Sponsorship
is a simple marketing idea that can work wonders for nutritional retailers now
and into the future. All they need is a well-defined target market and a
little creativity.
“By sponsoring
groups or organizations that are involved with your target market, you have a
great opportunity to build a strong bond with the people you want to reach,”
says Martin R. Baird, president of Phoenix, Ariz.-based Nutritional Marketing.
“It can also be very cost effective.”
Following are
seven tips from Baird on using sponsorship as a marketing tool. These tips and
others are offered on a daily basis by Nutritional Marketing through its Web
site nutritionalmarketing.com, a site that provides free marketing information
just for nutritional retailers.
Number 1
- You don’t have to sponsor a Little League team or a bowling team if prefer
not to, but how about sponsoring a guest speaker at your local garden club?
How about sponsoring a bus to take a group to an out-of-town museum exhibit?
How about sponsoring a seminar on a subject of interest to your target market?
Number 2
- Sponsorship can build a relationship between you and your target market. You
are not seen as trying to sell them something. Instead, you are seen as
helping them with their interests.
Number 3
- Don’t think sponsorship is too simple an idea to work well for you. People
who belong to a group or association are usually more than happy to help the
people who help their cause.
Number 4
- Sponsorship is a wonderful way to differentiate yourself from all the
others. How many nutritional retailers in your community are doing things that
cement a relationship like a sponsorship can?
Number 5
- Your involvement could be as simple as donating food for an event or writing
a check. Checks are OK, but it’s usually more effective if you become
involved and do more than just provide monetary support.
Number 6
- Your sponsorship should be about something that’s important to you. Select
a group that interests you. People will know from the start if you lack real
interest.
Number 7
- Your sponsorship also should be a long-term commitment. It’s a waste of
your money to be a sponsor once or for a year. For this marketing technique to
succeed, you need to do it for years and build an awareness that you are “the”
sponsor.
“The
relationships you build through sponsoring groups and events can be some of
the best customers you will ever have,” Baird says. “Sponsorships also can
build a great referral network that you can use to grow your business. Simple
marketing can be a great idea.”
Nutritional
Marketing provides a variety of services to nutritional retailers to help them
improve their marketing methods and increase revenues, including seminars and
conference speaking engagements on such topics as referrals, marketing, goal
setting and customer service.
Nutritionalmarketing.com is the premiere Internet-based source for free
marketing advice, information and tools for self-driven, success-oriented
nutritional retailers who are demanding information that helps them market
their business, meet the needs of their customers and increase sales. It
offers such services as a free weekly electronic newsletter, free reports on
how to conduct different kinds of marketing and evaluation of retailers’
marketing materials that is provided at no charge when the critique is posted
online for all nutritional professionals to read. Nutritionalmarketing.com
also offers an electronic forum where retailers can learn from each other by
discussing common problems, sharing ideas and gaining new insights from their
peers.
