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Sponsorship marketing is a great way for businesses to expand their brand recognition and reach, as it offers cost effective exposure with an added bonus of getting associated with something bigger. For businesses seeking a higher standing in the marketplace or to enter into a new industry, sponsorship marketing can be just the sort of thing to get them there - faster and more easily than ever before. Best of all, it is scalable, meaning you can start small and work your way up so that everyone benefits. When done right, sponsorship marketing can be incredibly exciting for companies big and small; so why not give it a go?&nbsp; <h2>What is Sponsorship Marketing</h2> Sponsorship marketing is a type of advertising that involves businesses forming partnerships with other organisations in order to promote their brand, product, or service to a larger audience. Sponsorship marketing usually involves providing financial or in-kind assistance to an event or organisation in exchange for being associated with the event or group and gaining promotional opportunities. It can also involve providing a sponsorship package containing various marketing materials or resources to the event or organization. <h2>How Can It Benefit a Business?</h2> Sponsorship marketing can benefit businesses in a number of different ways, including: • Creating brand recognition and awareness—When sponsoring an event or organization, your business name and logo will be seen by thousands of people, making it a great opportunity to increase brand awareness. • Showing support for the community—Sponsoring local events or organizations demonstrates that your business is committed to being an active member of the community and supports causes that are important to its customers. • Enhancing customer loyalty—By sponsoring events and organizations that your target market is interested in, you can create an emotional connection with your customers that will make them more likely to be loyal to your brand. <h2>Examples of Sponsorship Marketing</h2> • Local sports teams—Sponsoring a local sports team gives businesses the opportunity to reach a wide audience and gain exposure for their brand. It also helps build loyalty among the fans of the team, as they will associate the business with their favorite team. Examples:https://www.bt.com/about/bt/sponsorships/home-nations-football/grassroots-football • Music festivals—Many businesses sponsor music festivals in order to reach a large audience and enhance their brand recognition. It is also an excellent way to network and build relationships with other businesses in the industry. • Charities—Sponsoring charities is a great way to show your commitment to social responsibility and build customer loyalty. Many businesses have found that this type of sponsorship is an effective way to generate positive publicity and gain trust among their target market. Creators -&nbsp; Newsletter Creators, Bloggers, Musicians, YouTubers and Twitch streamers - can also be sponsored to help promote a business. This is a particularly popular method in the advent of social media platforms. <h2>So how can I get the most out of sponsorships?</h2> Securing sponsorships is one of the most exciting ways to increase income and give visibility to your brand - but where do you start? The key is to get creative with how you represent yourself and your goals.&nbsp; • Define Your Goals—Before you begin looking for potential sponsorships, it is important to identify your goals and objectives so that you can ensure each potential sponsorship opportunity aligns with your overall strategy. • Identify Your Target Market—Identifying your target market will help you determine which sponsorships are the most suitable for your business needs. • Research Potential Opportunities—Researching potential sponsorship opportunities is key to finding the right fit for your business. It is important to thoroughly evaluate each opportunity and determine if it will help you reach your goals effectively. Take the time to research their mission and values to see if they align with yours. • Negotiate Terms—When negotiating the terms of a sponsorship, make sure to keep all parties involved informed of any changes and ensure that everyone is in agreement on the details. • Persistence - When it comes to sponsorships, persistence and follow-up are key! Following up regularly is a great way to make sure sponsors have all their questions answered and are fully informed about whatever deal you're offering them. • Measure Results—Once your sponsorship is in place, it is important to measure the results and determine whether or not it was effective in helping you reach your goals. This will help you make adjustments if necessary and ensure that future sponsorships are successful. So, if you're looking to increase brand recognition, show support for a community, or build customer loyalty - sponsorship is a great marketing strategy. When done right, sponsorship marketing can have a huge positive impact on your business.&nbsp; It is certainly important to set a strategy and thoroughly evaluate each potential opportunity to get the most out of it, but with proper planning and execution, sponsorship marketing can be a successful and cost-effective tool for any business.

