As if we needed another reason to love Instagram! Introduced in late 2016, Instagram Stories have been growing in popularity and are being widely used by organizations and brands alike. With the “stories” feature, you can put a face to the organization and make your stakeholders (members, customers, sponsors, etc.) feel more connected, not to mention create a stellar event exhibition that will make everyone else wish they were a part of the experience.
While all of its features can seem overwhelming, especially for an insta-novice, here is a quick breakdown of the key features and how they can benefit your future event:
- Live stories: Instagram stories provide a cost-effective and simple way to live stream your event, whether with conference highlights or a high profile speaker. Your followers will also get a notification that you’re streaming live from your event.
- Mentions: Instagram stories let you mention other users in your Story. This means that their username is visible in your Story, and anyone who taps it can see their personal or business profile.
- Geofilters: Location, location, location! Promote your event and venue all with one sticker.
While this might sound awfully familiar to another popular app (Snapchat), Instagram Stories does you one better: reach. If you want to showcase your event to a more exclusive group – say, just your members – then yes Snapchat would be your platform of choice. But, if you’re looking to spread the word about your organization and your events, then Insta away!
Now that we covered some basics, what exactly qualifies as high-value footage and when should it be used?
- Promote your speakers – Give your speakers access to your Instagram account and let them help generate buzz for your event, either before or during. Not only will you be promoting your own event, but the speaker can leverage their network and audience.
- Behind the scenes & sneak peaks – Sometimes the planning process can be as interesting as the event itself, so why not showcase it? Snap some photos of the venue, AV set up, board meetings, site visits – the options are endless. Are you making a big announcement at your upcoming event? Share it on your InstaStory. Plus, everyone loves a good blooper reel!
- No over-sharing guilt – With this feature, you really get to share everything you love about your event without worrying about bombarding or over-sharing with your followers. Since InstaStories won’t clutter your feed and disappear in 24 hours, you can post several pictures from the same event, worry-free.
Keep in mind, Instagram Stories are there to literally, tell a story, so make sure you pick the best parts of your event to showcase and make your followers wish they were there! FOMO or Fear Of Missing Out is a sure way to increase attendance at your next event.