THE RIGHT WAY TO SPONSOR AN EVENT WITH YOUR PHOTOBOOTH
I only recommend products I would use myself and all opinions expressed here are our own. This post may contain affiliate links at no additional cost to you, I may earn a small commission.
There is an ongoing battle in the photobooth world regarding people working for too cheap or for free. people can get confused by this when they are approached to sponsor an event with their photobooth. there is an internal dialogue that says. "I shouldn't work for free, these charities have money and they should pay me!" You are right, these charities do have money, and they could probably pay you. CHARITIES try to get sponsors to lower costs of running the events so more money can go to the cause and a good charity will make it worth the vendors while to sponsor the event.
MDRN Photobooth Company Sponsors 10 - 12 events a year roughly because sponsoring the right events can equate to thousands of advertising dollars for minimal spend AND you are helping great causes. Some of these sponsored events have approached us and some are events that we have gone out and found ourselves. Here's what we look for when sponsoring an event.
What's the charity?
The charity needs to be an organization we believe in or feel strongly towards. We are going to be talking about this charity on our Instagram so we want someone we BELIEVE in strongly.
WHO ATTENDS THIS EVENT?
FIND OUT WHO NORMALLY ATTENDS THIS CHARITY EVENT. I LIKE TO FIND ONES THAT HAVE BLOGGERS OR INSTAGRAM INFLUENCERS THAT ATTEND BECAUSE THE PHOTOBOOTH IS ALWAYS A HIT FOR THEM, IT LITERALLY MAKES CONTENT FOR THEM. CHECK OUT INSTAGRAM TO SEE WHO HAS SHARED THE EVENT IN PAST YEARS, Try to see if you can judge HOW BUSY it was, HOW WELL EXECUTED it, ETC.
What's the ticket price?
THIS IS IMPORTANT ESPECIALLY IF YOU ARE TRYING TO TARGET A HIGHER PRICED AUDIENCE. IF THE TICKET PRICE IS UNDER $50 CHANCES ARe... you ARE GOING TO see people who may not be able to afford your booth. EVENTS THAT HAVE HIGHER PRICE TAGS, LIKE $150 Per person or more, GENERALLY TEND TO HAVE more successful or profitable corporations and PEOPLE ATTENDING. WE TRY TO TARGET HIGH PRICED CHARITY EVENTS.
Location
THIS MAKES A DIFFERENCE! EVENTS HELD AT LARGER, WELL KNOWN VENUEs WILL HAVE BETTER ATTENDANCE ESPECIALLY IF THEY HAVE GOOD FOOD AND SERVICE. YOU ALSO WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT YOU HAVE ENOUGH SPACE TO SET UP.
Does this event normally sell out?
BETTER IF IT DOES BECAUSE PEOPLE WILL GENERALLY TALK MORE ABOUT AN EVENT THAT SELLS OUT ON SOCIAL MEDIA AND SHARE THE CONTENT.
Where will THE BOOTH be located?
ALWAYS MAKE SURE THAT YOU GET A PRIME LOCATION FOR YOUR BOOTH like near the front entrance or in the main room. Sometimes people try to put the photobooth in a dark corner away from the action and that's just not cool. You are a sponsor and want to get as much action as possible so make sure you discuss positioning before agreeing.
What is the sponsor compensation?
You should first calculate what your package price would have been for what you will be offering and then find out what a sponsor of that amount would get. you can get a spot on their website, mentions on posters and other print material, social media shout outs, and more. the more places you can get your logo, the better. BOOTH SIGNAGE IS OUR FAV.
This sign helped people remember the mdrn name.
Who are some of the other vendors?
checking out the other vendors is important because certain vendors attract certain crowds. we generally end up working with the same vendors time and time again because we attract the same clients. we are happy sponsoring events with higher end vendors as well because we know they have also done their homework on this event.
THE RULES
I'M SETTING THE RULES OUT HERE IN BLACK AND WHITE. THIS IS WHAT HAS WORKED FOR US TIME AND TIME AGAIN AND IT WILL WORK FOR YOU.
1. GO ALL OUT
YOUR PACKAGE SHOULD BE EVERYTHING YOU OFFER. WRAP YOUR BOOTH, HAVE SOCIAL MEDIA STATIONS, HAVE INSTANT TEXTING, UNLIMITED PRINTS, CUSTOM PROPS, EXTRA STAFF, ETC... THERE ARE A COUPLE OF REASONS I SUGGEST THIS.
WHATEVER PEOPLE SEE AT THE EVENT IS WHAT THEY WILL REQUEST WHEN THEY GO TO HIRE YOU.
IF YOU SHOW THEM BASIC STUFF THAT ANYONE AN DO THEN THEY LIKELY WON'T SEE THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN YOU AND ANY OTHER COMPANY.
YOU WANT TO IMPRESS THE CHARITY EVENT WITH WHAT YOU CAN DO FOR THEM AS WELL SO THAT THEY WILL CONTINUE TO ASK YOU TO PARTICIPATE WITHOUT HAVING TO PAY FOR YOUR SPOT.
2. BRAND EVERYTHING
THIS IS THE BIGGEST MISTAKE THAT PEOPLE MAKE. THERE IS A FINE LINE BETWEEN OVER BRANDING AND NOT BRANDING ENOUGH. YOU DON'T WANT TO LOOK LIKE A GIANT ADVERTISEMENT BUT YOU ALSO DON'T WANT PEOPLE WONDERING WHO YOU ARE. HERE ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS TO BRAND:
YOUR PRINT TEMPLATE - SEEMS LIKE A NO BRAINER BUT THIS IS WHERE PHOTOBOOTH COMPANIES FAIL THE MOST. MAKE YOUR LOGO A LARGE PART OF THE DESIGN SO THAT WHEN THE IMAGE IS SHARED YOUR LOGO IS ON THERE. Your print template is going to be the most shared thing from the event for both you and the charity.
Boobyball mdrn photobooth company sponsorship template
2. your entire set up - you should subtly brand your booth so that it blends in with the event but also has your branding. It will show people what you are capable of doing in terms of setups and you can also use it as a point of discussion when talking to clients.
3.BRING OUT LOTS OF STAFF
Make sure that you have lots of staff there to man the booth and delight the guests but also so that if people have questions someone is there to provide them with information and have a discussion with them.
4. INTERACT ON SOCIAL MEDIA A LOT
Do your homework and find out all the hashtags for the event and post Instagram pictures using them. I would suggest at least 3 posts leading up to the event, 2 posts the night of the event + Instagram story AND 1 post after the event.
After the event go find the photobooth pictures that were shared by people using hashtags, location tagging, etc.. make comments and like the pictures. WE NORMALLY GET AT LEAST 8-10 FOLLOWER THAT NIGHT FROM COMMENTING AND LIKING.
These tips are what we use at our sponsor events which on average covert into 1 - 2 large bookings a year for us. So my challenge to you is to go find one event to sponsor based on these tips!
Happy Boothing!