When done right, sponsorship marketing can have a huge positive impact on your business. Find out how you can get the most out of sponsoring creators, events or other organisations

Get inspired - How to use sponsorships to achieve your marketing goals

Tracking marketing funnel metrics is essential to the success of any business. Knowing how people move through the funnel—from becoming aware of your brand, to browsing your website, to making a purchase—enables you to make better decisions about marketing and advertising investments and measure their effectiveness. Not sure which marketing funnel metrics to measure? We've got you covered. It's easy to get overwhelmed by all the different metrics available, but understanding the fundamentals of each one can help create a strong foundation for measuring performance. Here are five key funnel metrics you should be tracking: <h2>1. Awareness: </h2>The first step in the funnel is awareness; understanding how many people know about your brand and where they're discovering it from. Key metrics associated with this phase include:<ul><li>Website traffic and page views</li><li>Social Media Impressions</li><li>Search engine rankings</li><li>Social media following</li><li>Click-through rate (CTR, the number of clicks divided by impressions)</li><li>Cost per click (CPC, how much money you're spending to generate each click)</li></ul> You should use data about brand awareness to gain a better understanding of your target audience and how to reach them. Knowing the reach of your message, the engagement generated, and the click-through rate can give you an understanding of what kind of message resonates most with your target audience. This helps with optimisation of your campaigns for maximum success. <h2>2. Acquisition:&nbsp;</h2>Measuring acquisition metrics gives you an idea of how successful your efforts are at converting prospects into leads. Key acquisition metrics include<ul><li>new customer acquisition rate</li><li>lead conversion rate (converting website visitors into leads)</li><li>cost per acquisition</li><li>lead quality score</li></ul>It's important to take into account both volume (number of leads acquired) and quality (quality score assigned to each lead), so that you can make the right decisions on where to make changes to your marketing funnel. <h2>3. Activation: </h2>These metrics show the rate of customers that are taking the desired action, such as purchasing a product, signing up for a service, or completing any other desired goal. The most important metric for activation is: <ul><li>Conversion Rate, which is the ratio of active users to total users.&nbsp;</li><li>Average Activation Time measures how long it takes customers to complete an action and is frequently used alongside Conversion Rates.&nbsp;</li><li>Customer Engagement measures how often customers use a product or service after initially signing up for it.&nbsp;</li></ul> Tracking these funnel metrics provides companies with valuable insights into the success of their activation efforts and helps them identify areas they should improve. <h2>4. Retention:&nbsp;</h2>Once someone has become a customer, it's important to measure their retention over time.&nbsp;<ul><li>customer lifetime value (LTV)—the total amount a customer spends with your business over time—as well as other related metrics such as&nbsp;</li><li>churn rate</li><li>repeat purchase rate.</li></ul> Understanding these figures will give you an idea of which customers are more valuable in the long run, enabling you to allocate resources accordingly for better returns on investment (ROI). <h2>5. Revenue:&nbsp;</h2>Conversion refers to turning leads into paying customers, so it's important that customers have a positive experience throughout their journey with your brand until they make a purchase decision. Key revenue metrics include&nbsp;<ul><li>average order value (AOV)</li><li>abandonment rate</li><li>cart-to-order ratio (how often visitors add items to their cart vs completing purchases)</li><li>revenue per visitor/page/click/session/country etc</li><li>Revenue per acquisition</li></ul> Tracking these types of conversions will help identify areas where improvements need to be made in order for more customers to complete orders successfully. <h2>6. Referrals &amp; Advocacy:&nbsp;</h2>After someone has made a purchase, if they like what they got then chances are they’ll tell their friends about it - so it pays off when businesses focus on building relationships with their customers after sales too!&nbsp;<ul><li>Tracking referral rates or</li><li>Advocacy measures such as Net Promoter Score™&nbsp;</li></ul> Tracking referral metrics means businesses can understand what motivates customers, in terms of loyalty, towards brands - allowing them to tailor activities towards achieving better long-term outcomes from current customers instead of focusing solely on acquiring new ones all the time! <h2>You Can't Improve What You Don't Measure</h2> By tracking these basic funnel metrics consistently over time, marketers can have greater insight into their audience behaviour and develop strategies that capitalise on their insights for growth and increased ROI from their marketing activities! Taking action based on real data rather than assumptions is key.

