The Event Planner’s Guide to Instagram Stories
Just recently, while scrolling through my Facebook, I came across this hilarious meme that read, “Snapchat launched Memories, Instagram introduced Stories. Seriously, guys, ask each other out already!” On one hand, people won’t stop going on about how both the platforms are being ridiculous by introducing rip-offs as ‘new’ features. On the other, though, one cannot deny that these are probably not bad moves, after all.
Firstly, no matter how much people roll their eyes over it, nobody has stopped using Snapchat or Instagram out of contempt.
Secondly, just because these features are rip-offs, they’ve been publicized by users themselves and now everybody knows about them.
Thirdly, this attempt might actually drive users to be more loyal to either one of the two platforms. The reason would be a lost requirement to toggle between the two apps when both of them are serving pretty much the same purpose.
If you’ve already used Snapchat stories, here’s what you need to know about Instagram stories — nothing. They are exactly the same. The stories of your friends appear at the top of your feed in the form of circular images of their Instagram display picture. You tap on them to view their compilation of pictures and videos, and you can watch them any number of times within 24 hours. To create a story, tap on the ‘+’ sign at the top-left corner and click pictures or shoot videos. You can also manage who sees your stories. It’s no news that Snapchat has always posed as a competition for Instagram, although the number of Instagram users is double that of Snapchat. Owned by Facebook, the tech giant is doing all it can to weed out competition by making Instagram feature-rich and user-friendly.
But, why do you, as an Event Planner, need to bother about this? It’s a fact not unknown to every event planner that social media marketing is the buzz right now, and the moment a new feature is introduced on any platform, you need to figure out a way to include it in your strategy. While a lot of event planners are already using Snapchat Stories to promote their events, a similar kind of strategy can be adopted when it comes to Instagram Stories, and this blog will give you necessary pointers to achieve that.
1. Got A Secret?
Let your attendees in on little secrets to get them talking. If your event is a product launch, click pictures of your product and watch as your followers try to guess what it is and what it does. Plus, the fact that the story will destroy itself after 24 hours leaves it all to the memory and serves as a more interesting challenge.
2. What Happens Backstage?
As much as attendees want to enjoy the event, they also wouldn’t mind knowing what happens behind the scenes. Keep updating them about the venue, click pictures and videos of your team working on something, or simply chilling together. Remember to keep it funny and engaging.
3. You Should Do It, Too!
Being the event planner, it’s your job to keep posting stories before and during the event. But, if you find ways to make your audience do it, too, they’ll be indirectly promoting your event. One way to encourage them would be to have photo booths with funky props at the venue, or have entertaining performances during the breaks.
4. Tell Their Tale.
While Instagram Stories is a way to broadcast a message to the entire community, making it a little personal could actually make you a favorite among your followers. For example, post a picture asking people to comment their queries, and respond to these queries by uploading a 10 second clip in your story along with the username of your guest and the question they’ve asked. That way, they’ll want to view your story if their question was picked.
5. Peekaboo!
Curiosity is the best marketing tool, they say. Use this to your advantage by not revealing all details about your event all at once. For example, if you’re having a performance by a celebrity or a speech by a renowned personality, just drop in hints about them in your stories. You could put up blurred images, or rhyming clues, or even quotes by these people to intrigue your attendees. Maybe you could also announce a small reward for anyone who guesses it right!
Whatever little games these platforms are trying to play within themselves is not your concern. For you, as an event planner, this is yet another promotional tool to use to market your own event. The fact that you need to consider is that using this will help you reach out to a bigger audience in better ways, maybe, and that’s all.
