Why Event Sponsorships Work for Small Businesses

I started doing community theater when I was in the sixth grade. (This is probably unsurprising to anyone who knows me, as I’m prone to gesticulating wildly with my hands and using exaggerated facial expressions.) 

Each time opening night for a new show rolled around, I loved to grab a copy of the freshly printed paper program and flip through all of my middle school friends’ lovingly crafted amateur biographies. One of the things that I remember most about those programs was all of the names and logos of the local businesses who sponsored our earnest productions of “Annie,” “L’il Abner,” and “It’s a Wonderful Life.” 

Getting a 12-year-old to remember the tagline of the local Ford dealership probably wasn’t the end goal of their financial investment. But it does demonstrate why event sponsorships are an important part of a small business’s marketing strategy, even when it doesn’t seem like it will move the needle on sales. 

It’s all about the halo effect.  

The halo effect is the term for a consumer’s goodwill toward a brand as a whole that is a result of positive experiences they’ve had with the brand. These experiences can be related to a direct transaction with the business’s products or services. (For example, one amazing customer service experience that makes someone a customer for life). Or, they can be a result of something completely unrelated to the businesses’ day-to-day operations, like event sponsorships. 

Why Event Sponsorships Work for Small Businesses

Event sponsorships are an increasingly popular advertising channel for small businesses because of their ability to reach a highly engaged and targeted audience. 

Event sponsorships typically offer a few benefits that traditional advertising channels may not: 

1. Event sponsorships offer businesses a very visible platform to showcase their brand. 

Over the course of an event’s marketing, a sponsor’s name will be mentioned in every single promotion the event organizer sets up across print publications, radio and TV, social media, signage, merchandising, and more. This alone translates to increased brand awareness with customers that your business may not be reaching through straight-forward advertising for your products and services.

Essentially, businesses get a mini advertising campaign without all of the work that goes into creating an advertising campaign. It’s a win-win! 

 

2. Sponsoring an event allows businesses to intentionally curate a positive brand association with the goals or topics of the event. 

This is an incredibly powerful tool for businesses that aren’t able to make these kinds of connections part of their daily operations. 

For instance, a local bank sponsoring your town’s annual Turkey Trot tells everyone who sees or hears the promotion for the event that the bank cares about small-town traditions, engaging with the local community, and contributing to causes that benefit something outside of its bottom line. 

The same goes for events about the environment, local arts, children’s programming, and more. Connect your business name with issues that you know your current and target customers care about. It’s far easier than spinning up a part of your organization to carry out these activities, and invests dollars into community organizations that are already doing good work. 

3. Event sponsorships provide businesses with an opportunity to differentiate themselves from their competitors.

When it comes down to it, running standard advertising campaigns can be really competitive, especially if your business is in a crowded industry. Event sponsorships can help businesses stand out in a crowded market simply by being promoted in spaces that your competitors are not.  

How to Partner with Chronogram Media on Event Sponsorships

At Chronogram Media, we provide many opportunities for small businesses with customers in the Hudson Valley, Catskills, and Berkshires to achieve brand exposure through event sponsorship. As a local media company that specializes in marketing and advertising campaigns for small businesses across print and digital channels, we offer event sponsorship promotion that has an impact your business can see. 

Chronogram Media event sponsors receive promotion in social media ad campaigns across Facebook and Instagram.

Chronogram Media Event Sponsorship Benefits:

  • Average Attendance: 100-150 per event
  • Promotion Engagement across: Print, Digital, Radio, Email, and Social Media
  • Total Promotion Campaign Reach: Up to 2 million impressions per event sponsorship

Event Sponsors Also Receive: 

  • Vendor space at event
  • Mic Moment before panel discussion
  • Inclusion in 25 30-second WDST radio spots
  • Logo on Chronogram event print ad
  • Mention in all email promotions
  • Tag and shout out on paid social media advertising
  • Website sponsor recognition

Chronogram Media Event Sponsorship Opportunities

Magazine Launch Parties

Chronogram Media’s traveling happy hour pops up in towns across the region most months of the year to celebrate the newest issues of our magazines. Our goal is to bring together our community of amazing readers, business owners, and contributors in fun and beautiful venues in the towns we love. 

Chronogram’s Launch Parties are held in the towns that are featured as part of our monthly Community Pages section in the magazine. 

Rural Intelligence’s launch party is held in June to celebrate the annual print issue of the online magazine. 

Sponsorships are available for the following 2023 Launch Parties:

  • June: Rural Intelligence Launch Party – Location TBD
  • September: Chronogram Launch Party – Hudson
  • October: Chronogram Launch Party – Kingston
  • November: Chronogram Launch Party – New Paltz
  • December: Chronogram Launch Party – Catskill 

Instagram stories coverage of the Beacon Chronogram Launch Party at Happy Valley Arcade, sponsored by Corcoran and Mr Solar Guy Powered by Plug PV

 

Chronogram Conversations

Chronogram Conversations is a salon series that brings together business owners, community leaders, influencers, and creatives to discuss important regional and national issues. From conversation (and tastings!) with boundary-pushing craft beverage producers to in-depth discussions with experts in the green building sector, we’re at the forefront of covering the topics that readers love and want to know more about. 

Sponsorships are Available for the Following 2023 Chronogram Conversations:

  • August: A film industry conversation in partnership with the Woodstock Film Festival 
  • October: A craft beverage tasting event
  • November: The state of the cannabis industry in the Hudson Valley and Berkshires 

Want to learn more about how your business can partner with Chronogram Media on an event that boosts your brand’s visibility and connects your business to issues your customers and community care about?

Reach out to our sales team at [email protected] to start the conversation! 

Looking for more marketing tips designed specifically for small businesses in the Hudson Valley, Catskills, and Berkshires? Subscribe to our monthly newsletter, The Art of Business!

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