Sponsors could be your secret sauce to take your events to the next level.

With the right sponsors, you can tap into your sponsorship partner’s network to reach more potential customers and attendees.

Sponsorship has a good return on investment for your event’s sponsors, too, as it can help them reach their ideal audience of target customers. And the market is huge: Event sponsorship spending is estimated to reach $62.8 billion annually. 

With these tips, you can get a piece of the pie and boost your event’s reach to a broader audience. 

At Eventbrite, thousands of creators have found success running events of all shapes and sizes. This guide draws on industry best practices and real-world examples to show how to maximize marketing and sponsorship efforts at your next event. 

Let’s get started! 

How to maximize your marketing and sponsorship benefits 

1. Highlight sponsors in marketing materials

2. Cross-promote on social media

3. Feature your sponsor at the event

4. Pair the sponsorship with a big name in the industry

5. Target sponsors early in the event planning process

6. Ask your sponsors what they need

Event sponsorship 101: What it is, why it works, and how to get started 

Event sponsorship is a form of marketing. Essentially, a company or organization sponsors your event and provides funds in exchange for something of value. In most cases, this means cash sponsors, where the sponsor gives you money in exchange for advertising their brand at your event.

Many event creators use different sponsorship levels to attract sponsors at various price points. For instance, you might have a silver sponsorship level at $2,000 and a gold tier at $5,000, each with unique benefits. 

This gives you, the event organizer, a better budget for your event. For the sponsor, the benefits come from advertising to potential customers, publicity, and brand awareness, so it should feel like a win-win.

There are plenty of examples of sponsorship marketing from Eventbrite creators, but here’s an excellent one that highlights the benefits of sponsorship.

For Halloween 2023, The One Group hosted a MONSTER’S BALL Halloween Party in Philadelphia. The event organizers secured sponsorship from Bacardi and Patron, two popular spirits brands. 

The event’s sponsors paid for a one-hour open bar for all event attendees, which helped the event organizer sell more tickets. And the sponsors benefited from displaying their branding (and selling their premium drinks) to a crowd of party-goers. 

List of the styles of event sponsorship

Types of event sponsorships

Not all sponsorships provide money, but that is a common option. Here are the different types of sponsorship you might explore in your event sponsorship strategy.

  • Financial sponsorship: Money to fund the event in exchange for advertising their product/service on the event day 
  • In-kind sponsorship: Contributions in the form of goods or services (like a food sponsor providing free catering for the event
  • Media sponsorship: Advertising your event through media (TV, radio, social, etc.)
  • Promotional sponsorship: Free promotional opportunities to advertise your event to their community (like working with a blogger or social media influencer marketing)
  • Merch sponsorship: A company partners with an event creator to sell merch, often with co-branding (like a sports sponsorship deal where a company puts its logo on a sports team’s uniforms)

Seeking out sponsors should be a priority on your event planning checklist. That way, you can better understand your budget before making other key decisions like a venue selection. 

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People listening to poetry reading

How to land sponsors for your next event 

If your event needs sponsorship to help with funding or brand awareness, here are some helpful tips to help you secure event sponsors.

  • Find potential sponsors that are aligned with your event type and your target audience
  • Use LinkedIn to search for the right people to contact (look for people in marketing roles at your target company)
  • Learn how to write a good sponsorship letter with a professional tone
  • Highlight the key benefits of sponsoring your event, with details like your target audience and how many attendees you expect
  • Compile a sponsorship pitch deck to advertise your offerings
  • Consider using multiple sponsorship packages at different price points

Don’t forget to use the connections in your existing network to find potential sponsors, too! Valuable sponsorship resources might include other event creators or vendors you’ve worked with.

Ways to maximize marketing and sponsorship

How to maximize marketing and sponsorship benefits 

Marketing and sponsorship go hand in hand. With an effective plan, you can maximize the mutual benefits for your event business, sponsor, and attendees! 

Here’s how. 

1. Highlight sponsors in marketing materials

Your sponsors can benefit from recognition in all your digital and printed marketing materials. When exploring event promotion ideas, consider how you can showcase your sponsors.

You can also incorporate sponsor logos into your event listing on Eventbrite. Using a free and easy web editor, you can design a custom event banner featuring engaging designs, your sponsors’ logos, and event details. 

For inspiration, check out the event banner at the WICxIcons Dinner Seattle event. The event’s host, Women in Cloud, included the presenting sponsor (Boeing) in the primary event banner. 

💡Pro Tip: Use high-resolution logos and follow the sponsor’s branding guidelines. When you land a sponsor, ask them for their media kit. This will include their logo in a vector format, plus guidelines on placement, color, etc. 

2. Cross-promote on social media 

Social media platforms drive nearly 25% of views to event ticketing pages, so social is crucial for reaching a larger audience. To maximize the marketing benefits and expand your customer base, ensure you’re engaging in cross-promotion with your sponsors. This can occur before, during, and after your event. 

