The Sponsors feature is the best way to promote your sponsors and exhibitors to attendees. Creating rich sponsor profiles with custom images, embedded videos and PDFs, custom call-to-action buttons, and chat is easy! There's a lot to learn in this article, and we encourage you to explore all the available customizations. Your sponsor base will thank you for the return on investment. 🙏
This article shows you how to set up and use the Sponsors feature, and the process is the same for the Exhibitors feature, too. 🙌
Before you start...
Know what's possible
Having sponsors pay you to insert their logos in different places around your Event App is fine, though only doing that could be a huge missed opportunity! Read our article about showcasing sponsors in Your Event App to learn about the many sponsorship opportunities the Event App has to offer. The sample sponsorship tiers at the end of the article are an amazing template for your own sponsorship strategy. 😍
Gather resources
One awesome thing about Webex Events is that you can invite sponsors, exhibitors, and speakers to add their own information to their profile in the Event App! After you've formed a sponsorship plan, gather contact information from your sponsors so you can send collaboration invitations.
If you prefer to build each sponsor's profile yourself, the resources you collect from each may depend on their sponsorship tier. Examples of resources include websites, videos, meeting links, PDFs, icons and booth images, official descriptions, and other text copy.
When you've gathered all the necessary information, start building the Sponsors feature!
Add the feature
In your Event navigation bar under 'Event App', click Features, then click Add Features.
In the modal that appears, search for the feature, click Add, then close the modal.
💡 Keep in mind, adding the Sponsors or Exhibitors features multiple times is another way to highlight different tiers of sponsors or exhibitors.
Edit settings
Before you start adding sponsor profiles, customize the feature settings.
In your Event navigation bar under 'Event App', click Features.
Click Sponsors to open the Sponsors page.
On the Sponsors page, click the Settings (⚙️) icon.
In the modal that appears, customize the following information:
Feature Name - The label that appears to attendees in the feature list.
Icon - Select one of 300,000+ icons, or upload your own custom icon.
Visible To - Restrict the feature to only certain groups.
Ratings & Reviews - Control if and how attendees can rate and review sponsor profiles. Ratings & Reviews appear on the Event App Metrics page and in the Metrics export.
View - Choose between 'Grid View' and 'List View'. For the best sponsorship opportunities, we recommend 'Grid View', which lets you embed content with the Content Provider option and enable Chat as described later in this article.
When you're done adjusting the settings, click Save Changes.
Now it's time to start adding some profiles!
Add sponsor profiles
On the Sponsors page, either click the New Item button, or click the Categories tab to set up categories for different types of sponsors.
💡 Keep in mind, importing items is the quickest way to add a lot of information. Read our article about exporting and importing feature content to learn how importing works.
Add categories
Categories classify different types of sponsors. Applying a category to a sponsor adds the name of the category below the sponsor's name in the Sponsors feature and lets attendees filter them by category. If you plan to use categories, set them up before adding sponsor profiles. Read our Create Categories for Feature Items article for complete instructions.
Add profiles
From the 'Items' tab, click Add Item. If you plan to send collaboration invitations, it's still a good idea to configure some of the sponsor's information — especially fields the sponsor can't control, such as location, category, and booth size. Sponsors can update information you enter when they access the collaboration form. Learn more in our article about using collaboration forms.
Icon - Click Upload Image to upload a custom icon, or click Select Icon to choose one from our icon library. Refer to our Image Dimensions Quick Reference article for dimension and file type requirements.
Name (required) - The sponsor's official name that appears in the Event App.
Label/Subtitle - An additional line of text that appears under the sponsor name. This could be the company tagline or a little more information about them.
💡 Keep in mind, some mobile devices might not display text beyond the first 98 characters.
Location - Select a location where in-person attendees can find a sponsor booth. Category - Select the category the sponsor belongs to. Attendees can use categories to filter sponsors. They're also a great way to highlight sponsors at a higher sponsorship tier.
Description - Say more about your sponsor! There are some basic text formatting tools, along with options to insert hyperlinks, images, and even animated GIFs. 🙌
Booth Size/Booth Cover - The Booth Cover image appears above each sponsor in the Sponsors list. If you select Small, the sponsor profile won't have a cover image. If you select Medium or Large, click Upload Image and follow the prompts in the uploader. Refer to our Image Dimensions Quick Reference article for dimension and file type requirements.
💡 Keep in mind, the Booth Cover image only appears in the Web App, not the Mobile App.
Content Provider - Upload a PDF file, use Video on Demand content, enter a URL to a website, or link to content hosted on a variety of popular sites like YouTube, Vimeo, Twitch, and Facebook. As long as the content is embeddable, it appears inside the sponsor profile in the Web App. Mobile App users can tap a button that lets them access the content.
