Influencer marketing and the event industry

You have certainly already come accross some people in suggestive poses taking semi-professional photos in the middle of a music festival, or have noticed that there are stages at some events that are flooding with digital personalities

Influencer Marketing has been one of the buzzwords and trends dominating marketing speech and discussion in recent years. No longer a matter of relevance, it is now its utility and penetration into different areas of brand activation that defines the new perimeters of this discussion.

Corporate events, sponsorship and brand activation are not strangers to this reality. It is, in fact, one of the areas where influential marketing is most noticeable, and also possibly where it is most disruptive.

By 2019 it is no longer a question of how digital audience is a measurable, expected reality of event planning. Whether it’s a corporate action, a trade show or a big summer festival, it must have in its genesis an aesthetic and functional concern for how it can and should be digitally amplified. Not only with a clear strategy of own creation for partner channels, but even making the event something that provokes and invites the digital sharing of participants to their social media.

Just have a look at how the digital popularity of festivals such as Coachella, TomorrowLand or Burning Man went far beyond their geographic boundaries to be recognised brands for the general public. And even brand activations within these events rival their digital popularity. The #REVOLVEFestival example for Revolve Beauty is paradigmatic.

Part of this popularity is due to influencer marketing strategies. So oddly crucial as a success factor, that it even has in the tragedy of the “famous” FYRE Festival its most recognised case of success and efficiency in ticket sales. Even if it ended in a tragedy in terms of organisation.

But the presence of digital influencers and content creators at events is not only useful for the purpose of selling tickets. Actually, their presence rises nowadays to the very stages of events, as we can already see in Portugal when Rock In Rio dedicates whole stages to digital stars like Youtubers or Gaming Streamers.

Brands are clearly taking huge advantage from event influencers: the presence of content creators with wide audiences can raise brand awareness at an event far beyond those attending, creating a curiosity effect and FOMO with those who follow the content through social media.

It is up to teams that specialise in creating brand experiences and events to understand that optimising work conditions for digital influencers work is a win-win situation for the organisation, sponsors and those actively participating in the event.

The next step will be to integrate digital content strategy inputs and influencer marketing at the very moment of event planning and creation. With this level of anticipation you can make the most of this type of strategy: Brand Awareness, Brand Engagement, Lead Generation, Attention Retention, etc… These are all goals that, once defined, can be largely fueled by the use of Influencer Marketing thought for that particular purpose.

Francisco Morgado Véstia, Country Manager of SamyRoad Portugal