Behind-the-Scenes Magic Boosts Event Marketing Impact

Behind-the-scenes (BTS) content — video, photos, and other social media posts that provide an inside look into your brand — builds trust and transparency, helping customers feel like they know you and your brand on a deeper level. It humanizes your brand by showcasing the people behind the logo, while satisfying human curiosity about what’s going on behind the curtain.

And — perhaps most important — BTS content builds suspense and excitement around upcoming events like activations and pop-up shops. “Social media marketing is done best when you commit to creating content before, during and after your event,” says Prime Marketing Agency. The layered approach generates excitement before the event, then keeps it alive for days or weeks after, giving more and more consumers the opportunity to experience it.

As you plan your next activation or pop-up shop, find ways to document the event as it unfolds, and follow up with attendees and others after the fact. Don’t worry about whether the content has inherent appeal or is interesting enough to share. “BTS content can make pretty much everything look fun, exciting, and engaging,” says Curator Blog.

Here are some ways to build a behind-the-scenes campaign around your next brand activation or pop-up shop to increase reach and engagement for the event.

Pre-Event Teasers

Pre-event content is arguably the most important aspect of your marketing. This is your way to get across as much info about your event as possible in the most exciting way possible. This suspense-building content comes in many different forms:

Sneak peeks

Share sneak peeks of the event planning or setup to build anticipation. This could mean showing scenes from the design phase or the event setup itself, or building suspense around an influencer’s presence at the event. This builds anticipation for the finished product and piques curiosity about what’s to come.

Product teasers

Offer advance details of products that will be available at the pop-up shop or showcased at your activation. This could be close-up shots, glimpses of the design or manufacturing process, or short videos showcasing functionality.

Teamwork

Introduce the team behind the event via interviews, testimonials, or “day in the life” content, Curator Blog suggests. Feature your team working together to prepare the shop or design the activation, or your team members prepping brand ambassadors for the kickoff. This humanizes your brand and shows the dedication it takes to pull off a pop-up.

Countdowns

Create a countdown post, and share regular updates to keep the event top of mind with a visually appealing, immediately recognizable graphic or image. Make sure these posts include pertinent details — date, time, location, etc. — to make it easy for customers to save the date.

Digital flyers

Digital flyers posted to your social media are an excellent way to spread what-where-when details with your followers. If you’re working with an influencer or content creator, make sure they have access to the flyers, logos for the event, or other materials they can share for instant visual recognition.

Dedicated landing page

“Create an event page with your pop-up shop details and enticing copy about why people should stop by,” Curator Blog advises. During and after the event, this page on your website can become the hub for content about the event as well as user-generated content.

Use a registration platform

Using a registration system like Eventbrite, Splash, or Facebook’s events feature “can help you get found by users searching for events like yours,” writes Alexis Damen in a post for wearewomenowned.com. RSVPs also grow your mailing list.

Hashtags

Create a hashtag that’s unique to your event, then use it in every single post about your event. Promote that hashtag to your followers, and if you’re working with an influencer, make sure they do the same. Spread the hashtag across other promotional media, too, to build an easy performance metric into your event. “This way, you can track who’s talking about your event and see how many people post about their experience,” says the storefront.com.

Make participation easy

In every post or web page referencing the event, include the date, time, and location so users won’t have to search for it.

Live Event Updates

Whether it’s a pop-up shop, a trade show booth, or a brand activation, generating content during the event is crucial — it not only promotes the event as it unfolds, it also sets the stage for follow up promotions, as well as giving you photos, videos, and other content for your website and social media. “This is your chance to showcase how successful your event is whilst simultaneously promoting your brand on social media.”

Live streaming

Post live-streams from the event itself on social media, putting viewers right in the heart of the action while increasing the reach and impact of the event itself. Real-time content helps create some urgency and fear of missing out, driving more visitors to your event.

Q & A

Engage with your social media followers in real time by answering questions about the event, your brand, your products, etc., from the event itself. This serves the dual purpose of engaging with potential customers and also gathering data on what consumers want to know about your brand.

Influencer involvement

If you partner with influencers or content creators for the event, introduce them in advance and encourage them to post behind the scenes content as well; they will know what their followers want to know about the event and how that event might form or cement a bond with your brand.

Encourage users to create content

Support event participants in creating and sharing BTS content by creating photo opportunities within the event — cool backdrops, visually striking rooms or displays. Promote your hashtags and social media handles at every opportunity.

Document backstage activity

Posting video of your team while the event is underway offers a glimpse into what it takes to pull off an experiential marketing event. It also humanizes your brand and your team, making customers feel more like part of the event, less like attendees.

Post-Event Content

You’ve put a lot of work into this event — make the most of that effort and expense by keeping the energy alive as long as possible through post-event content. Even though you can’t drive people to your event at this point, you can build brand awareness and excitement, says thestorefront.com. And the attention users are paying to your last event can include details about the next one, or a call to action to visit your website or join your email list for more information and to stay in the loop.

Create a “scrapbook” online

Use the landing page on your website as a place to collect and highlight key aspects of the event. Attendees will have a reason to check out your website (and perhaps make a purchase) to keep alive the excitement around that experience. Users who missed the event or who come looking for your next activation or pop-up will appreciate a taste of what they might get to experience. If you’ve already scheduled your next event, take the opportunity to promote it alongside “memories” from the last one.

Solicit user-generated content

Create some incentive for visitors to share their photos and videos from the event on their social media, using your event-specific hashtag. “Guests will share their content for the next few days or weeks after the event, and you can repost it,” says thestorefront.com.

Post a highlights reel or photo album

Post and promote a collection of images and video snippets from the event to your social media. In the post, solicit comments by asking questions — “what was your favorite part?” — and encourage viewers to share their own comments and content.

Share and ask for feedback

Share your findings from surveys, Q&As, and interviews conducted on-site. Giving customers a peek at your “raw” data makes them feel closer to the brand. Include interactive elements like polls, quizzes or contests in your social media posts.

Behind-the-scenes content can be a fun, strategic way to connect with your audience on a deeper level, foster trust and brand loyalty, and generate excitement around your brand. It’s also relatively simple and inexpensive to pull off, because users don’t expect pro-level production values and composition from BTS photos and videos — the excitement of “being there” is compelling, personal and relatable, bringing visitors closer to your brand.

Promobile Marketing is a dynamic experiential marketing agency based in New York City. For over a decade, Promobile Marketing has collaborated with a range of brands—from budding startups to major CPG brands—on immersive marketing campaigns. Get in touch to discuss your next project.