Instagram ranks as the fourth most-used social media platform worldwide. It has continued to expand, providing event companies with, an enormous and diverse potential audience for their event promotion strategy and consequently different features and tools that can enable them to grab the attention of more people towards their event on Instagram.
It does not matter whether it is a corporate conference, a music festival, or even a charity fundraiser or a community day event, Instagram will get you that broad and active audience base you need.
In this detailed guide, we will guide you through the basic steps on how to promote your event on Instagram effectively.
Before promoting Event on Instagram
Before you even begin touting the merits of your event, there is a need to come up with what you expect to achieve and how success will be measured. Do you want to increase attendance, increase sales, and raise brand awareness? How is your event any different from others, as well as what do you have for the attendees that they will like and not forget? Such questions are a few of the ones you should address before you head out to promote the upcoming event on the platform of Instagram.
Strategic decisions on goals and identification of one’s value proposition are very helpful in spearheading the development of marketing strategies that are geared towards specific audiences with expectations that they will take action as required.
Events on Instagram are all about the stories
More than 500 million Instagram users interact with IG stories every day and approximately 1/3 of the most recorded stories are from enterprises. This is the reason why 96% of U.S. marketers agree that they will incorporate them as one of their marketing mix elements within the next six months.
Top tips for using Instagram Stories to promote your event
- Every day of the event, there will be essential aspects and even the tasks using Instagram Stories.
- Always remember to add a swipe-up white call to action and get the audience to register or do something else.
- Use your stories to get your audience engaged to new content within your blog or other avenues.
- Mix it up with images, there is also the video.
- Every time there is an important announcement, including before and also after the event, ensure that there is a story that has been created surrounding it.
Let’s get straight to the point and take a leap into this step-by-step guide to ensure that your event becomes the talk of the town!
1. Provide Clear Information About Your Event
First of all, expect that you have all your event details arranged. You would want to have an event catchy title, event date and time, and event location (when it is physical). Attention to this information will be the icing on all your posts, stories, and ads on Instagram.
2. Come Up With An Event Hashtag
An unusual and interesting hashtag is an integral component when promoting your event! It helps the audience to find content related to your event and also motivates people to make use of it when talking about the event. Stay original and let it be short and appropriate. If you are organizing a summer music festival, create something like #RockTheNight2024.
3. Make Creative and Compelling Graphics
There are images that are designed and uploaded chiefly for the purpose of Instagram. Therefore, ensure that your visuals are only appropriate images and videos that will make people take good notice. Use canva, adobe spark or even the in-built editing features on Instagram to create gorgeous posts, stories and reels of your event’s highlights, speakers, artists, activities, etc.
4. Exploit Instagram Stories & Highlights
Promoting your event through Instagram Stories is a great option owing to the real-time sharing, updates, and interaction that they bring along. Use a countdown sticker to hype people up and also remind them about the event. Be sure to add these stories in the Highlights portion of your profile because they are only available for 24 hours!
5. Maintain Posting Frequency, Relevance and Quality
Commence your promotion for the event a long time before the event, and ensure you have a regular posting pattern. Combine the posts with the stories, reels, IGTV, and any other engagements you can think of to avert boredom among your fans. There is no harm in leaking some information, such as sneak peeks, a few speaker details, artist schedules, and a few FAQs and building up the enthusiasm.
6. Work with influencers & Other Partners
With the relevant influencers, who fit the theme of your event, and promote the event that’s one way that can help broaden your scope. Look for those same influencers who have a decent following in your niche and get them to post about your event with your event hashtag or offer them a discount code for event tickets to their social media followers.
7. Run Instagram Ads
To increase your audience, how about spending some money on advertisements on Instagram? Manage your ads by creating promotional ads that put your event’s best features in good light and target the right audience by specific interests, location, age, and more through Ads Manager. This is particularly helpful if you wish to expand your reach beyond the immediate followers.
8. Host Giveaways & Contests
Everything free is good, everybody likes it! Do a campaign where you share your post and tag friends to win tickets or merchandise for the event. This helps propagate user-generated content and makes the events’ awareness much more effective.
9. Leverage Instagram Reels
It is also an effective tool, especially to create buzz towards the event. Make it fun and exciting, and detail Instagram reels on what they will expect once they are at the event. Incorporate viral music and hashtags on there to widen the reach.
10. Engage with Your Audience
Getting the word out about your event is also about posting content; it is also about sharing and networking. Go back to the comments and reply, go back to the DMs and respond, and go to those inquiring about this event and talk to them. This involvement will work to foster the feeling that there is a community built around the event and that there is a buzz being sprinted around.
11. Use the Link in Bio Feature to the Fullest Potential
Make it certain that there is a deep and clear link in the bio that takes users to the event page or ticket sales. If you are looking to add more than one link in your bio that is called for, such as Linktree or Campsite.
12. Make an Event Calendar on Instagram
Content organization is very important. Prepare an Instagram event calendar where you outline what you will be posting every day from the onset of the event to the event day. Include some countdowns, backstage videos, reactions of various people after the event, or even some preview of the event.
13. Post-Event Highlights and Testimonials
If this is not your first jurisdiction that requires such documentation, provide a highlight record of any presentation and why visitors attended. It is imperative to build confidence in them and the event organizers that it is worth coming for. Post some videos, memorable quotes, or old pictures to generate that strong feeling of “What If?” if it ends up being the best ever.
14. Conduct Interactive Sessions on Instagram
Live There is nothing more exciting than doing the very thing your audience has always wanted, which is connecting with them in real time on the Instagram live feature. Carry out questions and answers, backstage peeks or even talk to your guests and performers about various topics. It’s more live and engages the audience and builds anticipation for the actual event.
15. Examine and Improve Your Strategy
For better results, ensure that you assess how much you have achieved! Instagram Insights can be of assistance in measuring engagement with your posts, reach of posts, and the posts’ performance. Edit your strategy if needed in order to target the proper clients to achieve the greatest interest in the upcoming event.
Final thoughts: Make Sure Your Event is Instagram-worthy!
Telling people about an event on Instagram is like preparing for a party that hasn’t yet occurred. It means the more fun and interesting activities you do, the better the event will go. By doing the steps, not only will you get more people, but you will also develop a tribe of willing people in want of your big day to come. Therefore, you can focus on doing all the things, from preparing to advertising your event, and hope that it will be the center of Instagram promotion.
