Your event sponsors are people, too

Making the case for unlocking intrinsic value for partners and attendees alike

There is something disheartening about walking into a (sometimes tucked-away) conference expo theatre to find sponsors waiting (and hoping) for people to approach them at their booths.

Such setups scream that their money is important to the organisers, but their value is underestimated. Once the deal is signed, the sponsors become an afterthought.

Unlike pure exhibitions with high footfall, sponsor integration at conferences requires a calculated, deliberate approach.

It’s simply not good enough to ask for their logo and company profile to stick on the event website in the lead-up to the conference … only to properly engage them on-site again, wishing them good luck. Where is the aftersales care, the partner success planning?

Nor—and this is something sponsors may not want to hear—is it good enough to stick them on stage to provide exposure as part of the deal. Often, that approach feels forced, especially when the sponsors are “bolt-ons” to speaker panels. It doesn’t deliver audience value. It feels like an afterthought, window dressing.

Sponsors and audience value

Sponsors are a critical stakeholder group in event success. Data reveals a significant rise in event sponsorships as brands increasingly prioritise connecting with their target audiences through established platforms. It is a vital and growing revenue stream for the events industry.

I recently surveyed conference-goers (202 responses) about the value they assign to different event components. On a sliding scale, with “1 = not important at all” and “5 = critically important,” the outcome for sponsors/exhibitors was as follows:

1. 2.48%

2. 5.94%

3. 28.22%

4. 34.16%

5. 29.21%

In other words, 63.37% rate the value sponsors/exhibitors bring as important or critically important. In contrast, only 8.42% said it is not important.

Yet, despite the importance of its sponsors, few conferences (in my experience) make a proper effort with them once the deal is done. It’s as if it’s “job done; see you at the event.” This is wrong.

There is a straightforward point here:

Sponsors who resonate with an audience are critical stakeholders in conference success. Neglecting them means neglecting your audience, too.

Sponsors are not blameless

Many sponsors are not blameless in this dynamic. For example:

• The amount of chasing and reminding needed for a simple logo and company profile before an event often astounds me. You would think it is in their interest to do this promptly.

• I’ve seen sponsors arrive unprepared, sitting at their booths (often with eyes fixed on a screen), expecting people to come to them … and then complaining when they don’t. Conversely, I have seen how some put people off with excessive sales talk during general networking breaks, where a softer approach is required.

• Some get speaking opportunities but squander them with sales-focused presentations or talks instead of delivering thought leadership value to the audience. This has the exact opposite effect: it alienates rather than engages. Being on stage is not about you. It’s about the audience.

Sometimes, I can’t help but wonder whether meeting event budget spending targets is the primary goal for some—a tick-box exercise, hoping something sticks. Afterwards, when they must explain why an event didn’t work, it’s never because of their lacklustre approach. It’s always the event’s fault.

No. Sponsors and organisers need to make the opportunity count even before arriving at the event. You’ve invested. Make it work.

Making it personal

Thanks to managing conference production (speaker programmes) and attendee marketing, I had a front-row view of what works and what doesn’t.

For example, when you promote a speaker, you share information about them and their expertise. The business or brand they’re associated with is important but typically not at the heart of the story you tell. In other words, you make it personal.

Here is a quick look at two things we implemented on the sponsorship side.

Sponsors are often at the forefront of tech innovation and experts in integration. Especially when senior executives, founders, or product managers join an event, you can bet they have thought leadership value. Why not use this to your advantage?

PRE-EVENT:

So, as part of the pre-event marketing campaign, we began interviewing sponsors ahead of events, just as we would with speakers. The more attendees know ahead of an event who they could meet, the more productive the event itself becomes.

This was a start.

DURING-EVENT:

The next job was to tweak the exhibition model. We implemented an approach termed “huddles” (in sports, a huddle is when a team gathers closely to discuss strategy, motivate each other, or celebrate).

Instead of an “expo theatre,” we created a “meeting lounge.” Sitting around a “coffee” table “feels” different from standing at an exhibition booth. In other words, we focused on creating “peer-to-peer conversations” and value exchange.

• Instead of promoting the opportunity to meet with Brand X, we promoted the chance to meet with Person X.

• Instead of positioning it as a sales meeting, we framed it as a “consultancy” opportunity because Person X had the expertise to help you and your business.

I wouldn’t say everything was perfect, but overall, it was a positive step forward. You constantly want to look for those tangible and intangible elements to help unlock further value across events.

People, not logos:

I’m not professing that the “huddles” approach will work in every conference scenario, but I am one hundred per cent sure it’s worth a go in one form or another.

Bear in mind there are some bigger underlying forces at play here. Trust in institutions is at an all-time low. We see an explosion of individual creator media. Increasingly, people trust other people, not brands. The human-to-human connection matters.

Sponsors, like your conference speakers, are not faceless brands.

They are people, too.