Most people think of Instagram as a platform that is just for posting design or lifestyle photos. But when it comes to your next large-scale event, it can be so much more than that. With 300 million active monthly users, Instagram can be an amazing tool for getting that “slice of life reporting” and “sharable content” that truly involves your audience.

Here’s how:

#1 – FOCUS ON THE VISUALLY APPEALING, HIGH-QUALITY PHOTOGRAPHY 

This is good advice for Instagram in general but is especially true for events.  For instance, are you running a music festival?  Hire a great photographer. Make sure to get striking photos of your performers, but also of the audience.  Don’t just take photos of “what is happening now” but frame your shots to show emotion, interaction, and beautiful settings that truly convey the mood of the event.

#2 – ADVERTISE YOUR INSTAGRAM ACCOUNT AND HASHTAG YOUR EVENT

When you take photos of audience members or event attendees, let them know their photo can be found at the hashtag so they can start sharing it with their own audiences. This also invites other Instagram users at your event to post original photography for others to see and share.

#3 – SET UP YOUR PROMOTIONS WITH A VISUAL EYE

If you are going to give something away to your Instagram followers, try to make it something that people will want to take a photo of…something that makes it personal.  For example: are you having a cancer walk?  How about creating a fun press-on tattoo with a great saying, such as “Survivor”, and the pink ribbon. Create a hashtag around that saying and make sure that all event attendees know about it.  You can even put up signage that encourages your walkers to put their tattoo on their arms and share it to your hashtag.  You could get some amazing original photos of people posing for the camera with your tattoo, and these photos will be shared with these Instagrammer’s audience as well as yours.

#4 – TIE YOUR INSTAGRAM SUCCESSES TO YOUR OTHER DIGITAL PROPERTIES

So, continuing with the cancer walk example from before, make sure you stream your photos back to your website.  Family members can be led back to the website to look at the whole group’s photos, which might be conveniently placed near a website widget that encourages visitors to donate and sign up for your organization’s ongoing social media feeds. This provides an opportunity for a unique engagement with your users, and they will likely look for more high-quality content from your organization in the future.

Remember, don’t do social media for social’s sake.  Make your interactions with your audience meaningful, fun, and informative.  Especially on Instagram, a photo really is worth a thousand words!

Feeling out-of-date when it comes to social media marketing strategies? Don’t limit yourself to outdated methods and strategies. Let dRAE Media & Marketing help you reinvigorate your social and digital strategy. Doesn’t matter whether you are in Louisville, Lexington, or Timbuktu, we have the tools to take your business to the next level. Contact us today and let us show you what dRAE Media & Marketing can do.