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How to Promote a Live Shopping Event (and Get People to Show Up)
A practical promotion plan for live shopping events: when to announce, where to share, how to use reminders and what to offer so viewers actually show up.
The best show in the world doesn't sell if nobody is watching. Promotion is what turns a live stream into an event. The good news: a simple, repeatable plan works better than a big campaign.
Pick a regular day and time
Consistency is the most powerful promotion tool. When customers know you're live every Thursday at 7 PM, they start planning around it. Check when your store gets the most traffic in Shopify Analytics and pick a slot that fits, ideally outside working hours for your audience.
One week before
- Schedule the show in your live shopping app so it appears on your live page with a countdown.
- Turn on the reminder popup so store visitors can sign up for an email reminder.
- Announce it in your newsletter with the date, time, a preview of what you'll show and a link to the show page.
- Post on social media — a short video teaser works better than a static image.
Three days before
- Share a sneak peek of one hero product.
- Add a homepage section or banner for the upcoming show.
- Share an add-to-calendar link so people can save the date.
- Ask your most engaged customers directly — a personal message goes a long way.
Day of the show
- Post a "live tonight" story in the morning and again an hour before.
- Reminder emails go out 15 minutes before the show (on LiveShoply's Starter plan and up).
- When you go live, a floating mini-player shows the stream on every page of your store, catching visitors who didn't know about it.
- If you use OBS, multistream to Facebook and YouTube to reach followers there too.
Give people a reason to tune in
People make time for things that feel exclusive or fun:
- Live-only discount: a code that's only shared during the show and expires soon after.
- First look: new arrivals shown live before they go on the site.
- Giveaway: viewers type a keyword in chat to enter; you draw a winner live.
- Interactivity: let viewers vote in a poll on what you show next.
Be specific in your promotion: "New autumn knits + 15% off for live viewers, Thursday 7 PM" works much better than "Join our live show!"
After the show
- Share the replay link with everyone who signed up but missed it.
- Post short highlight clips on social and on product pages.
- Announce the next show at the end of every show and in the follow-up email.
- Check which promotion channel brought the most viewers and do more of it next time.
Need show ideas to promote? Try our 12 live shopping show ideas.