In today’s dynamic marketing landscape, event organizers constantly seek innovative strategies to enhance attendee experiences, increase sponsor satisfaction, and maximize non-dues revenue for associations. One frequently overlooked avenue is integrating Out-of-Home media programs into an event sponsorship prospectus. This is unfortunate because many organizations are missing out on a valuable revenue stream and a valuable service for their exhibitors and sponsors.
Recognizing that adding Out-of-Home media sponsorships could effectively increase non-dues revenue for associations is essential for organizers to seize opportunities. We’ve identified six key indicators that suggest an event is ripe for OOH sponsorship and explore the potential benefits of such collaborations.
- Exhibitors are already using Out of Home media placements around the event
- Exhibitors are verbalizing a desire for new sponsorship opportunities
- Exhibitor demand for sponsorship opportunities exceeds the supply
- Alignment of sponsor messaging with event priorities
- Non-dues revenue generation from the event has plateaued
- The sponsorship team has limited capacity
Let’s take a deeper look at each of these signs.
Out-of-Home Placements Are Already Occurring Around Event Dates
One clear sign that a conference is ready for Out-of-Home media sponsorships is the presence of OOH placements surrounding show dates.
When event organizers notice airport, transit, and citywide activations orchestrated by top sponsors and industry leaders during their conventions, this clearly indicates that their conference is ready. Exhibitors have recognized the value of the media and started to take advantage of its benefits. If so, it’s time for the organization to get involved. These media placements can represent a significant missed revenue opportunity for organizers.
Organizers miss out on significant non-dues revenue for associations when Out-of-Home media placements occur independently of official sponsorship agreements. Depending on the market and media choices available, this can easily represent over $100,000 in untapped revenue. Organizers can capitalize on these opportunities by formalizing Out-of-Home sponsorships to generate additional income streams.
When your exhibitors are already taking advantage of Out-of-Home media opportunities around the event, they are sending you a clear signal that they find OOH a valuable part of the event plan and would be likely to take advantage of Out-of-Home media sponsorships.
Sponsors and Exhibitors Are Seeking Innovative Audience Engagement Channels:
Another compelling sign that an event is ripe for OOH sponsorship is when sponsors and exhibitors express a desire for novel ways to engage with the event’s target audience. In many cases, the top echelon of supporters eagerly anticipates the introduction of new opportunities to showcase their products, services, and brands. In our work with association partners, exhibitors frequently ask, “What’s new? What do you have that I haven’t seen before?”
Our own independent research study, “Beyond the Booth,” showed that 59% of exhibitors actively want to see new sponsorship opportunities.
By incorporating OOH media into the sponsorship framework, organizers can satisfy the exhibitor’s desire to do something new and different while also offering a powerful tool to augment the effectiveness of their marketing efforts.
When combined with traditional trade show branding opportunities, OOH media can amplify exhibitors’ messaging and drive booth traffic, enhancing their overall satisfaction and likelihood of returning for future events.
Out-of-Home is also a flexible and creative sponsorship option. Every conference market is different and offers a different landscape of available media. If you move beyond traditional static OOH options, opportunities can be created using mobile or experiential options. This allows event organizers to increase non-dues revenue for associations by frequently updating their offerings, always bringing something new. We recently partnered with DDW to do just that, bringing a wide variety of engaging media to bear for their exhibitors.
Sponsorship Demand Is Outpacing the Supply:
Associations frequently face the dilemma of exhibitors wanting a sponsorship, but nothing is left. When this happens, the association leaves money on the table, and the exhibitors leave disappointed, and none of that is good for anyone.
Many factors can contribute to this. Late product approval may delay decisions about the launch planning. Or, many events offer first right of refusal to exhibitors who have purchased sponsorships previously, limiting the available pool of opportunity for new or expanding exhibitors. Or, as is all too often the case, advertisers are notoriously slow when making decisions and may not get around to sponsorships until everything is gone.
Adding Out-of-Home media sponsorships can go a long way in helping to alleviate this problem. It adds a large chunk of available media to be leveraged.
We’ve spent over 30 years with boots on the ground, identifying the best media options to reach attendees in all the major conference markets. While the possibilities are not limitless, a substantial amount of media exists that works for exhibitors.
When you add options beyond place-based, to include things that can be sold in packages – like rideshare, mobile-media, or experiential activations – the opportunity to increase non-dues revenue for associations can grow exponentially.
Alignment of Association and Exhibitor Goals:
Successful event sponsorship programs are characterized by a synergy between the meeting the exhibitors need to reach attendees and aligning with the associations’ vision and message.
When exhibitors launch independent media activations, the event organizer has no control over the media location, messaging, and appropriate use of the event name or logo incorporated into the brand’s creative design. Many associations have a specific “image” and reputation that their members expect them to live up to, and the impression that their annual conference is a free-for-all can be detrimental to that image.
By maintaining some control over these media activations, the organization demonstrates that it is aligned with its members and actively working to provide the best conference experience for everyone involved.
It also demonstrates to exhibitors that it is not only the top echelon of companies gets all the attention. 45% of struggling exhibitors say that organizations that host conferences and trade shows “don’t understand the needs of companies like mine”.
