6 Ways to Make Your Events More Instagrammable

Buzz. This four-letter word is one of the most feared descriptors in marketing – and for a good reason.

Events that lack buzz before, during, and after the festivities always fail. This failure to capture the audience can hurt the brand moving forward. Little to no engagement can even imply that a brand is boring! And that cannot happen.

If you’re an event planner or marketing director, you may be asking yourself how you can drum up buzz for your next event. The answer may have been staring at you all along: Instagram.

Why Instagram?

Instagram is huge, hip, and relevant, unlike other social media platforms. Consider the fact that 64% of Instagram users are between 18 and 34 years old. With a captive audience this young, you can build your brand for years to come.

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There are also these incredible Instagram numbers:

• Worldwide, there are 1 billion+ active Instagram accounts every single month.
• 500 million Instagram accounts worldwide are active each day.
• 80% of user accounts follow a brand or business on Instagram.
• Every day, 500 million accounts use Instagram Stories.

Making Your Event More Instagrammable

Creating buzz and making your event more Instagrammable is easy. Follow our guide and own it!

1. Prep Your Event for the Perfect Shot

Instagram started out as a photo-sharing platform much like Flickr, and it still is for the most part. Making your event more Instagram worthy is all about the perfect shot. Photos have to look so fantastic that other users will have no choice but to share it!

Make sure the venue has enough well-lit spaces where guests can take amazing photos. Places that are too dark or have weird lighting can lead to photos that are more likely to end up deleted.

2. Setup Memorable Backdrops

Another great way to invite attendees to snap and post photos is by setting up several backdrops. You can choose anything, from beautiful flowers to a stunning skyline. A Hollywood-esque backdrop complemented by a red carpet and velvet rope would do wonders for the entrance, for example.

3. Use Irresistible Props and Offer Keepsakes

If you have access to a Game of Thrones sword chair replica, use it! Cute puppies, kittens, and cut-outs of famous people are surefire attention grabbers. Use unique place-cards on the tables showing a guest’s name and seating assignment. Most people love freebies, so make sure you have some cool looking items to give away during the event.

4. Invite Celebrities or Influencers

Another excellent way to keep the cameras rolling is by inviting a VIP to your event. If you can get a celebrity to talk to attendees and pose for some selfies, you’re all set. Instagram influencers are also a good idea if you can invite a few. Influencers have tons of followers, and the photos they take of your event will reach a wide audience.

5. Champion the Need

Many people love to see their face or name on something other than their passport. Use this to your advantage by setting up a white wall with a live Instagram feed that shows all uploaded photos of your event. Use a hashtag to make the event photos easier to locate. Make sure to assign someone to filter the feed of anything inappropriate.

6. Use the 11 Hashtag Rule

On Instagram, having at least one hashtag can generate 12.6% more engagement than having none. However, to really hit the honeypot, you should aim for 11 hashtags. Instagram lets you use 30 hashtags. Unfortunately, having that many hashtags won’t add anything to your post, and may even drown it.

You’re All Set!

Now that you’ve set up an Instagram-worthy event, a short word about registration.

If you haven’t set up an event registration website yet, you need to definitely look into it. This is a great tool that can generate some buzz before your event. You can use an event registration site to give away exclusive products when people sign up. The best part is, you will be gathering valuable data from your prospective attendees.