17 Ways to Get Engagement & Attendance at Your Next Resident Event
Grab your cheat sheet here 👇
Download the worksheet HERE.
Grassroots and the Personal Touch
Personal Invitations: Door-to-door invites and personal calls.
Post eye-catching posters on your community board and in your amenity spaces.
BYOF: Encourage residents to bring friends with word-of-mouth Incentives.
Set up a Resident Ambassador Program enlisting social residents to spread the word.
Send out attractive email invitations: Visually appealing and informative emails.
Use creative signage and floor decals: Use unique signage in common areas.
Social Media and Digital Engagement
7. Build anticipation online with event countdowns on social media.
Posting event countdowns on social media keeps the event top-of-mind, creates excitement, and gives residents multiple touchpoints before the big day. It also encourages sharing and tagging, which expands reach within your community. When residents see others interacting with the posts, it builds social proof and makes them more likely to attend and participate.
balloon countdown
glitter countdown
pet countdown
8. Live Teasers and behind-the-scenes videos to encourage engagement.
9. Give residents a voice with Interactive polls: Let residents vote on event details.
When residents get to vote on event details—like themes, food options, or activity choices—they feel a sense of ownership and investment in the outcome. That ownership makes them more likely to show up and participate. Polls also create conversation, increase visibility on your digital platforms, and give your team helpful insight into what residents actually want.
Innovative Communication
10. Video Invitations: Share engaging video invites online and via email.
By creating short, eye-catching videos with playful animations and upbeat music, you can make the event feel vibrant and approachable. Stories appear at the top of residents’ feeds, making them hard to miss, and the visual/audio combination communicates energy and personality that a static post can’t.
These videos can boost attendance because they:
Grab attention quickly in a way that feels fun and shareable.
Create anticipation by teasing event highlights or sneak peeks.
Reach more residents organically through shares, reactions, and story visibility, keeping the event top-of-mind.
In short, a lively story invite turns a simple event announcement into an interactive, memorable mini-experience that residents are more likely to respond to.
Click on an image below to customize your event video invite in Canva!
11. Themed Elevator Rides: Decorate elevators with the event theme.
Local Business Collaboration and Incentives
12. Local Business Sponsorships: Partner for event sponsorship and promotions.
13. Gift Certificates or Discounts: From local businesses as prizes or incentives.
14. Exclusive Perks for Early Sign-ups: VIP experiences or first dibs on offerings.
Community Involvement and Feedback
15. Resident Committees: Involve residents in planning.
Invite residents to take part in planning events, activities, or community initiatives. Creating small resident committees helps build ownership, strengthens connections, and ensures your programming reflects what your community actually wants. Plus, it turns engaged residents into natural ambassadors.
16. Feedback Loop: Use post-event surveys for improvement.
This helps you understand what worked, what didn’t, and what residents want more of, allowing you to continuously improve future events while showing residents their voices matter.
17. Create some healthy fomo (fear of missing out) with posts showing what others missed.
Share photos, short recaps, or resident testimonials after events to highlight the fun moments others may have missed. Posting these highlights on social media or community channels builds excitement, boosts participation next time, and creates a positive buzz around your programming. Residents may even share them on their own socials!
Featured Design
Pro Tips for Better survey Responses
Keep it under 5 questions when possible
Offer a small incentive (drawing for a gift card, coffee, or rent credit)
Link to Google Forms or embed in email
Send within 24–48 hours of the event
Additional Post-Event Survey Designs
Click to download or customize in Canva
There you have it —17 ways to boost attendance! Download the worksheet HERE.
We want to celebrate your successes! Let us know what works best for your community!