Not sure which marketing funnel metrics to measure? We've got you covered

The 6 important funnel metrics you need to track

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Get inspiration on how to improve your marketing funnel with data. Learn which metrics should you track and why

Do you ever feel like you’re missing out on something big? That there’s a secret that everyone else knows but you? Well, the secret is out: it’s growth loops! Growth loops are often overlooked in favour of flashier marketing tactics. But don't be fooled - they are essential for any business looking to scale and accelerate their growth. So if you're ready to start seeing some serious results, keep reading and learn all about how growth loops can help your business succeed. <h2>Definition of a Growth Loop</h2> So, first things first - what on earth is a growth loop? A growth loop is a positive feedback loop which continually drives customer acquisition and leads to sustainable long-term business growth. Unlike a marketing funnel, which starts with large amounts of leads and then narrows them down towards conversion, a growth loop is aimed at taking an existing customer base and turning it into an even larger base through referrals and continued engagement. For example, some companies, such as Calendly, use branded widgets as a growth loop. This is a great way to increase brand recognition. By strategically including branding on widgets in popular websites and applications, businesses can increase the visibility of their product or service and attract new customers. Unlike email or social media outreach, this form of growth loop allows businesses to reach an even wider audience with their product or service. But that is just one example of growth loops. There are plenty more types of growth loop. And identifying the right type of growth loop for your business is an important part of ensuring a successful marketing strategy. Let's explore the most popular types of growth loop. <h2>Types of Growth Loop</h2> It's important to understand some of the most popular types of growth loop, so that you can decide which one is best for your business. With the right type of growth loop in place, you can start to see real results from your efforts and begin to accelerate your company's growth. <h3>1. Viral Loops</h3>One of the most popular types of growth loops is the Viral Loop. Companies give discounts or prizes to people who share their products or services with other people. This causes more and more people to hear about the product, until it spreads like wildfire! The main aim is to increase awareness. <h3>2. Retention Loops</h3>Retention loops are a type of growth loop that encourages customer engagement and retention by providing exclusive content, offers, and promotions tailored to current users. This helps lead customers towards an evergreen conversion funnel which can result in longterm business success - all without the need for flashier marketing tactics! <h3>3. Referral Loops</h3>The Referral Loop is also widely used. This type of growth loop works by incentivising existing customers to share their experiences with friends and family through word-of-mouth, social media posts, or other forms of sharing. Companies can offer discounts or other rewards for referrals that lead to conversions, resulting in a snowball effect where more and more people are exposed to the company's products or services. The main aim here is to increase conversions or generate warm leads. <h3>4. Monetisation loop</h3>A monetisation loop is a growth loop aimed at upselling: generating revenue and profits by encouraging existing customers to buy more products or services, upgrade their current products/services, or purchase additional items. This type of growth loop focuses on increasing the amount spent per customer and creating repeat purchases. The goal of a monetisation loop is to make customers feel valued and appreciated while also driving more sales. To do this, businesses can offer incentives such as discounts, free samples, free shipping, loyalty rewards programs, or other promotions that encourage customers to purchase more often. Other honorable mentions go to these popular types of growth loop: <h3>5. Product Usage Loop</h3>A product usage loop encourages existing customers to use a product or service more often; this could include anything from signing up for additional features, making larger purchases, increasing frequency of orders etc. <h3>6. Content Marketing Loops</h3>Content loops involve regularly creating content (eBooks, blogs articles etc.) which show potential customers the value you offer and encourage them to sign up or make a purchase. <h2>Why use growth loops in your business?</h2> Growth loops can be incredibly powerful when used correctly. With the right type of growth loop in place, businesses can increase brand recognition, build relationships with customers, monetise their product or service, drive additional sales and retain more customers. This leads to sustainable growth and reduced competition by creating a loyal customer base that keeps coming back. The possibilities for using growth loops are virtually limitless - from viral campaigns to referral programs - so it’s important for businesses to experiment and find the best fit for their particular needs. The key is to keep testing different types of loops until you find one that works well for your business model. <h2>In Summary</h2> At the end of the day, by leveraging the power of growth loops, businesses have an opportunity to accelerate their success in ways they never thought possible before! With the right combination of creativity and data-driven tactics, companies can unlock endless opportunities for improvement and expansion while also delighting their customers along the way. So don't wait any longer - start building your own unique set of growth loops today!

