How influencers fiercely strategize behind the scenes a Coachella

FastCompany: Sam Mintesnot had checked off everything she possibly could have from a long list of to-dos in preparation for the Coachella music festival . She crafted the best outfits, got her hair and nails done, booked a one-way ticket to Los Angeles and flew out on Tuesday with a spreadsheet full of ideas for videos she could post related to the festival. The only problem was that just days before the Coachella kicked off on Friday, she didn’t have a ticket — at least, not yet.

Mintesnot is a content creator, and she was seeking an invitation from a brand to join them at the annual festival in Indio, California, that is sometimes called an “influencer Olympics.” She posted across her social media platforms about her ticket-less journey in hopes of landing a pass to Coachella in exchange for posting videos about the brand and experience. “You never know what’s going to happen,” she said. “There’s so many opportunities out there.” Coachella, rife with Instagrammable moments, is a mutually beneficial opportunity for creators and businesses alike.

The social media content that comes out of the sprawling music festival screams spontaneity, but industrious planning is often buzzing behind the scenes weeks, or sometimes even months, in advance. Securing brand partnerships, lining up sponsored content opportunities, and building out a content calendar require patience, strategic thinking, and business acumen. Content creators are often the butt of jokes online for enterprising habits like shamelessly requesting access to events or free merchandise. But for some — including Mintesnot — it works.

She received an invitation to the festival from YouTube on Wednesday, just two days before the two-weekend-long event began. Monetizing music festival attendance Coachella, in its 25th edition this year, has been an annual mainstay of internet culture. Both weekends of the festival are sold out, but global audiences can view a livestream on YouTube to see performances from headliners Sabrina Carpenter, Justin Bieber, and Karol G, along with dozens of other artists. The video-sharing platform offers fans livestreams of seven stages simultaneously as well as creators’ videos and other Coachella-related content.

Creators capture not only performance clips but everything else about their Coachella experience, from the glamorous brand events and freebies to the more mundane bathroom lines and food options. The festival is the largest marquee livestream music event YouTube does, said Matt McLernon, the company’s head of artist partnerships who has helmed its relationship with Coachella. “Seeing how much the creator side has breathed this whole additional life into it — what’s on the stage, the creators, the fans, the kind of intersection of all of them, of what happens from there — it’s really truly magical,” he said.

“There’s as many cameras pointed at the actual artists on stage as there are amongst the crowd.” The monetization paths for creators vary. For fashion and beauty influencers , shopping tools that are built into platforms like TikTok and YouTube offer a way to earn commissions. This is a reliable route to a big payout for something like Coachella, where swaths of people are seeking outfit and makeup inspiration, or are just curious about the year’s trends. Magdaline Janet, a beauty YouTuber, said YouTube Shopping has allowed her to become a full-time content creator.

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The article provides insights into influencer strategies at a major event, which is significant for brand strategy professionals, though the concept of influencer marketing is well-established.