Instagram is one, if not the number one, fastest growing social platform today. With over 700 million active users, this little brother of Facebook has made a big impression. With good reason. The power of visuals (photo/video) is HUGE when it comes to content intake. It should come as little surprise that with the rollout of Instagram Stories, this social media platform is looking to bury Snapchat and take a front-stage roll in real-time popularity. This is amongst some of the reasons why Instagram and its features are great tools for social event promotion for business.
“Started from the bottom now we here”
Cue your best Drake voice. Then let’s consider where Instagram has come from in such a short amount of time (thanks to Wordstream for the up-to-date data)
- Launched in 2010
- Bought by Facebook in 2012
- 400 million active DAILY users
- This year, 70.7% of U.S. companies will use Instagram for marketing. For the first time, this means edging out Twitter.
- 60% of users say they learned about a product or service on Instagram.
So audience wise, we get it. Instagram is one of the highest used, fastest growing, highest viewed social media platforms out there.
…How does that translate into event promotion?
Glad you asked. Instagram stories are an amazing way to promote an event because they are timely. Stories on Instagram are present for 24 hours on a profile. This means that they will last the life of your event and then go away forever. Unless you save them. Which is also handy if you want to convert some of the content from those stories into other viewable content for your online and social media consumers. Using Instagram as a platform to promote an event means you can fine tune a post/story to reach an audience using hashtags and engaging visuals. What are some ways Instagram stories can grow your business’s event?
- Create conversation and interaction amongst event attendees
- Promote content exclusive to that event
- Behind the scenes look at the inner workings of an event
- Gather feedback from guests and viewers. Do they like your setup? Your content? Your brand messaging?
- Reach a wider audience, faster
- Promote the usage of your brand’s name or hashtag in conjunction with specific events/promotions
Don’t just wing it. Have a storyboard planned out for your Instagram Stories. What do you want to point out to viewers? Is there anything new and exciting being unveiled at this show? What do you want to cover over the course of this event? Have a basic game plan that is flexible and you’ll have a great baseline as to what your Instagram story will highlight during your event.
While I’ve known Greg for years from our time together in the marketing scene, I’ve only recently had the chance to work with Trinity Web Media on a client project. Not only was the team professional and their work spot on, they were amazingly quick to respond and required very little hand-holding along the way. I chalk that up to their past experience and a deep understanding of best-in-class services.
I have hired Greg and the Trinity team multiple times for work on my own websites, and have also hired them to work on behalf of multiple clients. He is simply a pleasure to work with, in every respect. Smart but without the giant ego of some developers, Trinity Web Media works with his clients to achieve their vision in the best way possible — with careful attention to their interests, and thoughtful recommendations based on his expertise. • Susan Baier – Founding Marketing Strategist – Audience Audit