Learn why growth loops are such a powerful tool for businesses that want to take their success to the next level. Explore the different types of growth loop you can use for your business to drive engagement, customer retention, and increased profits - all without breaking the bank. 

How to use different types of growth loops to achieve your goals

Get inspired - How to use growth loops to achieve your goals

Receiving a collaboration offer can be both exciting and overwhelming. After all, there’s no guarantee that the partnership will be successful – but if it is, it could open up new opportunities for your business or project. But before we get ahead of ourselves and dive into any collaboration agreement headfirst, there are certain steps you should take to ensure that this potential partnership is right for you. Here are some tips on how to respond to a collaboration offer: <h2>1. Do Your Research</h2>Before accepting an offer of collaboration from another person or organization, make sure you know who they are and what their <a href="https://www.hecto.io/resources/growth-marketing-and-how-to-leverage-partnerships" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgba(81,110,255,var(--tw-text-opacity));">expectations are for the partnership</a>. Take time to read through their website and social media accounts so that you have a better understanding of what kind of company they run and what type of projects they usually work with. This research will help inform your decision about whether or not the proposed collaboration would be beneficial for both parties involved. <h2>2. Consider the Offer Carefully</h2>Before accepting any collaboration offer, it's important to carefully weigh up the potential risks and benefits involved. Ask yourself questions like: Is this collaboration beneficial for both parties? What are the potential pitfalls of this partnership? Are there any foreseeable issues that may arise? Are there any legal or financial implications that need to be addressed? It's important to approach any proposal with a level head. Take a step back from the excitement and be pragmatic. Consider the resources and expertise available from both parties. Will you have to work night and day to pull this off? The point of a brand collaboration is that both parties receive mutual benefit. Are the benefits equally weighted? These types of questions will definitely arise, as you chew over the details of what's being offered. But sometimes, you don't have enough information to make that clear consideration. Which leads us to our next point... <h2>3. Ask Questions to Clarify Anything that’s Unclear</h2>If any of the your questions aren't clarified in your research of the company, then it's definitely time to get in contact with the requestor. Be gracious about the offer, but assert that there are some details you need to understand further, such as the potential project goals and outcomes, what resources are available and how success will be measured. For example:"Hi [x], I appreciate the collaboration offer and I am excited at the prospect of working together. But before making a decision, I wanted to ask a few questions around the [project goals / project outcomes / resources available / criteria for success]. <h2>4. Understand the value you will be adding and receiving in the the collaboration</h2>Ensure that you're clear on the value you're providing to your collaborator. Are you receiving something equally valuable in return? It's important to remember the unique strengths, skills and resources that you can bring to the partnership. Here's a couple of things you could check:<ul><li>Do they have similar traffic? Check out <a href="http://ubersuggest.io/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgba(81,110,255,var(--tw-text-opacity));">ubersuggest</a> for free</li><li>Do they have strong reach in a channel that you want to begin using, such as instagram or twitter?</li><li>Is the brand suggesting a shared piece of research that could help you to both understand your customers more?</li></ul> For example, in the case of <a href="https://www.hecto.io/brand-collaborations/nomadlist-buffer-remoteok" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgba(81,110,255,var(--tw-text-opacity));">Nomadlist &amp; Buffer</a>, both parties offer software that serves digitally native users, but their research collaboration lead to insights that could draw new users for both. This was a mutually beneficial collaboration. As you determine the value being exchanged, remember - collaboration is about relationships, and relationship need to be negotiated. So feel free to push back on what you and your brand would need out the brand partnership to make this worthwhile. <h2>5. Negotiate what you need</h2>So, you know their brand, done your research, asked questions to clarify their proposal and you're clear on the type of value you'll both get from it. But...you can't shake the feeling a backlink via a guest post would really be the icing on the cake for you. Well, "Dont ask, don't get", as they say. Asking questions in point 2 was a clarification of your requestors proposal, but there's also room to present a counter proposal when discussing collaborations. Chris Voss, a seasoned hostage negotiator said "The beauty of empathy is that it doesn’t demand that you agree with the other person’s ideas" in his book, Never Split the Difference. We all know negotiating is context and personality dependent, but either way, be sure to know you're worth in however you go about that discussion. <h2>Patience</h2>So, there you have it. Clearly, responding to collaboration offers can be a tricky process. From researching the brand and clarifying the proposal, to understanding the value exchanged and negotiate the right agreement - it all requires a bit of patience and persistence. But - by following these steps and understanding how collaboration works best for both sides, brands can make sure they’re getting into a mutually beneficial partnership where everyone knows their roles and responsibilities within the timeline. When done right, collaboration emails can lead to amazing outcomes for both parties!

