Community sports sponsorship is a great way for SJP practices to connect locally and have fun!
There is a high chance you have been approached by a local sports club for financial support. The club explains how sponsorship will help raise awareness, promote your brand locally and offer oodles of content for your social media channels.
It can be hard to weigh up such proposals, principally because of the challenge of measuring ROI. Gareth Screech, principal at Blackdown Wealth Management is a Club sponsor at Haslemere Rugby Club in Surrey. “I live in the town and coach the minis on a Sunday – my daughter takes part. The opportunity to look at sponsorship was a no-brainer. I was there anyway, the demographic worked and we had a tangible sponsorship idea. Namely, the Blackdown logo on all of the mini rugby balls used by the youngest teams.”
Nick Shrimpton at Sixth Sense Marketing said. “Gareth’s sponsorship makes perfect sense because there is an authentic connection between his business and the Rugby Club. Issues arise when a company writes a cheque, is passive for 12 months and then wonders why it has had nothing back after a year.”
Thousands of local clubs and community organisations rely on sponsorship donations like this to keep their teams playing. In the Haslemere example, the sponsorship was rugby balls, but other items are available for displaying a brand like playing and training kit.
Digital marketing benefits of sponsorship
There are digital marketing benefits for the club/team sponsor, but often it is often down to those paying the money to make the running. This is because club officials may not be so savvy when it comes to awareness of the online marketing benefits. These include:
- Reciprocal website links
- Adverts/articles in club newsletter
- Offers/discounts for other club members
- Engagement and sharing of social media posts
- Guest blogs
Measuring the benefit of such sponsorships
The value of local club sponsorship is unlikely to blow your annual marketing budget, so make a benefits judgement in the round, and not just on new clients. There is a value in being involved that is worthy locally. It is likely that new relationships have spring up that might otherwise have been difficult to achieve. Hopefully you have had some enjoyment along the way.
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