Take some time to create strategic partnerships with your sponsors and craft a mutually beneficial social media campaign. Ensure your posts are shared on both your and your sponsor’s pages to reach a wider audience. And don’t forget to choose a hashtag for the event so your attendees can join in, too! 

💡Pro Tip: Consider running a paid social media campaign for your event with the help of your official sponsor. For instance, you might agree to split advertising costs 50/50 with the sponsoring company while running marketing efforts from their account. If not, you could host a contest or give away a pair of tickets to your event. 

The Eventbrite event marketing platform has tools to reach a wider audience quickly and easily via social ads, Eventbrite ads, and email marketing campaigns.

Attendees at pride festival
Christel Robleto / LA Pride 2019 / Los Angeles, CA

3. Feature your sponsor at the event 

One of the benefits of sponsorship marketing is that the sponsor’s branding, products, and promotional items can be featured at your event.

Take inspiration from Drinks & Dice, Sponsored by Fever Tree from craft cocktail bar Bosco. The games night event featured craft mocktails utilizing delicious mixers from the sponsor, Fever Tree. It was also a title sponsorship, where the sponsor’s branding was featured in the actual title on the event listing. 

Another option is to offer goodie bags or sponsor swag for attendees to take home. If your sponsors have samples of products to give away, collect them in a gift bag to hand out to guests. 

Set up a booth for in-person events where eventgoers can score branded items from your sponsors. 

For virtual event sponsors, you might ask your sponsors for discount codes or free digital products that would be attractive to your target audience. 

💡Pro Tip: Don’t forget about the possibility of in-kind sponsorship, where a sponsor contributes free goods or services to your event. You can also combine this with financial sponsorship. For example, a beverage company may sponsor your event financially and supply drinks for your event for free. 

Crowd of people at a concert
Sidney Myer Music Bowl & Kings Domain / Ultra Australia 2023 / Melbourne, Australia

4. Pair the sponsorship with a big name in the industry 

Consider how you can seamlessly meld sponsorships with featured speakers or performers. For example, a digital marketing conference might be sponsored by a SaaS app, and many attendees would love to hear from that company’s CEO or CMO! 

If you bring your sponsors in during the planning stage, they may even be able to help you score a high-quality event speaker. They likely already have some connections with industry experts or influencers who can add value to your event and promote the brand simultaneously.

💡Pro Tip: Reach out to your sponsors to see if they have any connections that might be a good fit for your event. The sponsoring company may even have a potential speaker or industry leader among its ranks. 

5. Target sponsors early in the event planning process 

Event planning is a long process! You can expedite things by using event planning templates and tools. While you’re at it, set up a sponsorship plan to secure promotional partners and sponsors as early as possible. Ideally, you want sponsors lined up six months before your event. 

Targeting sponsors early has a ton of benefits:

  • Sponsors may have connections to secure better deals, talent, or venues
  • In-kind sponsorships can cut costs for venues, caterers, etc. 
  • There’s more opportunity for cross-promotion to a broader audience with marketing and sponsorship efforts
  • You can sync up with the company’s marketing team well ahead of time

Most importantly, you’ll have a better idea of what your event budget will look like. Start with an event budget template, customize it for your event, and add any sponsor revenue to your top line. 

💡Pro Tip: The sponsorship revenue you secure could influence your ticket pricing strategy and even the type of tickets you offer. If your sponsors are willing to cover more of the event costs, you can potentially sell cheaper tickets to attract more people. This can benefit everyone: You get more revenue, the sponsor gets more exposure, and attendees enjoy lower prices. 

Event attendees ordering food from vendor
Stay Silent / Day Trill / Providence, RI

6. Ask your sponsors what they need 

Be proactive about helping your sponsor get the most out of their sponsorship package. Chances are, they will return the favor.

Maybe your sponsor is working on search engine optimization for their website so that it turns up on the first page. In this case, adding a link to their site from your event website and your Eventbrite listing would be helpful. 

Or perhaps a company would love to work with your event, but they have a small sponsorship marketing budget that doesn’t fit with your predefined levels of sponsorship. In this case, you could negotiate a hybrid financial and in-kind sponsorship proposal.

Remember, sponsors are your partners. When they succeed, you succeed. Keep this top-of-mind in your marketing and sponsorship program planning. 

💡Pro Tip: Once a potential sponsor has shown interest, make it clear that you have some flexibility in the benefits offered in your sponsorship opportunities. You can also offer an à la carte menu of sponsor perks that can be added to an existing level of sponsorship. 

Marketing and sponsorship: The key to a successful event

Sponsorship is an opportunity to grow your business while benefiting your sponsors. To maximize the results, treat each sponsorship deal like a partnership. Entering a successful collaboration with a sponsor could be the key ingredient in elevating your next event. 

These sponsorship ideas can help you improve your marketing and sponsorship outcomes. But sponsors are just one component of running successful events. 

For long-term success, ensure you have the right tools in your toolbox. Eventbrite is the leading events platform that helps organizers create, promote, and plan successful live events all over the world.