👋 Today, we’re looking at the different categories of sponsors and how to approach each one.

Ad sales-based generalisations aside, let’s dive in! 🚀

🌟 The 7 Types of Sponsors (and How to Pitch Each One)

Not all sponsors are created equal. Some want leads, others want vibes. Some care about CACs, others care about being seen next to Notion. If you want to sell more ads, close bigger deals, and avoid mismatched expectations, you need to know who you’re talking to.

Here’s a breakdown of six sponsor types, how they think, and how to sell to them without sounding like a media kit in human form.

1. 💼 Broad B2B SaaS

B2B SaaS products/companies that sell to a variety of industries (e.g. HubSpot, Notion, Canva).

Common goals: Leads, demos, Awareness of a new AI feature, newsletter signups (e.g. Hubspot growing the Hustle), and sometimes straight user acquisition.

CAC/economics: Varies a lot, but typically $100-$500. Depending on the company size and the realism of their marketing decision-makers.

Behaviour/Budget: Most SaaS companies are young, marketing decisions are nimble and deal cycles are short. Often have decent budgets. The larger you get, the more rigid their buying process becomes.

How to pitch: Deeply understand their buyer persona and show relevance. These brands can take their pick of audiences, so make your campaign offering unique with creative ideas, lead magnets, webinars, etc.

Timing may be paramount for them. For example, I had spent years trying to pitch to Notion across various publishers. Then, consulting for a small newsletter, got a reply and wrapped up a deal within days. Ultimately, because that audience exactly matched up with a new feature they were launching.

Timing is key.

2. 📊 Niche B2B SaaS

B2B SaaS that targets a single niche industry or use case (e.g. Rebuy, personalised upsell and cross-selling SaaS for DTC brands).

Common goals: Lead gen, demo bookings, whitepaper downloads, newsletter building, webinars, etc.

Behaviour/Budget: Once they’re sure about the audience, they’ll move mountains to spend there and can usually move quickly. They’re rightfully selective, but once they’re in, they’re in.

Buyer behaviour wildly varies, for example, a Defence SaaS is a very different media buyer than a niche dev-tool SaaS.

CAC/economics: $200–$1,000+. Because they have a niche ICP, they are willing to pay a LOT more to get in front of the right audience.

How to pitch: Focus on niche alignment. "Our audience = your ICP" is the whole play. Show solid understanding of your space, and be honest about the wastage, the marketer will be very accustomed to slices of audiences not being relevant. Owning that upfront is better than trying to pretend it doesn’t exist.

3. 🏦 Financial Services

Including all services for individuals’ investment platforms, fintech, robo-advisors, credit, banking, budgeting tools, etc.

Common goals: Lead gen & user acquisition. Signups, open accounts, funded accounts, deposits or investments made.

Behaviour/Budget: Compliance adds friction, but smaller companies can still move fast. If your audience is right, they’ll test and scale fast.

CAC/economics: $50–$800 depending on product complexity and compliance. Heavily regulated, but high-LTV.

How to pitch: Understand their target investor profile, i.e. accreditation, location, income, activity etc. The biggest one will be affluence and accreditation.

Most will want to take an educational approach, whilst maintaining a direct response campaign. If they hit their goals, they’ll literally be your best friend. They’re a nice cohort of brands that LOVE newsletters, it’s just a channel that works well for them, think Masterworks, Vinovest, Percent, and CaskX.

4. 🛍️ CPG

Physical consumer goods e.g. supplements, clothing, etc.

Common goals: Sales. Acquisition. ROAS. Some large brands will have awareness budgets for digital.

Behaviour/Budget: Much more budget constrained than the above categories, mainly due to together CAC targets and the need for conversions from day 1. Small companies are quick-ish to move. Large CPG companies…. good luck.

CAC / economics: $20–$100. Volume game. They’ll scale what works.

How to pitch: Focus on product fit and audience intent. Bundle with social, or other media, offer to use discount codes and generally laser focus the campaign on conversions. Give them the confidence that you’ll hit their CAC goal.

For CPG, you’re 10x better off targeting brands with high AOV or LTV. For example, meal kits, biohacking, luxury clothes or subscription health/wellness. They are more likely to hit ROAS goals and renew.

5. 📱 Consumer Tech

Common goals: Installs, signups, subscriptions, active accounts.

Behaviour/Budget: Similar to CPG, they’re more budget constrained then their B2B cousins. But if you can show that the numbers add up, they’ll slign some budget at you, and keep it that way if it performs well.

CAC / economics: $30–$200 varies a lot. Since they usually have a subscription model, they’re slightly more flexible than CPG.

How to pitch: Talk install velocity, not just audience size. Segment by device if you can. Reference campaign success with the same type of action (e.g. app downloads). Talk outcomes and conversion, even more so than usual.

Discounts can be useful to help them test you’re audience. If you can focus on higher LTV products.

5. 🎟️ Events

Not as common, mostly conferences, summits, and (less so post-COVID) virtual events.

Common goals: Ticket sales.

Behaviour/Budget: Quite hard to get budget out of. But they become less frivolous closer the the event, especially if they’re behind targets. Buying speed is again, very timing-dependent.

CAC/economics: $50–$400 per attendee, depending massively on the industry and how senior your audience is. ROI is time-sensitive.

How to pitch: Align audience profiles, location and desire to actually attend events. You may need to offer discounts or get creative to earn trust. Every dollar counts for them.

6. 🧩 Other

Of course, this list isn’t fully comprehensive, just the most common types.

The guiding principles for when talking to a brand that doesn’t fit these personas is still the same:

• Understand their target audience

• Understand their goals

• Understand how they measure their goals (e.g. CAC, CPL, etc)

• Pitching a campaign that aligns

• Close with a budget and timeline

Simple, not easy.

P.S. Need help selling more sponsorships? My agency Ad Sales as a Service helps media companies do just that.