Running Successful Live Event Campaigns

Successful live event, or “in-stadium” campaigns require a strategic approach to promotion, engagement, and management - a little bit of up front work will pay ongoing dividends.

By taking a few simple steps, Campaignware clients can maximise participation and improve conversion rates on engagement and data collection initiatives.

Setting realistic expectations for participation and streamlining the user experience through smart linking and automation will further improve campaign effectiveness.

1. Keep QR Codes Permanently Visible

One of the biggest defining factors in ensuring success is the importance of having QR codes permanently displayed on stadium screens.

A common mistake people make is flashing QR codes for just a couple of seconds — not nearly enough time for fans to take out their phone, or finish a conversation and scan them.

Best Practice Tips:

Keep QR codes visible throughout the event on your big screen. This will ensure consistent entries rather than peaks. Work with your graphics provider on this.

If you’re running multiple campaigns and competitions - use 1x QR code and link to a hub (eg. Omnihub) so fans can discover other campaigns and CTAs to engage further.

2. Use the Omnihub to Encourage Discovery

The Omnihub is a critical driver of engagement Even when individual campaigns weren’t directly promoted, the Hub acted as a centralized discovery point for attendees.

Build a ‘Fan Zone or Fans Hub’ for fans to interact with your campaign and other CTAs or campaigns.

Best Practice:

Set up a Campaign Hub Omnihub with easy navigation and clear calls to action.

Add backlinks within campaigns to redirect users to the Hub, encouraging them to engage with multiple campaigns.

Track performance data to see which campaigns are getting the most traction through the Hub.

3. Boost Participation with Real-Time Moderation

Having someone actively managing the campaign on-site was identified as a game-changer as real time decisions may need to be such as finding a suitable winner so that the graphics and annoucement can be made, and also moderating the UGC (user-generated content) on the big screen.

Being more proactive in these parts can lead to much higher engagement and campaign entries.

Best Practice Tips:

Assign a dedicated person to manage campaigns

during the event.

Moderate content in real-time and update graphics or winner announcements quickly.

Downloading Content Wall reports can take much longer than all other reports to process due to the media it has to process. We recommend pre-emptively generating a report every 5-10 minutes so the reporting engine can process media in batches - making for faster download times when it matters.

4. Set Realistic Expectations on Audience Engagement

Campaign data showed that a realistic range for audience engagement during in-stadium events is between 10% and 40%. High-friction campaigns (eg. a photo upload) typically have a lower participation rate as they can take a little longer to enter - but the results are well worth it in fan data captured.

Best Practice Tips:

Set expectations internally and externally for entry numbers based on event size and campaign complexity.

Add marketing opt-ins to collect data from ticketholders and their friends and family

Use Campaignware’s reporting tools to analyse campaign performance and adjust strategies.

5. Ensure Announcers and Screens Work Together

Announcers calling out campaign participants, encouraging engagement, and interviewing winners significantly increased participation rates.

Similarly, ensuring the screen content is optimised for large format and easy to read boosted visibility.

Best Practice Tips:

Brief announcers on key engagement points and ensure they mention the campaign multiple times.

Create screen content that’s large enough for visibility and easy to read.

Encourage announcers to interact with user-generated content (e.g., calling out where fans traveled from).

6. Create a Loop Between Hub and Campaigns

Driving traffic between campaigns and the Hub worked well when a backlink was included. Automating this flow would further improve engagement.

Best Practice Tips:

Use Campaign Booster to link back to the Hub at the end of the campaign

Conclusion

Following these steps and using them to develop a clear process that involves all key stakeholders will ensure repeatable success in running live event campaigns.