Digital Integration

I know this is the buzz word and the “hype” of marketing right now. Everyone is telling us that we need to do more digital. Unfortunately, many “marketers” think that digital means “we need to get more followers to our Facebook or Instagram.” Ugh!!!?

What we need is to use digital platforms better in our sponsorship programs. We need to provide better and deeper content that can be consumed digitally. That may be through social media to drive traffic to the experience, or posting a position or statement on social, but for the most part, the experience is not on social media. Social media really is not that “social.” It is not that engaging. It is not as interactive and experiential as it was initially designed to be. When was the last time you really engaged in a social post? Come on—I mean beyond a “share” (which is seldom) and definitely beyond a “like!” ?When was the last time you engaged with someone who posted something and held a public or even DM conversation with them about their post? If you are one of the few who is actually providing and sharing content on your channels, when was the last time you really engaged in meaningful conversations (and I mean more than “I loved your post” and the response being a “like” or a “thanks!”) with those who read or liked your content? And from a sponsorship perspective, we need to engage. If we are not creating experiences, why aren’t we just buying traditional media like TV, print, and radio that push out content in a non-engaged way? ?

I believe, and the group of peers/experts I chatted with about this tend to agree, that there is truly so much opportunity from a digital perspective to create engaging and interactive content aligned with sponsorships and properties that can help the sponsors and the properties much more than increasing “follow numbers” and tracking “likes!” Most of these social channels can offer more through their products like LinkedIn, Facebook Live, or Clubhouse. ?

Here are a few more ideas for creating better digital opportunities in your sponsorship programs.?

1. Create digital that will engage audiences, but also deliver information you need or want about your audience. Start their journey with you. Create gaming or interactive opportunities that engage the audience. If you are sponsoring a social service agency or you are a social service agency, build a program that takes the user through a night of homelessness. Let them experience that online and take paths and choices to get out of homelessness. Ask the user questions along the way about how they can support that person and then ask them to do so (donation). Perhaps it is a series of interactive live conversations with athletes or industry leaders. Maybe is it a gaming app that allows the audience to shop at 7-Eleven (the sponsor), and showcases products and services. The user gains points and buys products aligned with the property such as a sports team. This type of engaged activity allows the sponsor not only to educate the property’s patrons, but also ask them questions indirectly and learn about their spending habits or whatever you need to learn. It also populates your database with qualified leads!
2. Create amazing content that is not necessarily interactive, but engaging nonetheless. Video is tantamount. Sure, we use a lot of clips on social to drive traffic to our websites and platforms, but what about creating content that people need or want and entertain them? It is about entertainment. It could be a series of interviews or bloopers. Utilize YouTube and garner the data you want through the viewing process. Integrate your messaging and content into the video production, but ensure it is not advertising in the video, but rather integrated into the entertaining content. Build a short movie with your property and have them push it out to their followers. (This will also tell you how engaged their social channels and email distribution lists are and provide you with important data during your next negotiation for renewal.) ?Remember though, this approach is truly about entertaining people.
3. Develop content-driven opportunities such as webinars and podcasts. Though again while not interactive, you can provide a property’s audience with content that they need and want. If it is a theatre group, perhaps it is a monthly podcast interviewing set directors, artistic directors, and actors about an upcoming production. This will engage the audience, it will provide value add to the property in exposure and branding, and can deepen your relationship with that audience you have invested in through a sponsorship. Furthermore, you can gain terrific opportunities to engage your products and people in the podcast. Alternatively, it might be a sport organization or a municipality and you develop technical webinars for anything from coaching technique to managing fleet services maintenance. These types of webinars provide more technical content that is needed, supported, and distributed by your property to its audience and you are showcasing your expertise and products as well.

?This Friday, the XXIV Winter Olympics will open. It is the pinnacle of winter sports. Olympic Gold is the Holy Grail for athletes and for the nations, partners, and sponsors that train and support them. But sport, and truly the Olympics, can be a pinnacle for excellence in sponsorship marketing. Some invest really poorly, but the majority of Olympics sponsors and their athletes do an amazing job, as do the broadcasters and their sponsors. I encourage you to look beyond the 30-second spots in the broadcasts and go deeper into the sponsorship marketing content that has been developed for your consumption by sponsors alone, with their Olympic programs, or by athletes themselves. A lot of what I have noted above as great examples of how to use digital in your sponsorships will be showcased. Engage with it and them. Adapt it to your specific sponsorship program. Take the ideas and experiences and retool them to suit your needs. And move away from thinking that another like or share “ticks a box” for going digital!