Sometimes the question isn’t if you should include events in your marketing strategy, but how. And one of the first decisions you’ll be faced with is whether to host your own event, or sponsor someone else’s.
Most companies do a mix of both sponsoring and hosting events, but recently, more and more are taking the reins of their events. According to Harvard Business Review's Event Marketing Evolution report, 40% of enterprise brands plan to spend more on hosting events in the year ahead, and 30% plan to spend more on sponsoring.
In short, hosting your own event means you have more control over the entire experience — and companies are starting to realize the value in this.
99% of the time I say ‘no’ to sponsoring a general event. I’d rather invest our budget on an event where I can control the content.
That’s not to say that sponsoring events (e.g. large industry conferences) isn’t worthwhile, but it all comes down to what you’re trying to achieve. So, we put together this quick guide to help you consider whether hosting or sponsoring (or both!) is best for your event strategy.
Sponsoring an event usually means you’re paying another organizer, company, or organization to participate in their event. This could come in many forms: a trade show booth, an experience or service (like an espresso machine at an industry conference), a sponsored session or speaker slot, a satellite party, VIP dinner, etc.
The benefits of sponsoring:
The disadvantages of sponsoring:
The most popular types of sponsored events (according to Harvard Business Review):
Pro tip: if you do decide to sponsor a large event, it’s always effective to go beyond the booth and throw your own satellite event, too.
Hosted events offer much more freedom, since you can choose an event type that directly benefits your overall goal, rather than relying on another company’s. Hosting your own event means you have full control over the entire event experience, including the branding, promotions, content, and guest list.
But this also means you’re responsible for all the nitty gritty details, like finding the venue, driving attendance, securing speakers, booking talent or food vendors, managing the event pages, providing branded swag, and more.
The benefits of hosting:
The disadvantages of hosting:
The most popular types of hosted events (according to Harvard Business Review):
With 170,000 attendees, 2,700 sessions, and 300 exhibitors, Dreamforce is one of the biggest tech conferences in the world — and known for being one of the toughest to crack. Without a big budget, it can feel daunting to stand out in the sea of exhibitors.
Two years ago, we switched up our conference strategy and decided not to sponsor a booth at Dreamforce, and instead focused our efforts on hosting 6 events, each catered to a different audience.
By doing so, we could target the right attendees, control the events’ branding, and ultimately align our event strategy to our goals. The results? We drove 40k in new opportunities and 140% ROI, without ever setting foot in a booth.
This isn’t to say that conference sponsorships aren’t worthwhile. You have to think about what you’re trying to achieve — for us, hosting our own events was a more strategic (and budget-friendly) option for our Dreamforce presence.
Psst: want to dig into our entire Dreamforce strategy? Read all about it here.
While many event marketers are shifting towards hosted events, sponsored events are still a valuable part of an event strategy — in the right context. The choice between sponsoring and hosting really depends on what you’re trying to achieve. The most important thing to remember is that every company (and event!) is different — so the decision will largely depend on your business, your audience, and your overarching goals.
Even though there’s no magic formula that'll tell you whether you should host or sponsor (an event marketer can dream!), thinking strategically about what you want to get out of your events will help you get started.
