Economies of Attention: Customer Engagement in Sponsorship
- April 28, 2022
- SponsorPulse Staff
In a hyper-connected digital economy where brands are constantly vying for the limited attention of their desired audience, effective sponsorship strategies are crucial for success. Far from one size fits all approaches, selecting partnerships in the sponsorship space requires an acute understanding of the factors influencing brand engagement.
To achieve powerful results, brands need to invest in understanding their audience’s preferences, values, and needs. The following metrics will enable your brand to capture your audience with tailored sponsorships that make the grade:
Key Metrics for Sponsorship Success
Consumer Engagement
Ever wonder why some customers are loyal to certain brands over others? It’s because these brands have effectively engaged the customer and kept them coming back. The process of securing a customer’s attention is called customer engagement, and it’s a vital element in brand-consumer relations.
At SponsorPulse, we define customer engagement as the percentage of people who have engaged with a property in the past 12 months, whether through watching a video, attending an event, or following on social media.
The NHL is a standout example of a property that values consumer engagement. Our data indicates that over 13.58 million Canadians engaged with the NHL in the past year. Among the NHL’s potential sponsors, Molson Canadian has the highest SponsorPulse opportunity score (94), with 75% of drinkers having engaged with the league in the last 12 months.
Illustrated through our data, it’s evident that the classic beer brand can easily reach its target audience through sponsoring the quintessentially Canadian sports league. Whether that be by reminding viewers at home that their cold beer is available around the corner, or enticing those at the arena with a well-timed jumbotron advertisement? CMO’s choice.
Consideration and Favorability
At the same time, engagement isn’t the only key metric doing heavy lifting in the sponsorship ring. In fact, when purchase consideration is accounted for, often properties with less frequent engagement are found to drive greater consideration and favorability.
So, what exactly do these metrics mean? First off, purchase consideration includes the percentage of people, among engaged, who state that a brand sponsoring the property in a way that they would like would increase their consideration to purchase that brand. Favorability, on the other hand, is calculated as the percentage of people, among engaged, who state that a brand sponsoring the property in a way that they would like would increase their favorability of that brand.
Take the National Football League (NFL), for example. While engagement and intensity–intensity meaning the percentage of people who engage with the league weekly–sit at 44% and 43%, respectively, it boasts only a 14% purchase consideration and 13% favorability.
In contrast, causes such as Animal Welfare have a 36% favorability score, meaning customers are far more likely to favor brands that sponsor Animal Welfare organizations, even though engagement and intensity scores are generally lower, at 36% and 25%, respectively.
Therefore, emotional connection to a brand matters! Engagement, while an essential metric in the sponsorship arena, is best understood in relation to other key metrics, such as purchase consideration and favorability–key metrics that SponsorPulse measures for you!
Global Sponsorship Intelligence at your Fingertips
Understanding your target audience’s values and beliefs is a crucial piece in the sponsorship puzzle. Our insight-rich platform breaks down sponsorship opportunity scores across a variety of metrics, enabling you to engage with consumer data efficiently and secure powerful sponsorship opportunities. Request a demo today!