Instagram Full of Possibilities for Event Planners

A strong Instagram presence can help event planners with promotion. Instagram has become the top choice for online photo and video sharing. It’s easy, fast and totally in the palm of your hand.  Plus, it’s a great way to create buzz, laughs and maybe even some embarrassment (well not really) at events. Instagram also allows […]

A strong Instagram presence can help event planners with promotion.

Instagram has become the top choice for online photo and video sharing. It’s easy, fast and totally in the palm of your hand.  Plus, it’s a great way to create buzz, laughs and maybe even some embarrassment (well not really) at events. Instagram also allows you direct message other accounts to build relationships. While looking at the activity tab on the app you can see what your followers are  liking and maybe something will catch your eye. You can also use your location on Instagram, if you click on a location, maps opens up and you can see exactly where something is.

If used correctly, Instagram can be a powerful tool for event planners. Engaging attendees in every possible way always helps to boost ROI, and following a few simple guidelines can ensure successful social-media integration.

Seeing as Instagram is a photo-sharing app, the obvious first step is to capture photos that are relevant, timely and have a bit of a wow-factor.  Take pictures of impressive booths, popular (or not so well-known) attendees, the event facilities – a well thought-out visual presence can go a long way.

Equally important is the act of creating hashtags for your event. Using these hashtags encourages attendees to share their own pictures and videos, leading to increased interactivity. It’s also a simple, effective solution for maintaining your visual content in one easy-to-find location.  A hashtag goes a long way and stays with the event for life.

Interacting with attendees’ posts makes them feel like they’re making vital contributions to the event. Any conference will go more smoothly when attendees are reminded that their opinions hold value.

The photo-sharing phenomena of Instagram can be much bigger than the tiny screen of a mobile smartphone.  There are a ton of web apps (aka websites) that can show photos from Instagram in an auto-advanced slide-show fashion:

• liveflow.in – show instagram photos with a #hashtag in real-time like a slideshow
• eventstag.com – display live Instagram slideshows for events onto a large screen instafeedlive.com – Instagram Slideshows for Your Parties & Events
• socialpulp.com – “an interactive installation fed by Instagram and Twitter. It’s hashtag based, moderated and updated by users in real time.”
• instagramwall.com – Live Instagram Slideshow for your event based on your hashtag
• instagramlivefeed.com – Display live Instagram slideshows for any event that would benefit from social media exposure
• socialscreen.us – “a real-time social media feed perfectly formatted for your screen” for Instagram photos and Twitter updates (tweets) with #hashtag
• tintup.com – “Display and Embed any Social Feeds on your website”

With the demand for mobile data use constantly escalating, another must-have for any event or conference is a Veloxity cell phone charging kiosk. After all, no one can participate in your social-media presence if their device’s battery dies.