guide to Virtual Event Sponsorships

Virtual event sponsorship can be a great way to engage your clients and customers while also making your virtual event stand out.

Generating revenue from virtual events may not be as difficult as it may seem. Securing sponsorships and finding various ways to monetise your event is a solid step towards making your event profitable. In fact, having your virtual event fully sponsored is the ideal scenario you should aim for.

If you are new to the idea of virtual event sponsorships and would like to learn more about the topic, you have come to the right page. In this article, we will share with you everything you would need to know about virtual event sponsorships, along with some of the best ideas you can implement in your event strategy right away. But before we dive in, let’s understand what virtual event sponsorships are and learn about some common types of sponsorship offerings.

What are virtual event sponsorships?

Virtual event sponsorship is the financial support provided by a business or organisation to fund your virtual event in exchange for something that’s valuable for their business. Some common value propositions are focused on customer engagement, brand exposure and access to the event data. By providing your organisation with virtual event sponsorship, your partner companies will ensure they make a positive return on their investment, while also improving the likelihood of your event success. This makes going for virtual event sponsorship a win-win situation for both the parties involved and also for the attendees as they get to have a better event experience.

How to pursue virtual event sponsorships

Find suitable event sponsors from your industry

Depending on what your audience might find useful, it’s best to handpick the potential sponsors for your virtual event. Your best bet would be to check out the sponsors of other events in your industry and see if they are a good fit for your event as well.

Align with the goals and objectives of your potential sponsors

It’s ideal to create sponsorship packages that meet the goals of your sponsors as well as yours. Keep in mind that return on investment is what most businesses are hoping for when they sponsor your event and metrics like brand awareness and audience engagement are highly crucial for achieving such goals.

Select suitable sponsorship offerings

Not every type of sponsorship offering can be considered suitable for your virtual event. You will also need to check with your sponsors on which options they find most suitable and then implement them. Some common sponsorship offerings for virtual events include:

  • Login screen
  • Virtual trade show booths
  • Event website
  • Banner ads
  • Splash pages
  • Surveys, interactive polling, and questionnaires
  • Sponsored posts
  • Push notifications
  • Email marketing opportunities
  • Check-in branding
  • Branded virtual environments
  • Sponsored entertainment and sessions
  • Sponsored gifts

Demonstrate the value of the deal you are offering

Data holds a lot of value for sponsors who are looking for generating leads at a lower cost and want to collect data for business intelligence. This is why using a virtual event platform that offers data analytics can be a big advantage, if you are looking for ways to demonstrate the value and impact of your virtual event on their business.

Virtual event sponsorship ideas

The sponsorship ideas for virtual events differ only slightly from that of in-person events. With the help of advanced virtual event platforms, what was already being done in the case of in-person events can be implemented for virtual events. Here are some simple yet effective ideas that you can implement in your next virtual event.

Set up virtual environments to promote your sponsors

Did you know you could set up trade show booths and offer sponsor signage and drop-in appointments virtually as well? There are virtual event platforms that allow you to set up virtual environments and customise them for your event sponsors, depending on their sponsorship levels.

Organise sponsored sessions

You could work with your sponsors to organise themed networking sessions, breakout rooms, live demos and workshops, speaking sessions or any other branded activity that your audience would find useful. This will allow your sponsors an opportunity to establish their place as market leaders in front of your audience.

Promote their business via email marketing

Email marketing can provide your sponsors with direct access to your pool of attendees. You can send out an email to your entire audience or a specific segment to share a message about your sponsors along with a link provided by their marketing team. This will not only help improve their brand awareness but also send qualified leads to their chosen website.

Find ways to include sponsored entertainment in your event

Providing sponsored breaks for entertainment can be a very effective way of endorsing your sponsors. It could include live music performance or any other form of entertainment suitable for your audience. It’s a great way to turn up the energy of your audience, while also providing a perfect marketing opportunity to your sponsors.

Organise a giveaway of sponsored gifts

Everyone likes gifts. Just like in-person events you can distribute branded physical gifts or prizes which are provided by your sponsors. It will make your event memorable for your attendees and offer lasting brand exposure to your sponsors as well.

Engage your audience using gamification

Today, many virtual event platforms provide gamification features. To increase your audience engagement, you could implement gamification in the form of polls, quizzes, contests or challenges that test the knowledge of your attendees on specific topics. You could also run icebreakers that connect your speakers, sponsors and attendees together. Those who achieve the highest score in the competition and top the leaderboard rankings can be given sponsor donated prizes for their participation.

Final thoughts

We have shared just a few of the best ideas and tips in this article and the ways you integrate virtual event sponsorships into your virtual and hybrid events are limited only by your creativity. There are countless opportunities for you to create personalised and curated content for your sponsors, while also keeping the costs and barriers to the bare minimum. Make sure you educate your potential sponsors about all the possibilities and the true potential of virtual events, when it comes to generating audience engagement.

Looking for help with an event?

.
.
.
.
.
Contact the Purple Patch Team Contact the Purple Patch Team

Call us now on +44 (0)20 3859 8666

Email using meaningful@purplepatchgroup.co.uk

Or send us your details:

    For more details please see our Privacy Policy. This site uses ReCaptcha so the Google Privacy Policy & Terms of Use apply
    Thank you! Your submission has been received!
    Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.