💡 Keep in mind, the Booth Size, Booth Cover, and Content Provider options only appear if your Sponsors feature is set to 'Grid View'.
Attendee Calls to Action - Enter a point of contact email address so attendees can request follow-up from a sponsor with the click of a button. Consider entering a meeting URL that lets attendees click or tap a button to book a meeting with the sponsor through a site like Calendly.
If the link content is embeddable, uncheck the 'Open link in external browser' box so that it opens inside your Event App's web version instead of in a new tab. Web content always opens in Mobile App users' default browsers. Read our article about Pass Data to URL to learn more about that feature.
Add Internal Links - Link the sponsor profile to other features in your Event App, such as Sessions, Live Stream features, and more. Refer to our Internal Links article for a full list of items that use Internal Links.
Add External Links - Enter multiple Website URLs, phone numbers, or email addresses related to the sponsor. Simply select the Link Type, enter a Link Name, and supply the number, email, or URL. Click Add New Item to insert more External Links. If you enter a URL and uncheck 'Open link in external browser', test to make sure the site is embeddable. Learn more about the Pass Data to URL option. Click and drag the six-dot icon next to an item to reorder it.
Attendee Engagement (Chat) - Chat is a great way for attendees to engage with sponsors and exhibitors. If you activate chat, make sure that at least one representative from the sponsor has an attendee profile in the Event App so they can respond to attendee chats.
Attachments - Click Upload Attachment(s) and follow the prompts in the uploader to upload PDF, JPEG, PNG, or TIFF files. After you've uploaded files, click the Settings (⋯) icon next to an item to rename or delete it. Click and drag the six-dot icon next to an item to reorder it.
Collaboration - Check the box next to each field you want to let this collaborator edit, then select the options the collaborator can choose from where applicable. Finally, enter a collaborator email address and message, then choose if you want to send the collaboration email as soon as you save the profile. Read our guide to using collaboration forms for complete instructions and details.
When you're done crafting the sponsor profile, click Save changes.
Repeat the steps outlined above until you've added all the sponsor profiles you need. If you have lots to add, remember that you can import multiple items at once.
Manage sponsors
After you've added categories and sponsors, there are several ways to manage each.
Filter by categories (Items only)
Search
Drag and drop to reorder
Edit or Delete
Email collaborator (if collaboration is configured)
Revoke or Reactivate collaboration (if collaboration is configured)
Multi-select and:
Export
Assign to category (Items only)
Email collaborators (if collaboration is configured)
Revoke/Reactivate collaboration (if collaboration is configured)
Delete
That was a lot of information, and we hope by now you're excited by all the wonderful possibilities. 🤩
Sponsors and Exhibitors in practice
We know there's nothing quite like experiencing products in action, so visit our special demo Event to explore sponsor profiles for yourself!
Metrics
We make it easy for you and your sponsors to find out how attendees are interacting with content, down to individual attendees. Hello, return on investment! 😎
On your Event App's Metrics tab, scroll down to the Feature Comparison section and click the Sponsors or Exhibitors feature.
This shows counts for:
Clicks
Chat
Favorited
Notes Taken
Requested Follow Up
Requested Meetings
Attachment Clicks
External Link Clicks
Internal Link Clicks
Average Rating
To download a spreadsheet with much more granular metrics, click the Export Report button, then click Metrics. If you want to download all the messages for each sponsor, click the Chats option. For a complete overview of what's included in these exports, refer to our Event App Metrics article. Edit the spreadsheet down to each sponsor's metrics and then email them all that data goodness. 💾
Lastly, use the Get Shareable Link button to simply send the whole Metrics page to your Sponsors. Think carefully before you do this — some sponsors might not want other organizations to have access to their metrics and chats. 🔒
That was a lot of reading, so congratulations on making it this far! You get a cookie. 🍪 Now, why not go learn how to add speaker profiles to your Event App? It's very similar to adding sponsors, and you're already an expert at that. 😉
Pro tips! 😎
After creating sponsor profiles, consider showcasing them on your event's website to provide even more exposure for your sponsors. To learn how to embed your sponsor list into your website, read our article about embedding Event App content with widgets.
Sponsor profiles act as a "landing page" or information hub for each sponsor, and they don't grant sponsor staff access to the Event App. If you want sponsor staff to interact with attendees in the Event App, add an attendee profile for each staff member, or have them register for the event using a hidden free ticket and access code.
Draw attention to your Sponsors feature by linking to it from an announcement or a banner.
Only profiles created in a Sponsors feature appear in an announcement's 'From' field or in the Smart Feed. If you want to send announcements from exhibitors or have their profiles appear in the Smart Feed, simply add your exhibitors to a Sponsor feature. No one will know the difference. 😄
Questions? Chat with us or email support@socio.events.