For organizers looking to spruce up their sponsorship models, hosting an experts corner, offering tours or having a fitness pavilion on the showfloor are just a few of the unique ideas that were in Global Experience Specialist’s recently released Comprehensive Sponsorship Study.

The study also focused on the following key areas; how organizers and exhibitors can make the most of sponsorships; how organizers can best sell sponsorships; what organizers can do to align their sponsorships with sponsor objectives; and information and insights for exhibitors to evaluate and optimize sponsorships.

The study was conducted with data from the TSNN Top 250 U.S. trade show list, TSNN Top 50 Canadian trade show list and top 50 Healthcare Convention & Exhibitors Association medical meetings. 

“A top priority of event organizers today is driving revenue growth and sponsorships are seen as a top area of opportunity, while exhibitors are looking to enhance the value of sponsorships,” said David Saef, executive vice president of GES MarketWorks and Strategy.

He added, “Although sponsorships have been around for a long time, there is no single resource for organizations to understand how to create and sell sponsorships and how to make sure they are fully optimized. The findings from our comprehensive study fill this void and help the industry demonstrate the value of sponsorships.”

The study was broken up into two parts for organizers and exhibitors.

Some other findings in the organizer portion of the study were that 74 percent of those surveyed said they had one or two people on staff who sell sponsorships, and they target specific companies through phone calls and emails.

Organizers also said they are optimistic about sponsorship revenues, with 56 percent indicating they expected that revenue stream to increase during the next three to four years.

On the exhibitor side, 61 percent of the respondents said they have chosen to sponsor to raise the awareness of their brands, while 29 percent said they sponsored because they preferred spending their dollars on something unique.

As far as what was considered unique, a few things in the study that were highlighted included having an ice cream social, flash drive bracelets, charging stations or new product areas and registration confirmation branded messages.

In December, Saef presented a portion of the research findings at the International Association of Exhibitions and Events’, Expo! Expo! in a presentation titled “Sponsorships that Succeed.”

Several people who attended the session found valuable takeaways, such as Mallory Denny, operations coordinator, Emerald Expositions, who said, “It was very refreshing to attend a data-centric seminar which dived into research from other show organizers. I look forward to future presentations on sponsorship trending.”

To learn more about how to form, sell, deliver, and demonstrate the value of sponsorships, download the GES Sponsorship Survey HERE.