Offering a more comprehensive array of sponsorship opportunities helps to level the playing field and make all exhibitors feel seen and heard. This, in turn, helps to establish trust and goodwill and encourage future participation.
Non-Dues Revenue From Your Event Has Plateaued:
Non-dues revenue for associations is critical and is becoming more important every year. Sponsorship teams are tasked with finding new innovative event sponsorship opportunities that will appeal to sponsors and exhibitors, and positively impact the bottom line for associations. According to the ASAE:
“On average, membership dues are the single largest revenue stream for associations, but over the years, the current has slowed…. an average of 45.4 percent of trade association revenue flows from membership dues, while professional associations report an average of just 30 percent. Back in 1953, when the report was first published, membership dues brought in an average of 95.7 percent of an association’s total revenue. These days, tradeshow booth fees and meeting and convention registration fees are making up increasingly large shares of total association revenue.”
Given the importance of non-dues revenue for associations, the teams must maximize it wherever possible. If this is the case for your event, it’s another clear sign that it is ready to add Out-of-Home media sponsorships.
Out-of-Home media provides a whole new stream that provides substantial revenue while enhancing the exhibitor and sponsor experience. It is flexible, cost-effective, scalable, and, when done properly, can be very efficient. This brings us to our final point…
Limited Capacity within the Sponsorship Team:
It might seem counterintuitive to say that one sign your conference is ready for Out-of-Home media sponsorships is that your team is swamped, but bear with me. It’s all in the execution.
Many associations have relatively small teams that are already stretched thin handling the association’s day-to-day operations. Planning and executing an annual conference is a huge undertaking that takes up a large portion of their resources. Additional sponsorship planning and execution can be overwhelming without adequate staffing and resources.
In situations where event organizers face constraints in terms of time, workload, and sponsorship staff capacity, partnering with an Out-of-Home expert can be a streamlined and straightforward way to add a whole new revenue stream with minimal drain on your internal resources.
Managing various OOH relationships and securing diverse media demands a considerable time commitment. Adding a partner who is an Out-of-Home and conference marketing expert makes the task considerably less daunting.
An expert partner can:
- Provide expert knowledge of the market and recommend only the most effective media
- Consistently bring new and innovative media options to the table
- Create supporting sponsorship materials to market to the exhibitors
- Guide pricing strategies to keep costs manageable while providing value
- Manage negotiations and contracting across a wide number of OOH media partners
- Work with exhibitors to simplify and streamline fulfillment of sponsorships
When I led a sponsorship team, our sponsors already engaged in unsanctioned Out-of-Home opportunities. Those same sponsors were also asking for more opportunities, yet I worried about how I could add one more responsibility to our team’s plates. Finding an experienced agency partner with deep OOH relationships and industry experience who could develop and market Out-of-Home sponsorships for our event and deliver the level of service our top supporters expected was paramount in the selection process.
Collaborating with an experienced agency partner specializing in OOH media can alleviate the burden on internal teams while ensuring the delivery of high-quality services that meet sponsors’ expectations. Organizations can streamline operations and maintain a healthy work-life balance for their staff by outsourcing certain aspects of OOH sponsorship management. But of course we believe our clients say it best:
“EMC Outdoor has created innovative sponsorship opportunities that generate significant non-dues revenue for our organization. Working with their trade show marketing team is an example of what makes a great partnership. Their ability to collaborate, problem solve, and deliver is refreshing!”
Jacki Premak, Associate Director of Advertising, American Academy of Dermatology
Creating Non-dues Revenue For Associations with Out-of-Home Media Sponsorships:
Out-of-Home media can open up a whole avenue of new non-dues revenue for associations and provide exhibitors with a highly desirable and effective sponsorship option.
OOH media has the power to improve the effectiveness of other media. Combined with trade show and event branding opportunities, it effectively amplifies an exhibitor’s messaging and drives booth traffic. This is a double win! Increased booth traffic helps to foster exhibitor satisfaction and increases the likelihood of the exhibitor returning to participate in future events. Exhibitor retention helps event organizers protect a vital revenue stream that feeds the organization’s mission.
Adding Out-of-Home media to your sponsorship options can:
- Provide a variety of new options for exhibitors
- Open up new revenue streams for the association
- Improve the image of the organization with its members and exhibitors
- Increase the visibility of both the exhibitors and the event itself
- Expand a team’s capacity to elevate an event
When combined with an industry event, OOH media is one of the most efficient ways companies can invest their marketing dollars. Event sponsors would need to spend a lot more to reach this highly sought-after audience in their various markets across the globe. When event organizers offer OOH media, it helps sponsors concentrate their marketing dollars where and when it counts the most.
Interested in learning more about expanding non-dues revenue with out of home media? Contact us and we can walk you through the process, and provide some real world scenarios based on your next conference market.
About the Author
Dana Johnston, CMP, is the Vice President, Client Partnerships, Trade Show Marketing at EMC Outdoor. Prior to her work in this capacity, Dana led corporate relations and sponsorship teams at two medical associations over a 15-year career. She serves on the Leadership Advisory Board for The Professionals for Association Revenue, PAR and is an active member of ASAE, IAEE, and PCMA. Dana is excited to create partnerships that help event organizers, industry partners, and conference attendees win through the power of OOH.
