Instagram Stories Ideas – The Ultimate Guide for Your Next Event

In this world of new-age media, Instagram is like a booster to all the events professionals.
Not only is it the most frequently used application but also a great way to interact with the audience. Over a billion people use Instagram every month, with 80% of the audience following at least one business account. That makes the application more accessible and convenient, and serves as a great platform for business engagements.

What are Instagram stories, if you may ask? Instagram stories is a feature in the application that lets you take series of photos and videos up to 15 seconds. The app employs filters, stickers, lenses, texts, etc. You can also slow down, speed up, rewind or Boomerang your videos. Stories are only viewable for 24 hours after posting. It is a fun way to engage with your audience, be it business or personal.

Instagram stories are a fantastic way to connect with your audience. More than 300 million people watch Instagram stories on a daily basis. There is a significant engagement on stories than the usual posts. Instagram has become a major part of event experience as stories make the application more viable for meetings and events. So, if you have an event that requires more buzz or drive, you know what to do next?

HERE ARE FEW IDEAS OF INSTAGRAM STORIES TO GET INSPIRED -

1 – SHOOT LIVE VIDEOS

Instagram live video allows you to create live broadcasts just like YouTube, Periscope and Facebook. It helps you to interact with your audience and also attract new followers. Viewers can also see the top videos on their explore page. This enables influencers and brands to expand their reach and improve their searchability. According to data, at least 30% of Instagrammers have purchased a product after discovering it first on Instagram. You can broadcast little sneak-peaks of the events, humanize your events with speakers, provide snippets of behind-the-scenes footage, etc., to create some buzz via stories for your event. This will only help build intuitive real-time interaction and collaboration. Live videos act like an ultimate tool for building strong connections with your audience throughout the world.

2 – TEASE THE AUDIENCE WITH THE ARTIST/GUEST SPEAKER REVEALS

Artists and guest speaker reveals is the perfect hook for the audience prior to the event. You can either reveal the artist’s song or initials to ignite a spark in the audience’s mind. Or you can post a blurred picture of your guest speaker or an artist for the audience to decode who the speaker / artist is. This will create curiosity and buzz which is a perfect idea prior to any event.

3 – LET AN INFLUENCER TAKEOVER YOUR ACCOUNT

An Instagram story takeover is a process of temporarily taking over a specific brand/person/channel’s Instagram stories. A strategic influencer taking over is an opportunity for you to share the content with a whole new audience and also gain a complete new set of followers. This trick will help you build strong relationships within your niche circle. Partnering with the best industry influencer will be the right fit for your upcoming event.

4 – CREATE AN “ASK ME ANYTHING” EXPERIENCE

Do you have attendees asking you common questions about the event? Are the attendees personally messaging you on Instagram regarding your event? Collect all the frequently asked questions and answer all of them by creating an “Ask me anything” session prior to the event. This is a great start to build engagement with your audience by responding to all their queries! They can range from topics like latest news, around your industry, to the inner works of the industry or simply soliciting any query regarding the event. This will be especially effective if you have any leaders and maestros in the organization. Be sure to inform a day prior so that the audience have the questions ready. This also helps a huge deal in creating promotion for your event.

5 – RUN CONTESTS

An Instagram contest is a great way of incentivizing people to like and share content while simultaneously building awareness about your brand/ company or an event. Instagram accounts that hold contests relatively have 75% more follower growth than those who don’t host contests. After the topic of contest is decided, make sure entrants use the event’s hashtags and names while entering these contests. It will dramatically increase the contest’s discoverability. Make few rules as a condition for any contest entry! Brand awareness, event name pop-ups and live engagement with the audience is a perfect combo for any event’s success.

6 – CREATE ADVERTISEMENTS IN BETWEEN THE STORIES

Instagram Story Advertisements act as a divider between the Instagram stories. They are just like the news feed section but you will find it difficult to tell them apart based on their organic content and the advertising content as both of them seem pretty similar. Instagram Story Ads provide you with a unique way of interacting and engaging with your target market and loyal customers. Fashion brand ‘Ralph Lauren’ was able to increase sales by 18% by targeting millennials with the help of Instagram Story Advertisements. These can help you gain reach, brand awareness, traffic, application installs, lead generation, video views and conversions very quickly and effectively.

CONCLUSION:

Brands and companies should utilize these features of Instagram stories as they allow the target audience or customers a sneak-peek into their brand. Events, conventions and conferences are tailor-made for stories. If you spot something unique or want to share something about the desired events, chances are the audiences are equally enthralled to know about it. It is a really nice way to interact with the audience and also keep them intrigued about the upcoming details. Instagram stories are and will be a big business in the event marketing industry for the several years to come!