Resolutions come with the New Year. Turning a new leaf. Starting with a blank slate.
A new beginning.
But what can we focus on in 2020 to ensure the longevity of our sponsorship assets and value?
Have no fear…Rich & Nick are here to help you out.
This week on The Inches podcast, Rich and I dive into 5 resolutions you can make in sports sponsorship to absolutely the next year and decade for your team and career.
You can listen to the full episode HERE…but as always below is a quick recap of the episode
#1 Have a digital asset in every package you pitch….and charge money for it.
We’ve pushed on this hard on the podcast but in the new decade, this will be the biggest item your team can win on maybe in all of sports business.
Digital assets are the next frontier and what sponsors need from your organization.
This year, make sure you have a digital asset in every package for your sponsors.
Some may be thinking “what if a sponsor doesn’t want digital?”
IF you ask and they say unequivocally that they want no part of digital assets…then, of course, oblige them.
This will not be the case for most partners today. Most of them have specific budgets set out only for digital advertising (as high as 60% of the total ad spend budget).
To compete in the next decade we as teams must commit to shifting to digital assets. In 2020 make a resolution to add a digital asset to every package you propose.
But there is one more piece to this. THEY CAN’T BE A FREE THROW-IN.
These assets are too valuable to not charge full price, further it will de-value them in the future when your traditional assets start to lose the command of a high price.
When you add these digital assets in, make sure you add a price and price accordingly.
#2 Start building digital distribution channels & assets that YOU OWN TODAY
I’ve shared this before, but I think the biggest shift of all this upcoming decade in sports business comes with our content distribution.
In the past, we relied on cable outlets, leagues, and other entities to help us get our content out to our fans.
With the addition of social media outlets, we can easily build our own distribution networks for our team. Our branding, our content, is 100% OWNED by us.
This next year make a commitment to start building these channels for your team.
This includes building up:
- YouTube channels, Facebook Watch, and Instagram TV for long-form content
- Facebook Live for your pre-game, during the game (if league rules allow) and post-game content.
- IG Stories, Snapchat, and TikTok for short-form content that leads to interest in long-form content.
If you can build these up for your team, you will set a foundation up for huge success going into 2020. It doesn’t have to come overnight, but starting this year will put you ahead.
#3 Integrate new sponsors into existing digital assets
You have digital assets you already implement. Radio streaming, post-game tweets, etc
Sometimes you don’t have to re-invent the wheel, adding new sponsors to these assets can be a way to get them on board and signed.
You have digital assets that you already implement. Sometimes it is just a matter of looking at your social media inventory and seeing if you can add a sponsor integration.
As you get into 2020 make a resolution to look through your current assets and add a new partner to them.
#4 Every activation has trackability OR a path to trackability
If I’m being real…this is the game in sponsorship for the next year and decade.
Trackability in advertising is no longer nice to have…it is expected.
You MUST be able to answer the question that your sponsors will ask more & more this year…” How many sales did this lead to.”
You may be able to get away with one more year of closing deals without it…but after that, you will be in trouble.
This next decade will see the total shift into trackable assets for advertisement. We aren’t immune to this in the sponsorship industry and need to start shifting our assets.
As you create your packages this upcoming year…ensure that you have a trackable portion of every package that you send out.
#5 Commit to making your digital sponsorship assets active & engaging
The power in digital activations is the ‘pull’ they bring between your fans and sponsors. This is the advantage that digital has over traditional.
But, we can’t make the assumption that all digital assets are automatically active or engaging.
Posting a video or score to Twitter may be digital, have the option to be engaged with, but does it have that pull factor?
When you look through your assets, both digital and traditional, ensure that you are setting them up to be active and engaging. By doing so you are building in natural trackability and increasing the value of the asset.
In 2020 build your assets so they have active and engaging aspects to them.
Resolutions are a promise we give ourselves that we will do better. More importantly, they are a confirmation that we have the ability to do better. They are a wake-up call that we can do better to make the next years successful.
With these 5 resolutions, you can set yourself up for the next decade in sponsorship. Many are easy to start, some tougher, but the results will be worth the effort.
