Creator Economy Shifts Offline as Brands Embrace IRL Events to Build Stronger Community Connections

The new age of the creator economy is taking place in-person, IRL, and it’s time for brands to catch up to those spearheading the movement off-screens. Community is at the heart of the creator economy. Before the modern influencer marketing industry emerged today, the internet served as a hub for like-minded fans and creatives to connect. With the evolution of social media over the past few decades, users now struggle with “scrolling fatigue” and “digital captivity.” Avid social media users are looking to take their interests offline while also finding a balance in building communities under their favorite creators. As Andrew Roth, Founder and CEO of dcdx, puts it, “The desire and appetite for IRL has never been clearer; young people are not just interested in in-person gatherings, they crave them.” A recent report from EMARKETER revealed that over 84% of Gen Z and Millennials value brands that develop a marketing mix that incorporates both technological and physical experiences. Although social media is a key tool for users to discover creators and engage with brands, these opportunities for community building flourish in person when paired with digital activations.

This October, The Influencer Marketing Factory published its Creators IRL blog ^[1] , featuring key trends on experiential influencer marketing. The Influencer Marketing Factory also conducted its 2025 Creators IRL survey, exploring user sentiment and never-before-seen statistics regarding in-person creator activations.

1. Why Are Creator IRL Events Beneficial for Brands?

Creator IRL events are beneficial for both brands and creators since they serve the growing user need for in-person interactions and community building. More than 46% of mentions derive from community-building accounts, according to The Influencer Marketing Hub, signalling how long-term value-driven relationships are on the rise in the creator economy.

Creator IRL events are the perfect opportunity for brands to garner user-generated content, aka UGC, another common trend in influencer marketing. Fans, attendees, brands, and creators all contribute to a diverse content pipeline spanning from ideation to the execution of Creator IRL events. Whether creators are sharing BTS footage of planning in-person activations or brands and fans are posting vlogs recapping these exciting events, the opportunities for organic UGC are endless.

Expanding sponsorship value is another key benefit of Creator IRL events for brands. For instance, Dude Perfect’s 21-event national tour this past summer demonstrates how top brands can reach a dynamic audience of fans at various touchpoints and geographic locations, contributing to an ongoing live storyline with creators and developing new opportunities for user connections. “The repeated exposure and the depth of emotion you get at a live event is an asset that we’re lucky to have at our disposal,” Dude Perfect CEO Andrew Yaffe told Digiday.

2. Top Examples of Creator IRL Events

Creator IRL events can span all niches and industries, from beauty to professional sports. The Influencer Marketing Factory outlined several top examples of high-performing in-person creator activations in its recent blog and infographic, including the following.

Tana Mongeau’s Cancelled Live Tour: Tana Mongeau’s Cancelled Live Tour, co-hosted by Brooke Schofield, is one of the most viral examples of an in-person creator experience. In an interview with creator Jeff Wittek, Mongeau revealed that the international live podcast tour proved to have an amazing ROI thanks to ticket and merchandise sales. According to data from StubHub, influencers, podcasters, and authors sold 500% more tickets for events in 2025 compared to last year.
Salish Matter’s Sincerely Yours Launch: Salish Matter, daughter of YouTuber Jordan Matter, launched her debut skincare line this September, breaking records for both influencer-founded brands and Creators IRL. In celebration of the launch, Salish Matter hosted a fun pop-up, drawing a record-breaking 87K fans to American Dream Mall. Due to overcrowding and capacity concerns, fans had to leave the event early. Dedicated fans then redirected their efforts to sharing social content and selling out Sincerely Yours’ Sephora inventory, proving the power of IRL product activations.
Jake Paul vs. Gervonta “Tank” Davis: Creator sporting events are extremely engaging for fans as they increasingly blend digital and in-person activations. For example, Jake Paul’s upcoming boxing match against The Tank can be attended by fans in person at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta or streamed worldwide on Netflix. Such a hybrid model for Creators IRL allows fans to choose between in-person energy and at-home viewing, expanding accessibility and scale.
Addison Rae & Conan Gray on Tour: Creators-turned-musicians, like Addison Rae and Conan Gray, are fusing live shows with brand partnerships, reshaping both entertainment and commerce. The current Addison Tour features a wide range of in-person fan experiences like meet-and-greets and branded activations like Rae’s Lucky Brand Jeans collab, while Conan Gray partnered with various lifestyle and fashion brands throughout his Found on Heaven Tour. Regardless, such tours allow creators and performers to leverage their creativity and storytelling while contributing to pop culture and promoting brands.

