Pop-ups Need Three Rounds of Promotion

More Pop-ups, Shorter Runs

Pop-up stores are no longer special events. According to a report by pop-up space platform Sweetspot, based on data from pop-up information service “Popga,” 2,130 new pop-ups opened in Korea in H1 2026 — a sharp increase from the same period a year earlier (1,470). The monthly average roughly tripled in two years, from 113 in H1 2024 to 355. Openings were especially concentrated in April (460) and May (471).

Runs are getting shorter. In the same report, the most common run length was about two weeks, and the share of short pop-ups ending within a week rose noticeably compared with 2024 and 2025.

In short, there are many competing pop-ups at the same time, and each is open for only a short period. If you start promoting after opening, by the time people notice, it’s already time to close. That’s why promotion must be planned in advance in three rounds: before opening, during opening week, and after opening.

Round 1 — Before Opening: Get It Saved as a “Place to Visit”

In a 2025 survey of 1,000 adults by Embrain Trend Monitor, 54.2% said they had “gone out of their way to visit a pop-up they wanted to see.” In other words, as many people come knowing in advance as those who simply drop by. The goal of pre-opening promotion is to get your pop-up onto these people’s schedules.

• Teasers — Show the opening date, location and one highlight in a short video ahead of time. Macro-influencers (100K–1M followers) with broad reach are well suited to this.
• Advance reservations and pre-registration — Taking entry reservations or notification sign-ups lets you gauge interest in advance and manage the queue on opening day.
• Pre-opening and media day — Inviting influencers and journalists a day or two before the public opening means content is already live on the morning of opening day.

The numbers to watch at this stage are not visitor counts but those that show “intent to visit,” such as saves, reservations and notification sign-ups.

Round 2 — Opening Week: Make the First Scenes Big

Opening week is when you need the most on-site photos and videos. In the same organization’s 2024 survey, 64.6% agreed that “there are more pop-ups worth posting on social media.” For visitors, pop-ups are also places to find something to post. The fact that 44.5% of pop-ups in H1 2026 opened on a Friday can also be seen as a choice to concentrate on-site content creation on the first weekend.

• Mega-influencer and celebrity visits — Invite them to the opening event to amplify the first scenes on site.
• On-site live streams and short-form — Post the queues, experiences and limited-edition merch the same day. It signals that “it’s open right now.”
• Visitor content (UGC) — Photos and videos that visitors shoot and post themselves. Photo zones people want to shoot, a set hashtag and small rewards for posting help this build up.

Keep foreign visitors in mind as well. According to data released by the Seoul Metropolitan Government in October 2026, card spending by foreigners in Seongsu rose 103.7% year on year. Adding just one line in English, Japanese or Chinese to signage and on-site content changes who you reach.

Round 3 — After Opening: Extend with Reviews and Connect Online

In Embrain Trend Monitor’s 2025 survey, 71.6% of pop-up visitors had bought products or merch on site. At the same time, 57.5% felt that “pop-ups are popping up too indiscriminately.” Without extending the experience, your pop-up can easily be forgotten as just one of many.

• Micro-influencer and product tester reviews — When several creators with roughly 10K–100K followers post reviews of their visit in staggered fashion, visits continue for the rest of the run.
• Recap content — Summary videos and photos covering the entire run can be reused for your next pop-up and online store product pages.
• Retargeting — Showing ads again to people who viewed pop-up content or made reservations. Pairing this with coupons handed out on site or member sign-ups makes it easier to convert into online purchases.

The full results of a pop-up only become clear after it closes. HOMI FACTORY designs three rounds of amplification from the start, alongside space planning — macro-influencers before opening, mega-influencers and celebrities in opening week, and micro-influencers and product testers after opening.