25/08/2026
We regularly see marketers making absolute statements about how their “viral” (paid engagement) drives attendance to events — when in reality, the event is driving the opportunity for obtaining social content.
When digging deeper, there is often no correlating metric between this social visibility/engagement and who actually shows up, spends money, or makes referrals that creates growth or sustainability.
One thing we’ve learned over many years in the event space is that every target audience is fickle, discerning, ever-changing, and turns over quickly.
Another thing we’ve learned is that FOMO is not a reliable call-to-action driver. It creates negative feelings within oneself. Creating anxiety or disappointment is not a great way to earn anyone’s affinity.
Affinity is sustainable…when the experience delivers the first time, evolves each time and improves over time.
An agency mindset of telling the public what they need may work in the commodity market, but in the realm of tapping into a families shrinking disposable income for experiential activities, what they want and like drives whether they will show up for you.
If your goal is visibility, awareness, engagement, sales, attendance, unique experience, and/or profit, be sure to ask for how the expense will create the appropriate ROI.
