Event sponsors are critical to helping you fund and improve the attendee experience. But to stand out in a sea of sponsorship ideas, you need to think beyond brand awareness and create worthwhile opportunities that help sponsors achieve their goals.
Before you get to work putting your sponsorship ideas in motion, keep in mind three important factors. First, consider why people attend your event and the problems they’re experiencing. Second, assess your sponsor’s needs and how your event can meet them. And third, create the brand activations that will bring it all together.
Ready to take your sponsorship to the next level? Here are 25 sponsorship ideas for your next event.
Table of contents
Getting people connected
1. Social mixers
Networking is one of the top reasons attendees go to conferences and other B2B events, but you might not have the bandwidth to organise after-hours parties. A sponsor can create exciting, off-site networking opportunities, which in turn give the sponsor the face-to-face interactions they’re seeking.
2. Social photo booths
Similar to an old-fashioned photo booth, social photo booths allow attendees to take selfies, but they also allow users to create looping videos and GIFs and post them directly online. When photos are paired with your event hashtag, it can be some of the most potent social content your attendees can share at your event. Make it even easier with a sponsored social photo booth.
3. Activity-based prizes
Looking for an experiential and memorable way to get your sponsors in front of your attendees? Suggest sponsors award a useful or interesting prize to your attendees (such as cupcakes or T-shirts) that they’re willing to do an activity for, such as a squat challenge or a hashtagged selfie share. To increase engagement, consider making the activity a competition or a scavenger hunt that expands across the event.
4. DIY craft area
Everyone has a crafty side, so why not engage your attendees’ creative side with a craft area? Depending on how intricate your sponsors want to get, you could have premade ceramic pieces for guests to paint, build-your-own terrarium stations, or just stick to glitter and glue. This not only gives attendees a chance to share what they’ve made on their social media channels, but it serves as a reminder long after they’ve left your event.
5. Play area
Looking to have attendees blow off some steam, but want to skip the workout? How about a play area? Giant games of Jenga, chess, board games, or even a ball pit are excellent ways to capture guests’ attention. And it’s a creative way to give your sponsor branded game pieces that will get posted and talked about.
6. Virtual or augmented reality
Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) allow sponsors to interact with attendees in ways they couldn’t otherwise. Help people experience your new product using a headset or app.
7. Props
Give attendees a photo-op setting complete with props, a character, and decorations. People love to share their experiences on social media, and props offer a fun chance to be silly and pose for the camera, showing everyone where they are and what they’re doing.
8. TikTok
The popular video platform has surged in popularity in recent years. It makes an effective host highlights your event after the fact, including any prominent branding and sponsors. During the event, host a TikTok Spot to get attendees to make their own videos for the app and exponentially multiply your event’s exposure.
Food and beverage
9. Treats
There’s a certain truth to the old adage, the way to a person’s heart is through their stomach. Set up a coffee and doughnut corner in partnership with a local bakery to provide free or discounted delectables, or try a Mexican restaurant to serve sample tacos and non-alcoholic cocktails.
10. Water station
Make sure your guests remain healthy and hydrated with a free water station. The label offers a great sponsorship opportunity for any company, with guests carrying the bottles – and branding – around with them as they wander your event. Seek out sustainable bottle possibilities to avoid environmental concerns.
Impressive merch
11. Premium swag bags
Customise a swag bag with premium merch not available to all attendees. If you really want to go for it, get sponsors involved to offer more high-end gifts, such as certificates for massages, tickets to shows, or wine.
12. Digital goodie bags
In addition to the traditional bag, you can now find companies that offer a digital one. New services allow you to set up a page with offers from sponsors before, during, and after your event. By extending the time that sponsors can connect with attendees, you’ll provide more activation opportunities. What’s more, these services provide sponsors with meaningful data to measure against their goals.