3. Best Practices for Brands Hosting Creator IRL Events

If you are a marketer looking to host a branded in-person event with influencers, here are some key guidelines to follow, as per The Influencer Marketing Factory.

Co-Create With Creators & Influencers: The most successful Creator IRL events are built alongside creators, not just around them. Influencers know their audiences best, so collaborating with them during the planning stages of an experiential marketing campaign, product launch, or any other Creator IRL event can increase user satisfaction.
Design Your Event for Shareability: Given that Creator IRL events act as built-in content pipelines, brands should design such events for shareability. Provide attendees with photo-ops, aesthetic displays, and fun interactive stations that make for amazing social media content.
Create Immersive, Multi-Sensory Moments: Immersive, multi-sensory pop-ups are another major trend in experiential influencer marketing. From OLIPOP’s Orange Cream Drive-Thru to Sol de Janeiro’s Casa Cheirosa Coachella Activation, multi-sensory events establish a more engaging and immersive experience for attendees, also inspiring exciting UGC content.
Tap Into Niche Communities With Hyper-Local Events: Not all in-person creator events have to be extremely large–sometimes, true power and engagement come at a local scale. Try tapping into niche communities with hyper-local events featuring micro-to-mid-sized creators to foster more one-on-one connections and drive more authentic community interactions for your brand.
Think Omnichannel & Extend Content Lifecycle: Utilize an omnichannel marketing strategy to extend the content lifecycle of your Creator IRL event well after it wraps in-person. Leverage livestreams, behind-the-scenes content, creator vlogs, and other content created during your event on your brand’s website, emails, and other platforms.

4. Exclusive Interview With Brooke Berry, Founder of The Shift Crawl

Forbes recently reported that over 95% of Gen Z and Millennials expressed an interest in taking their online interactions and passions to the real world through in-person experiences. Brooke Berry’s latest viral initiative, The Shift Crawl, is directly serving the needs of these younger generations by creating new opportunities for community-building and fan-creator interactions.

The Influencer Marketing Factory held an exclusive interview with Berry to reveal the true inspiration behind Shift Crawl, how to select creators and businesses for partnerships, and the cultural significance of Creators IRL. As Berry shared, “Any person with a venue has now become a stage.” The following are three notable quotes from the interview.

Brooke Berry’s Inspiration Behind The Shift Crawl: “Post-COVID, I’ve been thinking a lot about just in-person. I think everybody’s trying to figure out the algorithm online, and I’m just trying to figure out the algorithm in-person.”
The Importance of Hybrid Creator IRL Events: “I’m going to create that same universe for Shift Crawl that both happens on TV and online, but then it’s also paired with this real-life experience where you can come and see.”
Building Authentic Partnerships and IRL Experiences: “For me, the goal is to start with what the creator is passionate about and build the Shift Crawl around that…When Jeremiah said he was down, The Last Bookstore was the first and only thing that came to mind.”

5. Key 2025 Creators IRL Survey Insights From The Influencer Marketing Factory

The Influencer Marketing Factory surveyed 1,000 U.S.-based social media users ages 18-65 to learn more about how fans are connecting with brands and their favorite creators through experiential influencer marketing. After analyzing their results, The Influencer Marketing Factory identified the following three key insights.

41% of respondents reported attending at least one in-person influencer event in the past year, highlighting the growing demand for offline creator-led experiences.
Overall interest in future in-person influencer events among non-attendees is strong, with two-thirds of respondents open to attending (34% yes, 33% maybe). Meet and Greets ranked as the #1 most-exciting Creator IRL event among respondents, followed by Product Launches and Workshops.
$10-$50 is the “sweet spot” range U.S. fans are willing to pay to attend in-person influencer events.