How to engage with influencers at events

Engaging with influencers, who have the ability to influence the buying decisions in your target market, is a great marketing technique at events and exhibitions. But how do you influence an influencer?

The answer – by engaging with them and giving them something to talk about.

People are driven by emotions, so it’s important to find an emotion that works for your brand and make sure your exhibition stand design and engagement techniques reflect this in the message you’re trying to share.

In this article, we’ll show you three brands that have effectively engaged with influencers in a creative manner to widen their audience and get their messages across.All examples were seen at a BritMumsLive event, organised for influencers.

Coca Cola

Coca Cola used a counter to conduct a blind taste test of their original, full-fat Coke vs their new formulation of Coke Zero with no calories.

For Coca Cola, this was an opportunity to put their money where their mouth is to show just how similar they are to ask visitors if they could tell which one was normal, full-fat coke and which one was Coke Zero.

A lot of visitors thought they would be able to tell the difference immediately, but were soon proven wrong when they found the challenge harder than they expected, or getting them mixed up.

From Coca-Cola’s point of view, they’re challenging the preconceptions of their product Coke Zero to an audience that may want an option to drink what for all purposes could be full-fat coke, but without the calories.

From the influencer’s point of view, the emotion they’re made to feel is surprise – which increases the chance of sharing the experience with their audience.

Boots Soltan

Boots used a branded holiday themed backdrop and photo booth to ask bloggers to have their photo taken with some props – including their product. After the pictures were taken, a printout of the photos was given to each person who took part.

Using an interactive screen, Twitter details could be entered to share a GIF that animated the 4 photos to be shared on their personal accounts which had the message of 5* sun protection on it.

This meant that their message of 5* sun protection (especially important for parent bloggers!) was stretched far and wide, taking advantage of the influencer’s presence on social media.

From the influencer’s point of view, it’s a fun thing to do with a photo memento from the day.

Clangers

It’s not just big exhibition spaces that can be engaging. The Clangers had a smaller stand presence with two roller banners and a table top display.

The Clanger’s stand introduced themed merchandise to a relevant   audience and asked influencers to write a message of kindness, tie it to a tree that sat next to their stand and share a photo of it on social media with the hashtag #clangersforkindness.

This reinforced the brands message on the social platforms of the influencer, spreading their message of positivity.

As well as warm fuzzy feelings of sharing a positive message, the  influencer was incentivised to share the message with a potential prize bundle.
 

Summary of how to engage with influencers at events:

1. Give influencers a reason to share your content with an emotional connection something interesting, funny, shocking etc
2. Let influencers get hands on with your message – it’s a face to face event after all and they’re much more likely to remember your message if they’ve been involved or discovered something for themselves
3. Invite influencers to share your content on social media with a special hashtag
4. Incentivise influencers to share your content – offer a competition, or a small prize as a thank you to them
5. Ask for their contact details to stay in touch with your latest news and make sure you email them after the event to thank them for coming.