How do you host a pop-up event and what should you know about these unique occurrences? Here are a few things to think about if you’re considering this fast-growing trend.
From retail marketing to experiential dining, pop-up events are gaining in popularity since their inception about a decade ago. But pop-ups are more than just a trendy, “seemingly unplanned” or temporary happening. They have real power in building brand awareness and impressing a new audience. But just as anyone who has ever tried to master the casual look knows, creating an event that goes off flawlessly and yet looks as if it spontaneously happened, takes a lot of coordination.
Pop-up events are a powerful combination of expected and unexpected. You have to draw a crowd and yet keep it under wraps until the day of the event. You need to make it appear serendipitous, yet plan as seriously as you would a traditional meeting. If you want to have a pop-up as part of your business promotional efforts you need to know the following.
- Pay to Play or Not
Pop-ups can be free for the public, as in a new retail space opening for a few days, or a costly experience, as is usually the case with events. Your businesses goals and products/services which are showcasing will largely affect whether you charge for the events or not.
- There Are no Ordinary Pop-Ups
The very idea of a pop-up is born of the unexpected. There is no run-of-the-mill pop-up. The venue, the time, and the secret exclusivity, conjure up excitement. Don’t disappoint with anything less than extraordinary and innovative. Pop-ups are premium events.
- Pop-Ups Are More Marketing than Other Events
There’s a marketing component to all events, but few events are so uniquely positioned to cultivate word-of-mouth marketing, one of the most effective types around. Planning a pop-up takes more of a marketing strategy than other events because of the buzz it creates. You want to ensure it is used in the most effective way.
Evaluate your business’s marketing goal is for the pop-up event. Are you rolling out a new product and trying to create mega fans or are you trying to excite an audience? Knowing the expected outcome will help you create a more effective pop-up.
- Unusual Spots May Require Unusual Licenses
The mistake of a newbie pop-up business often involves licensing and the realization that one is needed at the last minute. Don’t allow an amazing venue to be ruined by not having the proper licensing. Don’t forget permits and insurance as well.
- There Are Real Estate Agents that Specialize in Pop-Up Venues
Finding the perfect temporary spot doesn’t have to be on your shoulders. There are agents that can find hot, temporary locations for you. But sometimes the best location is a non-traditional space like the dining in the sky experience that went from pop-up event to a scheduled occurrence in cities across the globe. You can also use popping.co.za to search for available space to book.
- Social Media Largely Powers the Pop-Up. Use It.
Some planners will tell you pop-ups have been used in their industry since 1997. However, it’s only been with the advent of social media, and its ability to create a crowd at short notice, that these pop-up events have really started to spread like wildfire. One of the easiest marketing tools you’ll use for marketing your pop-up is social media and other forms of digital marketing.
Not only should you use it to market the pop-up event but also to keep in contact with past attendees. As mentioned earlier, the potential for word-of-mouth marketing in pop-up events are astronomical. You want to make sure you have some way to harness this after the event, such as a newsletter sign-up or a private Facebook group.
- Pop-Ups Fit (Almost) Any Industry
Pop-ups are about creating an atmosphere people want to be a part of. It allows them to experience something unique and unexpected; something they can tell their tribe about that makes them feel like a celebrity. For this reason, you can use a pop-up event in nearly any industry that will allow for creativity and has the budget to create a unique experience.
Keep in mind, unique is not always costly. Many pop-up businesses have used extras for flash mob participation, and other ways to draw a crowd for their pop-up. Many unique venues can be obtained for little cost.
In Conclusion
Pop-ups are exciting events with impressive venues. There’s a lot of work behind each one because the very notion of a pop-up means they can’t be formulaic. While big businesses often have hosting events down to a science, creating a formula for a pop-up will dull the mystical aura behind a “surprise” pop-up event. In as much as planning is an absolute must, you must also allow each pop-up you have to be flavoured by the business’s message and their needs, each as unique as its host and the experience that occurs within its confines.
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