We’ve done the research, and we know what it takes people to post event content. And no, simply promoting a hashtag and hoping for the best won’t do it anymore. Take a look at the 11 tactics to collect attendee-generated event content below, which are all based on the outcome of an event engagement survey.
1. Give every attendee a one-tap way to promote your event
Most people who go to your event want to share it with others. They don’t want to write a caption, find a good photo, or figure out what to tag. Walls.io Echo makes it so that people don’t have to do three things: people at an event, people speaking, or people working for a company can choose a ready-to-use sharing card, Echo adds the caption, their profile photo, and a background, and the post is sent to LinkedIn, Instagram, X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Telegram, SMS, or email in under 30 seconds. Each card has its own tracking link. This link shows you which posts, sharers, and platforms are driving clicks and sign-ups.
Event Options used Echo to create excitement for the Festival of Eventing conference before the event. They knew that people had to be interested before the conference began. The campaign got 159 pageviews, 49 shares, and 522 clicks on shared posts. This was 10.7 times more than the original audience for speaker and attendee content. As Larna Jackson, the managing director of Event Options, explained: “We wanted people to feel like they were part of the event even before they got there, and Walls.io helped us make that happen.”
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2. Tell attendees exactly what to post, not just to post
The main reason people don’t post about an event is not because they don’t care. In Walls.io’s research on UGC and event engagement, 30% said the reason they didn’t share anything was a lack of clear instructions or prompts. This was the main reason they gave.
Most organizers assume that attendees will figure out what to post on their own. Some will, and most of those will take a selfie, which is fine, but it’s one type of post out of many possible ones. Instead, give people a specific idea. In the confirmation email, on session signage, and on a speaker’s closing slide, put the hashtag, a sample caption, and a specific moment to post it. For example, the opening keynote, the swag table, or the view from their seat. A prompt that takes five seconds to read is often the difference between someone posting and someone scrolling past.
You don’t need to convince people to post about your event. You need to ask them before the window closes. The same research found that 67% of attendees are “very likely to create and share content” about an event they’re attending, which means most of your registration list is already willing.
Put the ask where people already are: in the pre-event confirmation email, at check-in, or as a reminder while they’re getting morning coffee before the first session. Waiting until the first day to ask makes the time available for questions much smaller. By the time people are in the middle of the event, they are already sharing things they haven’t experienced yet.
Not every platform makes the same amount of money for the same amount of effort. Among people who actually went to events, 45% said Instagram is the best platform for event-related content. This is ahead of Facebook (29%) and TikTok (16%).
If your team doesn’t have a lot of time, start by sharing prompts, hashtag creative ideas, and moments that are good for Instagram. It’s where the content from attendees is most likely to be seen and reshared by people who were actually there. It’s also where a live wall pulls in tagged posts, Instagram content aggregated from hashtags and business profiles.
5. Come up with a fun hashtag
A hashtag only works if people know it exists and it’s short enough to type. The same study found that 40% of people say that a branded hashtag is the best way to get them to post, more than contests (32%), photo booths (21%), and live Q&A (7%) individually.
Choose one hashtag that is short and specific to the event. Use it everywhere before the event, for example on email signatures, the registration page, speaker material, and sponsor kits. If you need help choosing and using one, our event hashtag strategy guide can help.
6. Run a contest instead of paying for content
Contests are still better than most paid tactics at getting people to make content. In the same survey, 32% of attendees said contests or giveaways were the best way to get them to post, the second-best result after using hashtags with the company’s name or logo.
The prize doesn’t need to be expensive. A free ticket to next year’s event, a mention on the main screen, or a feature on your live wall is often enough, because the mechanic matters more than the budget. Give people a reason to post right away, while they’re still at the event, instead of a reason to post later.
7. Give people a photo moment worth tagging you in
21% of people who go to these events say that the most effective ways for organizers to get them to create content are photo booths or selfie stations. The appeal is simple: a photo booth does the creative work for the person standing in front of it.
A branded booth, like Walls.io’s Photo Booth, can generate branded photos from your audience. This way, people get a finished, on-brand image in seconds instead of having to make one themselves. Put it near the registration or main stage, where a lot of people are walking and phones are already out. Our guide to running a social photo booth at events goes into more detail about layout and placement.
8. Ask for one photo, not a video or a testimonial
When you decide what to ask people to post, photos are the best option. Most people (65%) at events say that photos are the most interesting content. Only 18% of people say that videos are the most interesting content. 12% of people say that reviews or testimonials are the most interesting content. And 5% of people say that text posts are the most interesting content.
It’s better to make the request smaller, not bigger. It’s hard to ask a speaker’s audience to make a “quick video” because most people don’t want to put in the effort. People are more likely to complete a request for a photo of the stage, badge, swag, or view.
9. Show a live feed so people are inspired to post
Static testimonials and stock photos don’t convince people the way real content does. 45% of the people who responded to the survey said that social media walls or live feeds are the best way to get people involved. This is more popular than live polls (26%), interactive photo booths (18%), and gamification (11%).
This logic is true even before someone registers. A live wall pulls in real posts from last year’s event. It uses Walls.io’s Social Media Aggregation, which collects content from social media and displays it anywhere. This makes a static landing page into visible proof that people show up and enjoy themselves. Our guide on how to get the most out of your event with an interactive social wall covers setup and placement.
10. Get speakers sharing before they take the stage
Attendees don’t fully trust event marketing copy, but they trust the people delivering the content. 17.6% of attendees say they trust speakers or partners most when forming an impression of an event. This is the second-highest trust score measured, right behind fellow attendees.
Speaker outreach is one of the most underused organic promotion tactics event marketers have. Send speakers a ready-made asset (a quote card, a one-line abstract, an Echo sharing link) two to three weeks before the event, and most will post it to their own audience without needing a second reminder. Our guide on how to turn speakers into event promoters talks about the outreach sequence.
11. Let last year’s attendees do the convincing
People trust what other attendees say about an event more than they trust what the event brand says about itself. 59.8% of attendees say they trust fellow attendees most when forming an impression of an event. This is the highest trust score of any source measured, ahead of speakers, organizers, and influencers combined.
This is the best reason to base your next registration campaign on real people instead of brand copy. Use quotes, photos, and posts from past attendees in your next campaign. Social proof from an attendee is always more helpful than a long paragraph written by AI.
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