The ‘Influencer’ way to Market Your Events

The marketing tool that is proven to grow audience reach and increase event attendance… want to know more? Let’s talk event influencers.

No doubt, with the ongoing domination of social media, you’ll be familiar with the notion of influencer marketing. Celebrities and well-known names promoting services and products via their social channels, allowing businesses to tap into large follower bases and providing another lucrative channel for brand exposure.

But, have you ever considered the influencer model and how it could be used as an impactful marketing tool for your events? If you have, you’re not alone; results from a study carried out by Launchmetrics, found that events are the second most popular instance for marketers to implement influencer marketing campaigns.

Read on and discover why diversifying your event marketing channels and investing in event influencer marketing to grow your events could be a path well worth pursuing…

Leverage the Influence

Whether a social superstar or a micro/ nano influencer, it’s been found that 49% of consumers depend on influencer recommendations for their purchasing decisions, with 40% going on to buy after seeing influencer content. These numbers signal the power influencers hold, and it’s why more marketers are looking to get influencers involved in the promotion of their events.

Reach and Trust

Working in partnership with strategically selected influencers gives you the potential to cut through to new untapped audiences – large segments of people who may never have heard of or engaged with your brand before, and who are likely to share an interest in your business and event content.

As the stats imply, people clearly invest a large amount of trust in influencers. Messaging delivered from advocates of your brand enhances your visibility and credibility, which is hugely advantageous when it comes to increasing awareness and driving desired behaviours around your event.

Who are my Influencers?

At this point, you may be thinking, ‘who are the influencers for my event?’. Event influencers can be individuals or other relevant businesses and can be considered from a variety of sources, including your event:

• Speakers

• Sponsors

• Exhibitors

• Past attendees

To run a successful campaign, it’s important to select influencers who will appeal to your target audience and who have authority with their audience population to influence action at key moments in your event’s lifecycle.

Boosting Awareness and Amplifying the Buzz

With an extended audience accessed through your chosen influencers, there’s the opportunity to seriously boost brand awareness before, during, and after your event.

Generate FOMO

Pre-event, collaborating with influencers to create engaging video or expert blog content, which can be shared across social channels is a good way for audiences to get a feel for your event programme and an authentic way to bring them closer to your mainstream business. Other assets and event-related content can also be designed and distributed via influencers’ channels to generate interest, conversation, anticipation, and buzz around the event before it takes place – it’s all about creating a FOMO to increase engagement and ultimately drive higher attendance figures.

Showcase the Experience From Another Perspective

Even during events, influencers can play pivotal roles in uniting audiences with your event and brand. Brief influencers and ask them to capture live moments from the event; streaming for real-time insights and adding photos and videos to social Story feeds with the event hashtag, are dynamic ways in which to bring followers into the event experience from another perspective.

The end Isn’t the end

The role of influencers shouldn’t end when the event does. Maintain the momentum and keep your event and brand top-of-mind with acquired audiences. From photos of the event, highlight showreels, whitepapers, behind the scenes interviews to on-demand recordings (the list goes on) – providing value-added content, via influencer channels, is a powerful tactic to extend engagement with those who attended, and another chance to draw those who didn’t attend in.

By demonstrating the legitimacy of your event and organisation, through the wider broadcasting of rich post-event content, you can develop the relevancy of your brand, effectively expedite future event attendance, and potentially attract the interest of influencers who may be keen to work with you in the future.

With their permission, reposting influencers’ Stories, images, and videos to your own social media profiles can also be mutually beneficial; influencers gain further exposure and your existing audience gains even more content to consume.

How it Works

If you’re ready to use influencers as a weapon in the marketing of your future events, then now’s the time to talk to us about our event marketing solutions and the technology we can harness to push forward the growth of your events. Tell us what you’re looking to achieve and let us consult on the campaign approach that will deliver the impact you desire.

Get in touch with the team today. Call: 02392 320 581 or email: info@in2events.co.uk