Let’s face it.
We’re all obsessed with growing our sponsorship audience because we equate it with more revenue.
Whether you are a sponsor or a property, the key to more revenue may lie as much with the sponsorship audience we have than the audience we wish we had.
For the most part, your audience will be composed of avid or casual followers. Think of two friends at an event. One is there because he/she loves it. The other friend attends because his/her friend loves it. The first is an avid fan; the second is a casual one.
Marketing research has long confirmed that your most loyal customers will buy more and more often than new or casual customers. Similarly, in sponsorship, the involved avid fan will more positively respond to the sponsor in various ways. For instance:
Avids are more attune to a sponsor’s message. They pay attention to who is sponsoring an activity that is important to them.
Avids are more likely to hold the sponsor in higher regard than the casual audience. They support the organizations that support their passion.
Avids are more likely to respond to the sponsor’s call-to-action. This varies from sport to sport and activity to activity. However, ample evidence demonstrates that avid fans are more likely to vote with their wallets than casual fans.
In the evaluation process, our clients will closely examine the avidity of the property’s audience. However, during the activation process, sponsors and properties should not ignore an audience’s avid segment’s sponsor power. To the extent this audience feels loved, the ROI may be disproportionately positive.
A few examples of activities focused on the avid audience segment include the following:
Create special offers for the most avid fans. Consider products or discounts aimed at the passions of avid fans.
Find ways to celebrate what avid fans value. For example, give avid fans the ability to flex in sponsored trivia contests.
Create memorable events for avid fans. Giving avid fans the ability to go “behind the velvet rope” will be many times more valuable to them than casual fans.
Produce unique sponsored content. Sponsored web content with data or video valued by avids will create an impact.
If you want to move the needle on brand awareness or product sales in sponsorship, it may be worth focusing on stoking the avid audience’s passions. As we all know, growing an audience is hard work. So, why not fish where the fish are?
