Whether you’re a marketer trying to sell your CEO on the value of a sports sponsorship or a sports entity hoping to entice sponsors – you’ve got your work cut out for you. On both sides of the playing field, measuring the ROI of sports marketing can be a hefty challenge.
Associating your brand with a sport is a big investment, with the potential to do great things for your brand. Your logo on a football jersey, your name on a race car, the official water of the Olympic games – whatever it is, sports sponsorship is worth big money and you need to prove big returns.
In a digital world, it’s easy to measure impressions, clicks, and average shopping cart values. But how do you prove things like driving brand loyalty and repeat customers (which is really what sponsorship is all about)?
When it comes to setting sponsorship ROI goals and determining metrics for success, things can get murky, and fast! Some of the most common challenges for sports marketers and sponsors are:
Thus, when asked to provide concrete evidence of a sponsorship program’s success, the first reaction is often panic.
Many sports marketers will try to cobble together data from a wide variety of sources. This practice, known as “duct tape marketing” may work for small projects, but quickly becomes ineffective when you attempt to scale. Understandably, most executives demand quantitative accuracy when there are millions on the line.
Despite these challenges, it doesn’t have to mean game over for your sponsorship program.
A qualified market research partner can perform a detailed, robust study that incorporates all the complexities of sponsor activation. The results of the study are compiled in a report that can be easily tracked over time.
Study insights may include the following and more:
We’d love to hear from you – what do you want to know about your sponsorship program? What’s been your greatest success?