We’re not talking about PGA or even the Champions Tour sponsorship here. What are you doing to leverage your local golf tournament sponsorship? I’m an active participant in local charity and sometimes celebrity tournaments. I’ve been in the role of player, tournament organizer (including selling sponsorships) and sponsor.
Whether you are spending $600 to send a foursome or $10,000 to play a bigger role, it’s important to get the biggest bang for your buck in a tightening economy.
1. If you are sending a single foursome, send your best company representative(s) along with a top customer and a top prospective customer. The 4th person in the group can be customer or employee. Be sure your employee who is playing is dressed for the part and has been prepped as to the company expectations. It’s more important that someone with a great attitude goes more than the best golfer, although hopefully it’s the same.
2. If you are a bigger sponsor, request an advance round of golf at the same course and get your team out for practice. This will build camaraderie in the group and make the later round of golf more relaxing.
3. Don’t just put up a tee sign on a hole. Have a team of non-players at the hole who create some type of fun promotion. For example, the foursome draws 4 slips from a hat. The one who draws the ‘special slip’, gets 2 shots off the tee and chooses his or her best shot. There are no losers. All four are given a token gift to remember your company by, preferably with a business card included.
4. Ask for a link to your web site. This may not be included, but you should draw up exactly what you want (graphic, text, and link to page) and present it to the organization. They will almost certainly comply and you will benefit from years to come with the SEO value of the link in addition to exposure of your charitable works.
5. Don’t just supply your logo. The bigger your sponsorship, the more you should ask for. Unless you are shooting for branding, create custom ads specifically for the event that target the demographics of who will be attending the event. Think MICROMARKETING. My favorite marketing method is not the masses, but just the few. Who do you know who is playing the tournament that you want as a customer? What would entice them to be a customer? Plan everything you do around marketing with just those few people in mind. For example, add your custom one line message targeting those people to emails that go out with tournament announcements. Make sure you ‘bump into’ your prospects; if you don’t know how, simply ask the tournament organizer to give you an introduction. It works!
BONUS TIP: The event is not about building your business, but building relationships. It’s relationships that lead to future business.