Attendee wellness
13. Wellness breaks
Taking small breaks throughout the day is important to retaining focus and avoiding burnout, but it’s not enough just to switch from one sedentary activity to another. You need to move your body to really hit the reset button. Short movement classes like gentle yoga, hula-hooping, or even Zumba can help attendees take a mental break while helping your sponsor connect with your audience.
14. Treat yourself
Similar to wellness breaks, this gives attendees the opportunity to feel pampered, and ultimately, leave with a great impression of your sponsors. Offering 5- to 10-minute mini massages is a good way to engage guests with your sponsor’s brand. Even if your sponsors don’t provide these types of services, you can hire trained staff for the day, and have them wear sponsor-branded clothing.
15. Cool down zone
Ideal for conferences and conventions, where a break from roaming from room to room and presentation to presentation can be especially welcome, cool-down zones can be set up with a couple of sofas, coffee tables, or stools. Add refreshments and a video monitor or TV screen to help draw eyes and bellies. And with guests lingering a while, it’s a prime opportunity for sponsorship branding.
16. Give back
Use the spotlight of your event to draw attention to charities or causes your sponsors to work with. You can host a sponsored charity drive – for example, attendees can opt to “sponsor” animals or land for wildlife conversations. You can even combine this sponsorship idea with the craft area to really make attendees feel like they’re getting involved for a good cause.
Event logistics and promotion
17. Event apps
No matter the size of your event, an event app is a must for providing a personalised experience for your attendees. Tech-savvy attendees expect them and sponsors love to provide them because of the granular data they yield on what’s most interesting to your audience.
18. Stair or escalator wraps
Does your venue have a grand entrance? Or maybe a few escalators you hadn’t really given a second thought to? Using intriguing stairs or escalator wrap can surprise attendees and offer your sponsors a creative space to do something.
19. Wi-Fi
For most events, Wi-Fi access is a must. Especially if you want to encourage people to engage with your event on social media or livestream speeches and panels. Sponsors can display their logo in the event brochure, on the event app, or signage around the event. The Wi-Fi network splash page is another great opportunity not only for branding but also to link to the sponsor’s website.
20. Social media displays
A social media display highlights posts and photos that are tagged with your event’s hashtag on social networks like Instagram and Twitter. By offering a social media display as a sponsorship package, sponsors can control the flow of posts and add their brand’s callouts to a regular circuit.
21. Livestreaming
Did you know that 30% of people who watch a livestream will attend that same event the following year? Live video can extend your reach and have a real impact on your bottom line. Offering a livestream as a sponsorship package can provide brands with the opportunity to engage with audiences beyond attendees.
22. Privacy pods
These fully enclosed booths offer a quiet place to make a phone call or have a meeting. They come in various sizes from one person (such as a phone booth) to larger versions that seat four. They are usually made of mostly glass and can be wrapped with a brand or a sponsor’s logo. Many come with power and Wi-Fi.
23. QR-coded bracelets
While RFID-based bracelets are well-established for enabling contactless access and payments, QR-coded bracelets can be more cost-effective without surrendering functionality. In fact, QR codes offer high-speed scanning to make entry more efficient and greater data capacity for increased usability. And because it can’t be copied, they also provide better data security.
24. Cell phone charging station
A charging station creates a great sponsorship platform with generous opportunities for customer engagement and activation – and it’s sure to bring a smile to the face of anyone nervously watching their phone’s battery life dwindle. After all, users will remain in place for several minutes as they charge their phones, making a branding sponsorship a natural fit.
25. Event landing page
Live streaming your event? Make sure to include a landing page as a central meeting place, which conveniently makes a perfect place to partner with a sponsor. A landing page is especially effective for virtual events, where online traffic can be higher, but also helps direct visitors of live streams to be directed toward shopping and discount opportunities, chat rooms, and other features.
Your guide to sponsorship
Attracting and negotiating sponsorships can be a challenge for even the most experienced event creators. So we put together a guide to cover the benefits, ideas, strategies, templates, and anything else you need to find sponsors for your events.
