3 Reasons Why Your Sponsors Love Sponsored Content

One reason members join their respective associations is to align themselves with an organization they see as credible and trustworthy. Sponsors seek that same kind of positive connection. That’s right, your association’s esteemed position as an authoritative leader within your field grants you a significant edge in vying for a share of corporate sponsors' finite marketing budgets. In fact, a recent study found the top benefit companies hope to gain from sponsoring associations is the opportunity to become thought leaders.

Transit solutions provider TripShot uses content sponsorship to boost its brand awareness in front of high-value association membership. “We wanted a way to get in front of more public transit systems and make sure that we were communicating to them in the right way,” says Danny Drees, proposal writer and content creator at TripShot. “Sponsored content is a great way to combine our in-person presence at association events with a continual presence on those associations' websites 365 days a year."

Partnering with industry associations on content distribution is key to wayfinding technology company GoodMaps’s overall marketing strategy. "Our brand cannot develop and gain trust if we're not able to partner with these different associations,” says Amelia Johnson, marketing manager at GoodMaps. “Our relationship with the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) is super important for us to have places where we can have content syndication plans that actually matter. We need to be able to get our content in front of the right eyes.”

Sponsors find value in the credibility they gain when they align their brand with the earned trust associations have built with their members.

Sponsors have a wealth of knowledge and expertise to share. When they pursue thought leadership as a marketing goal, they want to leverage their expertise to position themselves as leading authorities in their respective fields. Sharing insights, ideas, and innovative solutions that address industry challenges or trends through sponsored content allows those organizations to help shape and guide the discourse within their sector.

Sponsors can showcase their in-depth knowledge by producing compelling, authoritative sponsored content — such as articles, research reports, whitepapers, ebooks, on-demand webinars, and podcasts. This builds their brand’s credibility and trust, provides value to members, and contributes unique perspectives that spark conversations and drive innovation — with your association as the catalyst!

Nearly two-thirds of B2B decision-makers and C-suite executives say that an organization’s thought leadership can be moderately or much more effective at demonstrating the potential value of its products/services than traditional product-oriented marketing.

Partnering with associations is a great way for sponsors to get their thought leadership content in front of the exact audiences they want to target: other industry leaders seeking solutions for their problems. By providing authoritative, easy-to-digest, and exclusively available content for association members, sponsors can build awareness and differentiate themselves from their competitors.

Of course, the success of any sponsor’s marketing efforts is ultimately gauged by its impact on sales. This return on investment (ROI) is how CMOs justify their marketing choices to CEOs and how CEOs and directors justify their decisions to stakeholders.

According to one study, nearly all marketers say lead generation is their most important goal, and ROI on lead gen spend is a crucial metric. Sponsors embrace sponsored content because it works. Indeed, another recent study on the latest marketing outlook found most organizations recognize content marketing as the channel producing leads with the highest ROI.

For TripShot, most sponsored content leads convert. “About 65% of our leads convert into a discovery call, which is a really high conversion rate. We're also hitting our goal of getting our name out there and increasing brand awareness," says Drees.

When structured the right ways, sponsored content can be an ideal lead generation tool for sponsors keen on leveraging sponsored content into business development opportunities.