Discover how collaboration emails can lead to amazing outcomes for both parties!

Unlock the secret to successful collaboration emails!

Discover how collaboration emails can lead to amazing outcomes for both parties! Learn the steps you need to follow and understand to make sure your collaboration request works best for everyone.

How To Respond To A Collaboration Offer

Growth marketing is all about understanding and leveraging your customer data to optimise marketing strategies that will increase the growth of your business. It’s a data-driven approach that focuses on optimising customer acquisition, retention, and expansion. In addition to utilising customer data, growth marketing also requires utilising marketing partnerships in order to maximise results. Let’s explore how to leverage partnerships for growth marketing success.&nbsp; <h2>The Power of Partnerships</h2>Partnerships are an essential element of any successful business strategy. By leveraging relationships with other companies, you can grow your own company faster than if you were working alone. In particular, for growth marketing, strategic partnerships are a great way to expand reach and increasing conversions by targeting new markets and customers. Plus, when you partner with another company that has built trust with its customers already, you can benefit from their community as well as yours.&nbsp; <h2>Creating and Managing Partnerships</h2>Creating profitable partnerships is no easy feat; there needs to be mutual benefit between both parties in order for it to be successful. A great way to start building relationships is by attending events or meetups within the industry where you can meet other potential partners in person or through virtual channels like LinkedIn or Facebook groups. Once you have identified potential partners, create a partnership agreement that outlines the expectations between both parties so everyone is clear on what they need to do in order for the partnership to succeed. Finally, make sure that each partner has proper access to metrics so they can track progress throughout the duration of the partnership—this will help ensure that both parties are working towards the same goals and objectives.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <h2>Maximising Partner Benefits</h2>Once a partnership has been established and both parties are on board, it’s important to make sure that each party is getting what they want out of the deal. To maximise benefits from your partners, focus on creating content strategies that leverage their expertise while also providing value for your customers. Additionally, look into ways to integrate their products or services into your existing offerings in order to cross-promote one another's businesses while driving more revenue opportunities for both companies involved in the partnership. Finally, make sure that each partner receives recognition through social media mentions or other methods—this will help build goodwill and create positive brand associations between yourself and your partner(s).&nbsp; <h2>Growth Marketing Partnership Examples</h2>An example of a growth marketing partnership (also know as co-branding or co-marketing) that yielded great results was the collaboration between Sephora and Benefit Cosmetics. By partnering up, both companies were able to leverage each other’s audiences and create a seamless shopping experience for customers so they could purchase products from either company using just one checkout process. This mutually beneficial partnership resulted in increased conversions as well as helped both businesses expand their reach and gain access to new markets. The collaboration between Sephora and Benefit Cosmetics is an excellent example of growth marketing done right!&nbsp; <h2>The Bottom Line</h2>Growth marketing ultimately relies on deploying data-driven tactics. When adding company collaborations into the mix, results can be magnified ten fold, thereby optimising business achievements.&nbsp; Utilising strategic partnerships is an essential step of any&nbsp;marketer’s playbook—so get out there and start building those relationships! So get out there and start building those relationships!

Explore how to leverage partnerships for growth marketing success. 

How to leverage partnerships for growth marketing success

Partnerships are an essential element of any successful business strategy. Let’s explore how to leverage partnerships for growth marketing success. 

