How to Get Influencers to Attend Your Event

Hosting an event for your brand is a good opportunity to connect with the community and other industry professionals.

Depending on the type of event, you might also want to consider inviting influencers.

If you’re wondering how to get influencers to attend your event, you’ve come to the right place.

Brands that take the time to partner with the right influencers and value maintaining positive relationships end up building long-lasting connections, opening the door to opportunities for partnerships later down the line.

Having an established and consistent social media presence is the first step, and utilizing that platform to promote your event is key. Here are some different types of events and tips for getting influencers to attend them:

Types of In-Person Events You Can Host with Influencers

The type of event you want to put on should be determined well in advance before inviting influencers to attend. Here are some of the most common events you can host together:

• Q&A/Panel Discussions

Social meida can feel impersonal, so inviting influencers to be part of a panel to discuss a specific topic face-to-face can build a much stronger relationship with your brand and customers. We recently hosted an event in LA aimed to connect local food & beverage/CPG brands with influencers and discuss how to leverage influencer marketing for driving brand awareness and sales.

Our panel discussion had a dynamic mix of brands, content creators, sales pros and even our founder, all coming together to share their expertise on the subject—making it a much more interactive event! 

• Product Launch

If you’re releasing a new product or product line soon, having influencers attend the launch event is a great way to build hype and get their followers excited to see exactly how your products work. Plus, if they post a photo or Instagram Story while at the event, you’ll get some amazing user-generated content to share across your social channels! 

• Group Classes

Whatever event you choose, it should also make sense for your brand. For example, if you’re a haircare company that just launched a new low-heat styling tool, try hosting an event where you invite local stylists or hair enthusiasts to offer group styling lessons and showcase your product’s new features.  

• Pop-Up Shop

Pop-up shops are a fun way to attract trendy influencers and loyal fans. Draw people into your event by choosing a high foot-traffic area and make it enticing enough for people to want to stop by—giveaways, photo-ops and interactive demos or product sampling stations are a must. Make sure to create a hashtag for the pop-up so people outside your influencer’s network have it on their radar.

Contact Influencers

Now that you know what kind of event you want to host, it’s time to invite your influencers! Here’s how to reach out to influencers you’d like to attend:

• Send out an invite either via DM or email: Make sure your invite sounds friendly and fun while still explaining the reason for the event, what to expect and why it would benefit them to attend. For example emails and DMs to kickstart your outreach, check out this blog. 
  
  
• Create an easy-to-navigate website: Include this link in the email invitation for your event and have a place to RSVP, detailed info about the event, who will be attending (be sure to list any well-known speakers/presenters and brands) and logistics about the event. Mention date and time, parking info and any other highlights you feel are relevant.
  
  
• Timing is everything! You should send your initial invites well before the event - at least three weeks before - so influencers have time to plan for it and adjust their schedules.
  
  
• Send reminders about the event:  Email is probably the best way to do this so it stays top-of-mind for attendees. You’d be surprised how many people decide at the last minute to attend an event/RSVP - be sure to schedule your reminders accordingly.

Incentivize Influencers to Attend

Where budget allows, offer the influencers incentives or perks to want to attend. Here’s how to make things extra enticing for the influencers and how to add some flair to your event:

• Assemble swag bags: Advertising a special thank-you gift of goodies with their name on it to thank them for coming is a great incentive. (Because who doesn’t like free stuff?) Having customized gifts like a cup, notebook, hat or bag with their name and your branding will go a long way! 
  
  
• Make it photo-worthy: Make sure your event has unique, branded and Instagram-able photo ops! These are influencers, after all, and this is a great way to get your event and brand popping on their social feeds. Be sure to call out this aspect on the invite so they have more incentive to attend. Check out our StatusBox backdrop from our LA event this past January below! 
  
  

• Plan out and implement social media coverage before, during and after the event: This will not only help boost the event turnout but will also keep people talking about your event long after it’s over. Here’s what we suggest: 
  
  
  • Before: Create graphics for the date, time, location and info about the event
  • During: Live coverage of the event, pics and interactive Instagram Stories
  • After: Event recap, send “thank yous” to attendees and tease the next event

How to Get More Influencers to Promote Your Brand In-Person

Hosting an event can shine a positive light on your brand and open opportunities later down the line.

Throw in influencers to the mix and you’ve got a recipe for success!

And if your brand needs to partner with influencers at scale, Statusphere can help.

Our micro-influencer marketing platform matches brands with creators using 250+ first-party data points. Through our vetted creator community and streamlined fulfillment technology, Statusphere helps brands earn guaranteed content.

We built our software specifically to support brands with an always-on influencer strategy. We’ve already generated 75,000+ pieces of content for 400+ brands.

Want to learn more about how our platform works? Get in touch with one of our experts to see how we can scale your influencer marketing efforts in a fraction of the time.