Photo Credit: © Can Stock Photo Inc. / macniak
With Smartphone use ubiquitous, and teens, tweens, and even soccer moms posting frequently on social media, participant recreation and leisure experiences have become two-fold—one part happens in real-life and real-time, and the other occurs in virtual time, which is sometimes during the event, and sometimes after. But no matter when those fast fingers post to social media, the process to create images is the same—during the event, activity, or game, and with an eye toward the sentimental, silly, or sometimes saucy! Consumers are no longer satisfied with holding mental memories of a program or activity. Now, they crave the ability to create eye-catching images they can keep, share, or use to boast about later. Recreation professionals and business owners can help participants do just this by providing opportunities for capturing those Instagram-worthy images. By doing so, businesses can capitalize on public sharing by including logos, brand names, or other iconic images that help promote their business or facility. Here are a few tips from the pros on how to offer opportunities for creating images at your facility or event, and become part of the participants’ social-media montage.
Uniquely You
Not just any photo makes it to someone’s social-media feed. To score a spot on Instagram, which is more important than a photo being aesthetically pleasing, is the message it sends about the poster. Most people use social media not to show the trials or doldrums of everyday life but to create a new identity, one that is happy, lively, engaged, and likely to be envied by their friends. Teens especially seek to create posts that showcase their uniqueness. They don’t want to be the same as everyone else. Posts that boast of adventure, novelty, or excitement are more likely to make the cut. Capitalize on this by also showing what is unique to your department! Do you have the best climbing wall in town? Have wall leaders offer to take photos when participants reach the top, or install a remote-control camera. Does your park have the toughest 18 holes in town, the tallest water slide, or oldest living tree? Remind program participants, or even place a small sign near these iconic images suggesting a photo. Any way you can heighten the perception—the look of an adventurous, novel, or exciting experience—the more likely the participants are to capture that identity for themselves and post about your parks and rec department in the process.
All The World’s A Stage
Shareable images usually have one of two things—authentic facial expressions or highly dramatic, awe-inspiring natural settings. Help participants create these by explicitly pointing out ideal spots around a facility or event for photo ops. Include ”photo op” on a map, place a sign at a particularly beautiful place, or even suspend a photo frame at a place good for portraits. While most dramatic locales are self-evident to participants, the social etiquette to move out of the way and let each person or family take a photo is not. By indicating spaces for photo ops, you create the social norm that photos will happen here—so get in line and wait your turn! By placing your logo or business name on a (somewhat) discreet sign within photo range, you again capitalize on social-media sharing.