In online business, local sponsorship marketing often gets overlooked in favor of other marketing methods and platforms. However, even small businesses can benefit from using it – especially those in the Denver area who want to boost their brand visibility and recognition. Local sponsorship marketing can work hand in hand with Denver SEO efforts to help your business grow.
What is Local Sponsorship Marketing?
When you visit your local high school football stadium, everywhere you look there’s a sign that highlights a local business. That’s one form of local sponsorship marketing. You can sponsor events with businesses related to yours, sponsor little league teams (like giving custom lanyards which can help boost team morale), donate money to an organization to have something built – such as a park or a monument, and so on.
The good thing about local sponsorship marketing is there are often opportunities at various levels, so even small businesses with little revenue can get in on the action. How do you find these opportunities?
Finding Sponsorship Opportunities
- Join platforms like SponsorMyEvent. These platforms connect events with businesses that are interested in sponsoring. Similar platforms include SponsorPark, SponsorPitch, and Sponseasy.
- Look at events in your local area. Contact them and inquire about sponsoring future events.
- Look at your competition to see what kinds of things they are sponsoring and follow their lead.
You could also include a page on your website that lets others know you’re willing to sponsor events, bloggers and influencers, and so on. Include a contact form so people who are looking for sponsors can easily get in touch with you.
Remember, as you would expect the event or team you’re sponsoring to provide information about what you get from it as a sponsor, you should be ready to provide clear guidelines on the contributions you’re willing to make, and what you hope to get in return. Be prepared to offer multiple levels of sponsorship options.
Why Should Your Business Consider It?
There are multiple benefits to Denver local sponsorship marketing, including:
- Advertising
- Logo on signage/clothing
- Social media mentions (grow your fan base)
- Links to your website in email newsletters
- Booth at events
- Media spots – newspaper, TV, radio
- Verbal recognition
- Speaking opportunities at events
- Networking opportunities at events
- Guest posting on the organization’s blog
How Does it Help Your Online Presence?
Local sponsorship marketing in Denver helps SEO in a number of ways:
- More traffic to your website
- More links to your website
- More people talking about your brand on social media
- More likes and followers on your social media page
All of these things indirectly affect your SEO efforts. Google, and other search engines, pay attention to the traffic you’re getting, because the more traffic you’re getting, the more people are finding what they are looking for with you – in most cases. If you’re getting a lot of traffic but they bounce off your website quickly, this can backfire, so make sure you’re able to follow through on what you promise your website visitors.
Google also looks at the links to your website and where they are coming from. The more links you have, the better, as long as they are coming from related websites and from numerous domains. When people link to you, it’s a good thing, but if the links are from spam websites, it’s not.
When people are talking about you on social media, it expands your reach, as people you may not have been able to target through ads are now exposed to the posts that mention your name. When this happens, you may see an increase in your social following and interaction. Google also factors social signals into your overall ranking.
While you may not see an immediate change in your ranking because of your participation in local sponsorships, in the long run, they can provide a great boost to your efforts.
What to Expect
If you’re looking for immediate results, local sponsorship options are not the best choice. Because these campaigns take one to three months to execute, they should be part of your longer-term marketing strategy. If you need immediate results, increase your PPC ad budget.
Don’t expect to be able to use a one-size-fits-all approach, as there are many different opportunities with vast diversity. Look for opportunities that align with your brand and can help you reach your goals, rather than going for just anything you can find and afford. You’ll end up with a much better return on your investment that way.
Here are Firestarter SEO, we know the value of local sponsorship marketing, and are willing to help you navigate it as part of your overall online marketing plan. Get in touch with us today to learn more about how to leverage our Denver SEO alongside local sponsorships to help your business grow.
Photo credit: StockUnlimited
