Why Partnerships Matter for Trainers
- Expanded Reach: Tap into new audiences by partnering with brands, organizations, or influencers aligned with your target attendee.
- Boost Credibility: Partnering with well-respected entities adds social proof to your event.
- Resource Sharing: Partners can offer expertise, promotional power, or even financial support.
- Unique Value: Collaborations on content, sessions, or experiences make your event stand out.
- Networking for Trainees: Emphasize the long-term relationship potential partnerships can open up.
Key Concepts for Training
- Strategic Fit
- Audience Alignment: Does the partner have access to the type of people you want to attract?
- Shared Values: Are your brand missions and overall ethos compatible?
- Size Matters: Don’t just chase big names; smaller niche partners can be hyper-effective.
- Types of Partnerships
- Sponsors: Financial or in-kind support in exchange for visibility and promotion
- Media Partners: Promotional reach through publications or online outlets.
- Content Collaborators: Co-creating webinars, speaker sessions, or unique experiences.
- Influencers: Leverage their social platforms to reach engaged audiences.
- Win-Win Proposition
- Think Like Them: What are the partner’s goals? (Growing their email list, brand awareness, etc.)
- Clear Tiers: Outline different partnership levels offering various benefits.
- Get Creative: Offer benefits beyond standard logo placement.
- Formalize It
- Simple Agreement: Even for smaller partnerships, outline expectations, deliverables, and usage rights in writing.
- Measure & Track: Agree upfront how you’ll measure the success of the partnership (through provided links, codes, etc.).
Training Activities
- Matchmaker: Create event scenarios and a list of potential partners (real or fictional). Trainees must justify 3 ideal partnerships.
- Pitch Perfect: Have trainees develop a short ‘elevator pitch’ email targeting a potential partner for an event scenario.
- Agreement Breakdown: Provide a sample partnership agreement and have trainees analyze it, identifying key terms.
Training Resources
- Partnership Proposal Templates: Search online for customizable templates to give trainees a starting point.
- Event Sponsorship Blogs: These often explore partnership strategies from both the event and sponsor sides.
- Case Studies: Find examples of successful event partnerships, dissecting the value exchange.
Trainer Tips
- Real-World Examples: Share past successful (or failed!) partnerships to illustrate the principles.
- Start Local: Encourage trainees to think about businesses in their own community that could be potential partners.
- Long-term Vision: Emphasize that partnerships built on genuine value can lead to ongoing collaborations beyond a single event.