Growth Marketing and How to Leverage Partnerships 

It's no secret: email marketing is cost effective, retains customers and increases engagement. From the smallest to the biggest companies, it's tried, tested and reliable. The value of building an email list is simple - own your distribution. Market your brand, direct to consumers. But a collected email means the customer is already aware of your brand. They've navigated to your site. They've entered your funnel. They've signed up to your proposition. So how can email lists be used to acquire customers or increase your brand exposure? That's the snug spot that newsletter sponsorship fills. But what are the benefits of sponsorship? Why sponsor a newsletter? Let's dive right in. <h2>Leverage someone else's email list, to grow your exposure</h2> We're all familiar with freelancing and consulting: leverage other people's time and accumulated skills to resolve our problems or capitalise on our opportunities. Newsletter sponsorship is no different. Ask any newsletter creator and they'll tell you - growing an email list is time consuming. It requires focus, patience and creativity to develop growth strategies. Rather than wait to build your own email list, why not buy that time and effort? The time and effort someone else spent growing their email list? Newsletter sponsorship allows you to do just that. Newsletters are an underused and cost effective way to increase your brand exposure and acquire new customers. Newsletters have direct distribution, access to your target customers, and most importantly, the trust of their readers. This makes newsletters sponsorships a great google ads alternative. <h2>Access readers that are active, engaged and ready to share.</h2> Who signs up for a newsletter? Your target audience, that's who. People that want to be informed of the latest news, research or thought leadership around a subject matter they are invested in. That might be readers keen to <a href="https://www.hecto.io/newsletter/alternative-assets" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">learn more about investments</a> keep up with the <a href="https://www.hecto.io/newsletter/tailwind-weekly" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">latest dev frameworks</a> or to hear about the latest news in <a href="https://www.hecto.io/newsletter/naptown-scoop" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">their local town</a> Some are engaged, curious minds, looking to discover. Others are keeping abreast of changes in their field of work or interest. Either way, their intention is to read the newsletters and share their latest findings. And with the right positioning, that could mean discovering your product too. <h2>Connect with your target customers, in their language.</h2> The best sponsorship isn't simply placing an image or text ad on a newsletter and hoping for the best. Sponsorship means working with newsletter creator that understand their audience. The best newsletter creators not only know their subject matter, but they have accumulated a nuanced understanding of what their audiences like. Through communities on facebook or discord, twitter interactions, apps like <a href="https://sparkloop.app/reactions" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Sparkloop's feedback tool</a>, <a href="https://substack.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Substack's</a> comments or simply requesting email replies in their welcome email - the best newsletter creators interact directly with their mailing list on what works and what doesn't. Why does this matter? Because writing an ad is simple, but speaking to your target audience is hard. And who else to steer you, and advise you, than someone that the readers trust? <h2>Create audience specific ads that lead to your sales funnel</h2> Programmatic ads are great in efficiency. You target a couple of key words and hope for the best. But you never really know where they're going to pop up. With newsletter sponsorships, you know the context in which your ad will appear. Why stop at a text ad? Why not pitch content tailored to that target audience? Link to a bespoke landing page for your product, specific to that newsletter. Give away a specific deal to those readers. These are all <a href="hecto.io/resources/growth-loops" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">growth loops</a> that you can use to increase awareness, conversion. You get the idea. Newsletter sponsorship allows you to leverage relationships to create a more compelling connection. So use it. <h2>Align you brand values with an audience that cares.</h2> Sponsorships are often overlooked as another word for advertisements. However, at its heart, sponsorship is a vehicle to express your product values by aligning with similar value products. Done right, this can evoke a stronger emotional response and resonate more deeply with readers. Have strong company values around diversity? Be seen to support that through your actions. <a href="https://twitter.com/tinyseedfund/status/1348624134259937282" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Sponsor a newsletter that reflects that</a>. <h2>In Summary</h2> Newsletter sponsorship is a great google ad alternative. It's a under utilised, high return on investment marketing channel. But more than this, it's a way to get personal with your target audience. Check out <a href="https://hecto.io/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">hecto.io</a> for opportunities.

How can email lists be used to acquire customers or increase your brand exposure?

A great google ads alternative

Learn why sponsoring newsletters is a great way to reach your target audience and build brand awareness.

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