This is a very good question that I sometimes get – and a question that is largely impossible to answer. For some folks, the ROI is thousands of percent. For others it’s absolute zero. It’s kind of like making a sales call. What’s the ROI of that? It can be anything, really.
For big companies is often a basic competitive requirement to be active in all communities of significance. For smaller companies it’s different, of course. I think it’s kind of like being a member of a fitness club: You pay, but what how fit you get is up to you. I can only tee it up (and I think we do that extremely well) – it’s up to the individual sponsors to knock it down the fairway. We will do everything to help you to knock it down the fairway, too.
My general experience is that for the (relative) peanuts people pay to participate or sponsor my conferences, the returns are considerable. But it is kind of like a golf-swing (sorry for the golf metaphors here): To have a really successful conference, most of it is in the preparation! We encourage all our sponsors to work with us to build awareness & momentum.
This means lots of pre-conference activity, like content for mailings, blogs, news items on LinkedIn, reaching out (with or without us) to new prospects, in short: Making a lot of qualified noise. An event like Wi-Fi NOW is an excellent opportunity to do this because you have fresh reason to contact people about the issues. The reason should be “come & join us for information sharing, meet your peers, etc.” and not “come join us, I have something I want to sell you.” You will get to that a bit later. The event itself is just the culmination of the campaign.
Here’s another small ‘trick’ (and people don’t realize how much of this they get at properly managed conferences): You can get a huge credibility boost. If you & your company i seen hobnobbing with big carriers, being mentioned in the same paragraph (whatever the context may be) as bigger companies, etc. – you will get a credibility boost by association. So much presence is built in this way – it goes for anyone, really.
Imagine this: If I could get a picture of myself shaking the hand of Tim Cook or Elon Musk or Barack Obama – you think their importance, following, credibility would rub off on me? In fact, it automatically does – this is how people will perceive it quite unconsciously. OK – so I’ve not managed to meet Tim Cook, etc. yet and it’s a bit of a sneaky approach, but there is no doubt this sort of thing works and it’s not entirely disingenuous. If people want to get involved, they need to mingle with the leaders.
So here’s my five-point guide to getting the most out of your sponsorship dollars:
1 – Make sure you know what you’re getting and use the full package. It’s not just about the speaking slot and your logo. We offer social media presence, email blasts, discussions, debates, etc. You should use that.
2 – Work with the organizer to build momentum: Wi-Fi NOW is a popular movement where we push the Wi-Fi agenda through all our channels all the time in cooperation with our sponsors. It’s of huge benefit to our sponsors that we do this. Make the decision to work like this and you’re sure to get outstanding value.
3 – Plan your exhibition carefully: People will come to your stand if you can make it interesting. Don’t be scared to do something different – but make sure that it has some professional content & point to it. Simplicity always works.
4 – Pitch the category not the product: Most people will sit through a good sales pitch but it’s even better if you can give the listeners a fresh perspective, thought-leadership, and – more than anything – talk about them rather than you and your products. Be generous with your knowledge.
5 – Be honest & engage intelligently in debates: Honest debates about ideas, challenges, technology, policy, etc. etc. People know that business is not straightforward. You win on credibility by doing that. Don’t be scared to voice your well-reasoned opinion and beliefs.
For more on our Wi-Fi NOW event in the US go to this link and check all the details. We’re putting in tremendous effort and skill to tee this up for you. Contact us at [email protected] for more information!
