walk out of there with a bunch of good leads.”
To make it easier for marketers and brands to decide where to put their sponsorship dollars, SponsorHub developed a ranking system that takes into account such details as the demographics of the audience as well as the social influence of the events.
Andrew Reid, co-founder and chief technology officer of SponsorHub, says by collecting social media data and other analytics from various sources, the company created an algorithm to score events, athletes, and entertainers in terms of their reach.
“We’ve taken things like the Klout score and raw social media inputs from Twitter, Facebook, Pintererst, and YouTube,” Reid says. The on-field performances of athletes, aggregated from data sources such as Bloomberg and ESPN, are also factored in. Armed with such information from the SponsorHub platform, he says marketers can get a clearer idea about what they are investing in.
Marketers may also find lower cost ways reach their desired audience through the platform, Reid says. High profile events such as the South by Southwest (SXSW) festivals or the Super Bowl offer sponsors chances to reach massive audiences, but at relatively high cost, while competing in a crowded field of pitches. SponsorHub, says Reid, can help marketers put together packages of smaller, targeted events that may cost less and may collectively have reach comparable to a single, major event. “There are much more efficient ways to purchase many of these sponsorships,” Reid says.
Johnston, an investor in Klout, says SponsorHub has thus far raised $750,000 in a seed round last fall from backers that include Quotidian Ventures, Vision Ventures, SecondMarket’s CEO Barry Silbert, and other angel investors. It is too soon, says Johnston, to determine if SponsorHub will pursue more funding to scale up.
The company is exploring the possibility of listing other types of sponsorship opportunities beyond events, celebrities, and athletes. Johnston says he also wants to build up his team to operate in major geographic markets to better serve brands that are eager to reach more potential customers. “Sponsorship is that moment when they get face-to-face with the audience,” he says.
