Instagram is rapidly emerging from the pack as one of the best platforms on which to reach potential event goers, as well to directly drive ticket sales. Here we look at thirteen different complementary tools which can help you improve your strategizing on Instagram.
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Guest post by Ronnie Higgins of Eventbrite
For savvy event creators looking to connect with event-goers on social media, Instagram is quickly becoming the platform of choice. And it’s easy to see why: 80% of Instagram users follow at least one business and 200 million users check out a brand’s profile every day.
It’s not just the promise of better reach and engagement, though, that makes the social media platform so promising for events. It’s also the opportunity Instagram provides to drive ticket sales. In fact, 30% of users have made a purchase they first saw on Instagram.
So how can you get more strategic with Instagram? Here are 14 Instagram tools that can help you be more productive on the platform — and drive more ticket sales, too.
Instagram tool #1: Iconosquare
While Instagram Insights lets you measure the growth of your followers and see basic demographic data, third-party app Iconosquare allows you to go deeper by tracking the interests and behaviors of your audience. It also helps you locate influencers in your field.
Iconosquare’s “Best time to post” report, for instance, will tell you on which days and at which times your posts receive the most engagement. This insight allows you to schedule event promotions at the most opportune moment — and drive ticket sales and registrations.
Instagram tool #2: Simply Measured
If you want to get granular about your post engagement, Simply Measured delivers the latest on your Instagram insights, allowing you to analyze performance with content type breakdown and custom date ranges.
What’s more, Simply Measured’s Social Analytics tool helps you optimize your event hashtag and compare it to the competition.
Instagram tool #3: Boostable
Advertising on Instagram and want to get the most return on investment (ROI)? Boostable can help. Their platform will place and measure the performance of event’s ads. And if you use Eventbrite, our integration allows you to automatically add pixels to your event page for retargeting and conversion tracking.
Instagram tool #4: ToneDen
Don’t have a whole lot of time to manage your event’s Instagram ads? ToneDen provides automated audience targeting, creative A/B testing, budget optimization, and built-in conversion tracking and reporting, so you know how many tickets and registrations your ads are bringing in.
Events on Eventbrite can use the ToneDen integration to sync attendee data seamlessly and easily — allowing them to focus on more important things (like planning an awesome event).
Instagram tool #5: “Get Tickets” Button
If you’re an Eventbrite customer, you can now add a call-to-action button to your Instagram business profile, thanks to our new integration with Instagram. Using a CTA in your profile clarifies next steps for users, while making it easier to track your ticket sales from Instagram.
Instagram tool #6: Later
Later is a visual social media planner created specifically for Instagram. Unlike other scheduling tools, you can preview your event’s post to make sure they look great in your feed. The Later Chrome Extensionalso makes it easy for your team to curate and collect photos from anywhere on the web for your Instagram feed.
Instagram tool #7: Delmondo
A third of the most viewed stories on Instagram come from businesses. How do yours measure up?
With Delmondo, you can measure your event’s Instagram Stories against industry benchmarks. The insights you can surface from this powerful analytic tool can help you identify deeper engagement trends and squeeze more from your event marketing budget.
Instagram tool #8: Gleam
Social media contests are a great way to engage followers and promote your event. Gleam gives you everything you need to run a successful Instagram contest with over 100+ features. Plus, the Gleam Instagram widget makes it easy for event-goers to take part and engage with your brand.
Instagram tool #9: Focalmark
On Instagram, hashtags are important for expanding your reach, especially for events. In fact, 7 out of 10 hashtags on Instagram were made by a brand. Focalmark helps you connect with event-goers by using human research and a ranking algorithm to suggest hashtags.
Instagram tool #10: Linktree
Your event’s Instagram profile lets you link to any site — but only one. If you want to direct Instagram followers multiple sites, however, there’s hope. Linktree lets you create a single link for your profile that gives followers the opportunity to check out your Facebook page, check out your event lineup, or head directly to your ticketing or registration page.
Instagram tool #11: Woobox
Another tool to help you get more out of your social media contests, WooBox makes it really easy to set age restrictions, track submissions, approve entries, and pick a winner. The tool even helps you gamify your contests by creating engaging experiences for event-goers who follow your account. For instance, a trivia quiz can test your attendees’ knowledge about the history of your event or its location.
Instagram tool #12: Repost for Instagram
See user-generated content you’d love to share? Repost for Instagram makes it easy to repost your favorite photos and videos while giving credit to the original Instagrammer with a simple attribution mark. Make sure to get permission before you repost any photos, though!
Instagram tool #13: Stories Ads
Businesses on Instagram can convert posts and stories into ads or create ads from scratch with built-in tools. But when you’re busy planning an awesome event, you might not have time to create ads from scratch. Stories Ads is a third-party tool that helps you create Instagram Stories ads in minutes. Just add images of your event and choose from a number of customizable templates to create high-quality Instagram Stories ads.
Get strategic about growing your event on Instagram
Attracting thousands of followers on Instagram is not your ultimate objective — your goal is to sell tickets. Discover how in The 2018 Guide to Event Marketing on Instagram.
Ronnie Higgins works at Eventbrite, helping event planners level-up their registration game. Born and raised in New Orleans, there’s nothing he enjoys more than helping people get together—whether it’s for a conference, class, or a city-wide party like Mardi Gras.