For influencers, a fun time at Coachella is hard work

It can take weeks or months of planning to create social media content at the festival.

- BY KAITLYN HUAMANI

THE SUN sets on day two of the Coachella festival in Indio, Calif., on Saturday.

(CHRISTINA HOUSE Los Angeles Times)

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 it at the annual festival in Indio, Calif., which 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 such as 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 attendance