Getting Your Business Event Spend Right in 2020

With increasing pressure on corporate spending, it has never been more important to exceed expectations when you decide to sponsor a business event such as a conference or an awards ceremony. 

Just a few reasons that you may consider committing spend to such an event are as follows: 

• Improved visibility and awareness for your brand association with a topic that is aligned with your strategic goals
• Networking and relationship nurturing with existing clients or partners
• Informing new businesses of your services and products
• Demonstrating your commitment to best practice on a specific topic
• Relationship building with/Reward mechanism for your teams

Digital technology has made it easier than ever to build your ROI when attending an event. Whereas in the past it was based very much around how much business you bought in as a direct result of an event, nowadays, you have many more criteria that you can create success measures with. Whether it’s using your LinkedIN profile to connect with other delegates prior to an event, or hashtags on the night to generate virtual comments and conversations, a physical event now has so many more dimensions that we can tap into. 

“Tracking attendee participation, tapping into social media feeds, and following hash tags on the night, can help you deepen your understanding of the businesses in the room with you and subsequently use that intelligence to inform your networking activities – it’s a great win-win for those who are focused on business development.” says Gunilla BJorner, PWN Global’s Co-VP Corporate Partnerships. 

Rebecca Fountain, Head of Marketing and Communications and Leader of the PWN Global Gender Balanced Leadership Event Steering Group says, “There are so many ways that we can justify investment in an event, but the basic principle remains the same – we all need to set clear objectives at the outset that align to your own strategic milestones and key performance indicators. Make sure you know what you want to achieve before you commit to sponsoring an event, and remember to talk to the event hosts to see how they can help you achieve your specific success measures. I’d be happy to have an early exploratory conversation with anyone interested in working with us as a sponsor of the PWN Global Awards event in 2020.” 

The business community is still on a complete natural high from the buzz created at the PWN Global Gender Balanced Leadership Awards that took place Thursday, 10th October in Dublin. We’ve had so much positive feedback from participants who were able to do business with organisations that they had not previously been able to connect with. 

Information from the evening, including winners, updates, videos and pictures, can be seen on the awards website and across our social media channels.

As for 2020, our advice to you is to factor in budgetary spend for attendance at/sponsorship of an awards event for a subject that matters to your business -  if Gender Balanced Leadership is an important topic for you (and it should be!!), then the PWN Global Gender Balanced Leadership Awards need to be on your radar for 2020. 

Author:  Emma Olohan, VP PR, PWN Global and & Events Project Manager IRL, Spain & Portugal. 
Editor: Rebecca Fountain, Head of Marketing and Communictaions

Date: Oct 2019