Looking to increase brand awareness and generate new leads for your business? You should consider sponsoring a sports event and what’s interesting is that it needn’t cost the earth. In fact, sports sponsorship is affordable and within the reach of most small businesses. You just need to open your eyes and look around for the opportunities.
According to Wikipedia, ‘To sponsor something is to support an event, activity, person, or organization financially or through the provision of products or services. A sponsor is the individual or group that provides the support, similar to a benefactor.’ The key here is that you don’t necessarily have to put your hand in your pocket to become a sponsor. It may be the case that you can provide a service or product(s) that the event organiser needs in return for a branding opportunity.
Here at Big Red Cloud we are always on the lookout for events of any kind that will afford us the opportunity to generate brand awareness of our cloud-based accounting software to small businesses and accountants. In August 2016, our CEO, Marc O’Dywer participated in Dublin’s first ever half Ironman. Marc arranged for the team at T3 tri club to wear Big Red Cloud sponsored tri suits. We were not an official sponsor but 27 members of the T3 tri club carried our brand across the south Dublin course.
Leveraging the passion for Ironman competitions, we were able to generate a low cost but highly effective sponsorship opportunity.
Why sponsor a sports event? Sports events are worth exploring for a number of reasons:
- They are associated with positive activity and that’s good for your brand. Be seen, be active.
- There is generally a range of options available to suit your budget.
- An occasion to reach out to existing customers and meet then outside regular business hours.
- Opportunity to build new relationships with prospective clients.
- You can use the sponsorship as a team building day out for your staff.
The inaugural Dublin 7s Festival will take place in Donnybrook on May 28th and for Big Red Cloud it’s the ideal opportunity:
- To be seen and be active. Sevens rugby is active and an engaging spectacle for those watching.
- We were able to engage with the event organisers to find a sponsorship package that reflected our budget.
- We’ll have customers there and it’s a great opportunity to meet and engage socially.
- No doubt there will be a large number of small business owners in attendance who we can reach out to.
- Our staff will kick back and enjoy the day’s sevens rugby.
Why sponsor a sports event may not be the question. It really should read, why not sponsor a sports event?
