We are in the stage business, but mostly in the banner business

“We are in the stage business, but mostly in the banner business,” says Scott Thompson, owner/president of StageRental.com, a stage rental company in Orlando, Florida.

It’s true, a stage rental company doesn’t just rent out stages. They provide the stage that is the billboard of the event. Thousands of people show up to events every weekend and take pictures of the artists/entertainers on stage all around the world.

Sponsorships have really taken off at live events. Promoters are finding they can get their production costs (stage, audio, lighting, video wall, etc) covered 100% or partially by sponsors looking to gain a unique edge in their marketing.

A typical outdoor stage rental for a small to medium size event (500 to 2,000 people) can cost anywhere between $1,500 and $3,000. Sound can be in the range of $1,000 to $3,000.

Lighting can be $200 to $3,000. Imagine getting all that paid for, and you keep all the ticket sales and profits from the event?! Banner costs are minimal by comparison, but they are what bring in the sponsorship dollars.

Attendees are snapping up pictures of the artists on stage with banners in the background showing the sponsor’s brand. These pictures end up getting shared on social media at an exponential rate, leading to even more exposure.

At the time of this writing, each person on Facebook has on average 338 Facebook friends. Each person on Instagram has about 150 followers. According to Business Insider, 35% of people in your timeline see your posts.

So that’s 118 Facebook friends and 52 Instagram followers that potentially see the event post from one single person. If you have 2,000 people at the event, and only half of them take pictures and share them… you do the math.

The use of #hashtags increases the reach online even further. For example, if the promoter or sponsor uses a hashtag such as #xyzevent or #xyzproduct on their banners, then people that want to see pictures of the event can look up that hashtag, and see every picture taken by hundreds or thousands of other people. This works with video very nicely as well.

Many customers do not even know the banner kits are included with the stage. We at StageRental.com mention this to every single client.

We want them to get banners for their stage, because they will be able to reuse those banners for years to come on “our” stages. In addition, their event will be more of a success because their sponsors will want to do it again.

North Coast Banners has been our go to banner company that we refer all our clients to for the past 5+ years. Their quality, service, and fast shipping makes all the difference with our customers.

We tell our customers “all you have to do is send NorthCoast the artwork, and they’ll make sure you get the right quality banners on time. They know the sizes of all our stages as well, so everything will fit perfectly.”

Too many of our customers have gone their own route, getting their friend or cousin to print banners for them. They show up with weak banners, no grommets, non blow through material. The wrong banners will cost you money. Do it right the first time!

If you aren’t utilizing banners at your events, you are missing out on free money, whether you are a promoter, stage company, or production company.

Banners more than pay for themselves. Call NorthCoast Banners!