*Back to life, back to reality* We’re not talking about the Soul II Soul song – ok maybe a little bit because duh – but mostly we want to discuss post-covid campaigns and events that require in-person presence again. With vaccinations rolling out and covid rates decreasing, we find ourselves wondering: will social gatherings be the same as before? Can you just… start organizing them again?

For a long time, quarantine totally eliminated the possibility to network, which is a huge part of being active in the world of influencer marketing. From launch parties to product activations and fashion shows: events are a great way for brands and influencers to connect.

While excitement is understandably high for these events to gradually come back – we’ve been baking banana bread long enough now -, we have to keep in mind that it’s still a relatively cautious time. 

There are some things to consider before you start organizing events again.

Hybrid

The pandemic forced us to think out of the box, so why stop now?

During the pandemic, a lot of companies in the event sector managed to show incredible creativity and perseverance. Innovative and impressive solutions were figured out left and right in order for us to connect with each other again. Just think of the 2020 fashion shows for example, where each real guest sat next to a digital attendee via webcam.

With entire sectors still recovering and thus dealing with tighter budgets, we can expect to see more of these sophisticated virtual participation options that started popping up in 2020. And it’ll be interesting to see those types of dual models develop over the next few years. Not only can intertwining in-person experiences with virtual ones elevate an event even more, its positive effect on our environment is also undisputed.

If relevant, figuring out how the two realms can overlap to benefit each other – and your brand – should be a major focus for the future of your business. Plus, a strong digital strategy and an all-round approach might attract the right influencers and impress the competition.

All about value

Gone are the days of big events for small reasons. 

Since the pandemic has sharpened the focus on the importance of public gatherings, experiences are now more important than ever. After being deprived of them for so long, everyone realizes how much it means to go out and enjoy ourselves.  

Plenty of influencers will thus more carefully consider and examine the return on investment from attending an event. They won’t spend their energy on everyone and everything like they might have done before. You should take a similar approach when it comes to your guest list: aim for mutual value.

Because honestly, the most important aspect of any physical meeting from now on will be just that: value. This isn’t a bad thing: it leads us to our authentic communities even more.

Less is more

During the pandemic, we were reminded of the importance of this sense of community. Social media became one of our biggest lifelines and brought connection to a lot of people’s daily realities in quarantine. More than ever, we looked for stories, hope, meaning. We wanted to share experiences, connect and relate to each other.

Let’s continue that ‘trend’, now we can meet up IRL again.

Before you spend a lot of time, money, and energy on an event, ask yourself some questions: is it relevant? Will it benefit your business? Can it impact others in a meaningful way? Then, by all means, go for it. And make it a hybrid one so more people can enjoy it, at that. 

But if anything: be more mindful. God knows we’ve all already wasted enough time on banana bread.

Looking for another meaningful way to spend your time? How about educating yourself even more on our Hub? We update it weekly with informative and inspiring content.