[Preservation Tips and Tools] 7 Tips for Hosting an Instagram Tour of a Historic Place

One of the realities of the preservation movement is that it needs to continue to cultivate younger, more diverse followers. But to reach a generation that may be less interested in learning preservation facts and figures and more interested in experiencing history through lenses like design and pop culture, you need a different approach.

Hosting an Instagram tour of a historic place can do just that, and has the added bonus of meeting Millennials where they spend a good chunk of their time: on their phones.

The idea is to offer a behind-the-scenes, curated tour of a historic place and have attendees document the experience through photographs. The photographs are then aggregated and shared on Instagram and labeled with a hashtag that helps identify the event.

Here are seven tips to running a successful Instagram tour.

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Published in: Art & Photos, Social Media

[Preservation Tips and Tools] 7 Tips for Hosting an Instagram Tour of a Historic Place from PreservationNation

Transcript

• 1. Seven Tips for HOSTING AN INSTAGRAM TOUR
• 2. Be Organized Have people sign up for specific time slots and be sure to keep your tour sizes manageable. Give yourself a headcount cushion to make sure things run smoothly.
• 3. Make it Unique Your tour should offer a new experience for your participants. Reveal new elements of a place’s history, show spaces that are usually off- limits, or highlight areas in the middle of restoration efforts.
• 4. Choose a Good Tour Guide Make sure the tour guide for the event is a strong storyteller and public speaker. Have them point out unusual or little-known historical facts about the site and find elements that your participants are likely to relate to.
• 5. Make Each Stop Matter Each of the places you intend to show participants must be both historically relevant and visually appealing. When planning the event, include 7-10 minutes at each stop for photographs and a short explanation of the stop’s significance.
• 6. Promote a Specific Hashtag Instruct your participants to tag their photos with a predetermined hashtag that references your site or organization.
• 7. Make the Digital Physical Find a way to make the tour live beyond Instagram. Select some of the best photos from your tours, blow them up, and showcase them at your site. The photos can be the centerpiece of a follow-up event.
• 8. Build Relationships Use the tour sign-up process to gather participants’ contact information. That way, after the event, you’ll be able to reach out to them and encourage future interaction.
• 9. The National Trust for Historic Preservation works to save America’s historic places. Preservation Tips & Tools helps others do the same in their own communities. For more information, visit blog.preservationnation.org. Photos courtesy: Instagram user Michaela_Riehle, flickr user bander.bramblegrub, Instagram user candicane82, flickr user pilot_micha, Instagram user whattherobert, flickr user misspixels, flickr user Texas State Library and Archives Commission, flickr user Johan Larsson.