As a meeting and event planner, your goal of any event is to keep attendees engaged, lower-costs while maintaining a high-impact, and to receive maximum visibility. This seems like a no-brainer, but it can be challenging finding ways to change up the traditional sponsor branding tactics to something that physically engages your audience.
Keeping in mind that social media has become the key player in visibility, here are our thoughts on how to create a unique and memorable event experience for both your attendees and your sponsors. Read about how to incorporate your sponsors in a virtual event.
Interactive Event Sponsorship Ideas
- The Mini Experience
- Pop Up Restaurant
- Virtual Reality Demo
- Branded Swag
- Raffle Giveaways
- Social Media Giveaways
- Interactive Photo Ops
- Branded Networking Lounges
- Hands On Workshops
- Sponsor Activations
Keep reading for a deeper dive into how to implement each of these interactive event ideas, engaging both your sponsors and attendees at your upcoming events.
The Mini-Experience
With the high and often rising cost of conferences and meetings, your attendees will be looking to engage in a series of experiences rather than just sitting through the standard general session (GS) and breakouts. One impactful way you can achieve this is by curating a themed space for your audience by playing up the uniqueness and flavor of the city where your event is being held.
For instance, if your conference is taking place in Florida, you could either take your breakout session somewhere outside to really give your attendees an authentic Florida experience or you could turn one of the venue's rooms into a sponsored indoor beach party. To do this, simply set up light weight hammocks, beach furniture, and tiki power “bars” and your attendees will start to feel the Flordia ambiance.
Pop Up Restaurant
Incorporating a pop-up restaurant or food-and-drink station at your event is an excellent way to enhance the attendee experience. High-quality offerings will leave a positive impression, but be sure to accommodate those with dietary restrictions by providing a variety of options. Branding can be displayed on cups, napkins, and decor, keeping the sponsor at the forefront of attendees' minds as they socialize and enjoy delicious bites.
Virtual Reality Demo
Sponsors can create an immersive demonstration of their products and services by utilizing a virtual reality station. Offering various VR engagement options, such as entertainment or promotional content, ensures that attendees have unique and memorable experiences. While VR can be somewhat expensive, it will leave attendees intrigued by the innovative nature of the sponsored brand and its offerings.
Branded Swag
The most obvious way to make your sponsor known is having branded swag - and lots of it. Right as your event attendees walk in, make sure that they have the opportunity to choose their own branded swag, ranging from shirts to coffee mugs. Encourage people to use their new swag at the event and set up stations throughout the venue where attendees can pick out a new swag item. Handing guests a branded bag right at the entrance will encourage them to want to find all the free things that they can.
Raffle Giveaways
Upon check-in, provide attendees with a raffle ticket for a drawing to be held at the end of the event. Informing them about the raffle's timing encourages them to stay until the event concludes and to engage with various stations. Ensure the giveaway prize is something exciting and useful long after the event, leaving a lasting and memorable impact.
Social Media Giveaways
After attendees have received their swag, encourage them to enter the giveaway by following three simple steps of your choice, such as following the brand or posting photos with the event swag. To increase the incentive, offer first, second, and third place prizes for those who engage the most with the brand on social media. The more people interact on various platforms, the more the algorithm will favor the sponsor, boosting recognition and visibility.
Interactive Photo Ops
Whether a custom structure featuring floating logos or a series of actors disguised within a hedge wall, an interactive photo op is one of the most prominent and long-lasting opportunities for sponsor visibility. Long after an event has passed, people will often look back at their pictures to stir up their memories and remember the event. With sponsor logos in the background of each picture, it will be hard for event attendees to look back on the past event without remembering the sponsor as well.
Branded Networking Lounges
A popular sponsored item is the network lounge. Encourage attendees to sit and talk with one another at tables covered in sponsor logo decals, snap photos with custom branded throw pillows, or just take a moment to relax and debrief between activities. Your lounge area can be as elegant or casual as you see fit. Offer guests custom glasses or coasters to take home with them after the event has ended. These keepsakes will help event attendees remember the name of the sponsor after the event has ended.
Hands On Workshops
Creating a station where attendees can interact with the product or service allows sponsors to answer questions and build customer relationships. This setup also enables sponsors to highlight unique aspects of their products that attendees might not discover on their own. Familiarizing attendees with the product through demonstrations and guidance increases the likelihood of future purchases.
Sponsor Activations
A brand can sponsor any event - but why this event in particular? Set up an engaging activation where event attendees can meet with a representative of the sponsoring brand while trying out a new experience. Here, the rep can share why they chose to sponsor the event and what they enjoy about the organization that is hosting the event. This gives attendees more of an idea of what kind of opinion other brands have on the event organization, and what sort of values the sponsoring brand has.
Whether platinum, gold, or silver, there are many other interesting and interactive engagement opportunities you can offer your sponsors. Just remember knowing your sponsor’s demographic is just as important as knowing your own.
Want to read more about how you can reinvigorate your existing sponsor partnerships and entice prospective sponsors? Uncover four more ways to make a big impact on sponsors and attendees.
Why is Sponsorship Engagement Important?
Sponsorship engagement is important because it grows the relationship between your organization and your sponsor's organization. When clients see this relationship, they recognize that these two organizations have similar interests and may begin to associate one company with the other. Additionally, products and messages can be integrated fluidly, allowing each business to grow with the added knowledge that the other business brings.
Furthermore, sponsorship engagement can help ease the financial burden of events for your organization, while providing the sponsoring company with more visibility. It is important to develop strong relationships with sponsors to engage in a mutually beneficial relationship.
Benefits of Sponsorship
Sponsorships are a mutually beneficial relationship. Sponsors are able to showcase their brand, newest products, and capabilities to audiences that may not typically be within reach. On the other hand, having the support of sponsors can help organizations pull off events and create better engagement opportunities for meeting attendees.
Sponsorships can also enhance the theme of your event through customized graphics, digital experiences, food and beverages, and sessions. Even though these items may be sponsored by a different organization, they can still play in nicely with the theme of the day's events and enhance the attendee experience.
Let's Elevate Your Events for Sponsors & Attendees
Are you interested in hearing more impactful tips and info about how we can help you plan your next event? For a deeper dive into how the LAI Live team can help you to design competitive and compelling interactive event sponsorship packages for your 2019 shows, contact our team today!
To get in touch with a member of the LAI Live team right now, you can also call us at 202-783-0300, email us at Contact@LAIevents.com, start a live chat, or fill out the form below.