Growing a community today takes more than creating engaging content on social media. It’s about meeting customers where they are with creative in-person events. This is how Gym+Coffee scaled to become an eight-figure lifestyle brand that’s loved by its community.
CEO and co-founder Niall Horgan launched the brand with his two best friends, and oversees events, partnerships, and retail expansion. Niall and his team plan well over 50 to 60 events a year, totalling more than 400 events to date.
Niall shares how to plan and execute a successful event that establishes a loyal community and dedicated customer base.
How to grow your brand through events
While not all online businesses have the ability to reach customers IRL, those that do should take advantage of the opportunity. Connect with local customers with these tips from a successful founder.
1. Make it personal
“We’ve all been to events where you might not know people, you might feel a little bit awkward—maybe it’s your first ever fitness class. So we want to break those barriers immediately,” Niall says.
To make guests feel comfortable, Niall welcomes every person that shows up to the brand’s group workouts and hangouts. “We introduce them around, tell them about us, and find out a little bit about them,” Niall says. People who attended the events became loyal customers, establishing a meaningful connection to the brand, its ethos, and the people behind it.
Go out of your way to connect with everyone who shows up for your event, and they’ll become supporters of your brand. “If Gym+Coffee was personified, it would be the first person to welcome you to a fitness class as you come in the door, while other brands might be over in the corner taking a selfie,” Niall says.
2. Start small
“Our first events were small—20 people—but we used it to get the momentum going,” Niall says. You don’t need to have a huge following to host a live event. If you can start small, you’ll get feedback, and feel encouraged to keep going.
The dedication helped Gym+Coffee grow the size of its events each time. “We committed to a 10-week event series to begin with. The first one started with 20 people, and by the 10th week we had about 300,” Niall says. The people you’ll meet at your first, smaller events will inspire and remind you why you’re doing what you’re doing.
3. Collect information from your attendees
As the team welcomed more and more attendees to their events, they made sure to grab their contact information and take note of which types of events were the most popular.
Once the Gym+Coffee team took over their first retail space, they were able to host events at the store and track attendees’ online purchases post-event. Collecting attendee information allows you to continue the conversation after the in-person interaction and build trust. Niall also uses this data to understand customer segmentation and profiles on a deeper level.
Establishing a popular event series can feel out of reach for new businesses, but starting small will help you grow into a well-known brand with impactful activations. Focus on the individuals who show up for you in the early days—and watch as they grow into your most loyal customers.
Niall shares more in the full Shopify Masters episode.
