Vibes over metrics: Why more creators are holding IRL events to own their audience

Those special, off-platform moments are why companies like Snapchat started holding IRL workshops called “Snap School” to not only teach creators how to thrive on the platform, but how to build relationships off-platform, as well. 

“It’s a chance for them to hang out with their friends during recess and meet different creators. They don’t have the opportunity to do that on an ongoing basis,” said Berry. 

The Influencer Marketing Hub reports that community-building accounts for more than 46.9% of creator mentions, and IRL events are a major pillar of nurturing an established audience.

The phenomenon rings true no matter the platform of choice. LinkedIn creators like Colin Rocker and Natasha Badger are increasingly leaning into IRL events to meet what they say are their audiences’ demands. Rocker’s For The Firsts is a monthly NYC-based event for professionals who are the first in their family to have the career they have, while Badger hosts marketing roundtables in NYC, the most recent of which had a 300+ person waitlist.

Becky Owen, global head of FiveTwoNine and global CMO of Billion Dollar Boy said over the last two years more creators have expressed interest in attending big tentpole events or hosting their own. To meet the moment, the company launched The Creator Fund, a program that helps send creators to major industry events. It’s complemented by a new effort called Your Community IRL, which provides financial support for creators hosting in-person events. 

“IRL events are a powerful litmus test. If your community will show up for you in real life, it’s one of the strongest signals that they’ll follow you wherever you go next, whether that’s a new platform, a new product launch, or a whole new creative direction,” Owen said.

Owen said that it’s not just the massive creators with millions of followers who are hosting in-person events, but creators of all sizes. 

“People crave slower, more tactile experiences,” Owen said. “Audiences want to feel something, not just scroll through it.” 

These kinds of experiences are a natural extension of the mood creators can evoke in their audience, and help them future-proof their careers to protect them from whatever the next platform shake-up may bring. 

Michael Heller, CEO of Talent Resources, spoke with Digiday about how technology retailer tmrw brought Heated Rivalry star Ksenia Daniela Kharlamova into its NYC store to meet more than 2,000 fans as part of a free event. Heller stressed the importance of “charged moments” not just for brands and creators, but the creators’ audiences, too.

“All of that time and energy they’re putting into them as a fan, it pays off for them,” he said.

And the more creative the event, the better. 

Snap’s Berry also runs Shift Crawl, an independent, creator-focused event program whereby creators clock in for shifts at local businesses. She says those events often create more memorable experiences than online posts or typical meet-and-greets. 

“I did a Shift Crawl with Jeremiah from Love Island at The Last Bookstore in Downtown LA…he was clocking out books and said ‘everybody get a round of books on me’…that’s better than a round of shots,” Berry said. “I told him ‘no one will ever remember that they took a picture with you at some bar at a meet and greet, but they’ll never forget that you recommended a book to them in person’.” 

The perfect dudes for IRL

Dude Perfect, the sports and comedy group, is now on its sixth year of large-scale stadium tours across more than 20 different U.S. cities. 

Their challenge-based, sports-centered content translates incredibly well to stadiums, and the fan fests that take place outside of the arenas let families try out some of the Dudes YouTube-famous trick shots or snag some food. Last year, their 2025 tour drew more than 200,000 fans across 20 cities, with tickets starting at around $50.

Matt Deimund, chief product officer at Dude Perfect, told Digiday they’ve adjusted their tour to meet fans’ expectations. This year, that means bringing their popular new Squad Games series, which has the Dudes face off against professional athletes in a series of challenges, to stadiums across the country.

“We’re a media company, and so we’re continually thinking about content and products and experiences, and how do those things work together and build off each other?” Deimund said. “The Squad Games tour started as content…it’s an even grander scale than what you might see in some of our YouTube videos.”

That grand scale will include basketball slingshots, go-kart soccer, and showdowns with teams like the Harlem Globetrotters and the Savannah Bananas.

Measuring the success of an IRL event requires a bit more nuance than just checking engagement and retention rates, but there are some obvious metrics that help the team understand an event’s effectiveness, like ticket and merch sales and sentiment analysis conducted after events.

“The economics take care of themselves, but it’s really about fueling that fandom that we’re really, really focused on,” Deimund said.