According to Jim Andrews, SVP of content strategy at sponsorship consulting company IEG, partnerships are being held to a higher level of accountability than ever before. “Every element, from the communications plan to sales promotions to employee relations, must be able to prove positive return on objectives, and ultimately, ROI,” says Andrews. Here are four sponsorship measurement tactics from Andrews that will help you prove sponsorship success:
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Measure Return for Each Objective Against Pro-Rated Share of Rights and Activation Fees: Sponsorship objectives should be measured individually, using quantifiable data. Allocate a por- tion of the total rights fee that was paid for the sponsorship to each objective, weighted based on priorities set by management.
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Measure Behavior: Most sponsors measure things that aren’t relevant to the rest of the business. Align objectives with core values and customer behavior—working with the sales force to track the value of new or incremental business generated by clients who were entertained at a sponsored event.
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Research the Emotional Identities of Your Customers and Measure Their Value in the Long-term: Understanding customers as people—their interests, loves and passions—is paramount. Knowing that 1,200 cars were sold last quarter as a result of sponsorship is important; contemplating the future sale of 12,000 cars the next year from the same sponsorship is critical.
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Slice the Data: On average, sponsorship will have the greatest impact with a core of about 20% of your customers and about 20% of the property’s most avid fans. Drill down to see how your sponsorship is impacting these smaller sub-groups.
PR News subscribers can read more about sponsorship and spokesman communications strategies in the case study: "Passionate Spokesman, Nimble Communications and Trackside Tweets Power Winning IndyCar Sponsorship."
Follow Jim Andrews: @JimAndrews_IEG
Follow Scott Van Camp: @Svancamp01