Ways your startup can land a sponsorship deal

Believe it or not, a corporate sponsorship is a great solution for businesses of any size, and the tips below can help you secure your own.

Any financially solvent company could be a potential sponsor. Approach the ones that can benefit most from what you have to offer. Aside from your direct competitors, which brands are trying to capture a similar customer base?

One of the biggest incentives you can offer a sponsor is quality access to their most coveted consumers. Picture the partnership between Jordan Brand and Gatorade—different products, similar customers. That is the shared space where sponsorships are most likely to succeed.

If you’re not sure how to determine a sponsor’s target demographic, try requesting a company media kit, investigating previous sponsorships, and analyzing their media campaigns. You’ll also want to read any recent press releases or quarterly reports, since these can give you an idea about the company’s current goals and strategies.

Now that you know more about the company you’re about to approach, create a sponsorship proposal tailored to its needs. According to corporate sponsorship expert, Linda Hollander, sponsorships bring a better ROI than traditional advertising, but most business leaders will still need to be convinced. The purpose of your proposal is to describe, in detail, the tangible value you’ll bring to the sponsorship and how you plan to do it.

Determine what specific opportunities you can offer to your sponsor, such as logo exposure, naming rights or product endorsement. Connect this with their target demographic and show what quantitative impact it can have on their business goals. Set measurable benchmarks for the sponsorship; for example, how many new followers you can add to their social media accounts or how many people you can expose to their products.

If you have a proven track record of bringing in a certain amount of money and can give a sponsor access to an audience primed for their product, show that. It worked for Coachella and AmEx.

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