Thetans love pictures stated one rather famous self-proclaimed Admiral, and the truth is that dictum applies to humans too. Images are the backbone of the social media promotion of your event and if you’re still trying to rely on plain old text to get the message across to your potential attendees you’re missing the SS Athena, Apollo, and Diana. Use these top five image types as your audience bridge basic study manual!

    1. The team pic. There’s nothing like a photo of your event production team in a fun pose to engage your potential attendees. Showing that there are real people hard at work in creating the event that they will be attending has a strongly positive appeal, but in order to turn it into a truly lasting impression you should ensure that the team is having a good time in the photo. Keep them all up up up on the emotional tone scale. Don’t end up with an unsatisfactory pic because one was stubborn. Nobody wants to see rows of gray cubicles with peons working OT at their desks when they see your org… so avoid the problems of work and get a group of the staffers all together and smile!
    2. A peek inside. While you’re providing your prospective audience a gander at your team also grant them a peek inside your organization with a behind the scenes photo. Perhaps it’s one of your stage manager balancing on a high catwalk to accurately point a Fresnel, or another of the stocking of the snack bar with a truck full of multi-vitamin cocktails. Whatever images you choose to provide insight into what goes on before the curtain rises, make sure that they are memorable and stand out enough to have a shot at virality.
    3. The selfie. This type of photo was insanely popular on online services such as Instagram long before Ellen DeGeneres took her famous one at the Academy Awards or President Obama took one on stage with an attractive woman leaving the First Lady fuming off to the side. Your prospective attendees will likely appreciate a selfie type of photo of the primary presenters, performers, celebrities, dignitaries… or just about anyone else that they can identify without having to resort to a caption. There is nothing lamer and more arbitrary than a selfie that requires a list of “From left to right: Tommy Davis, Jason Lee, Elisabeth Moss…”
    4. The collage. Creating a series of images which truly define your event and are set up so that they reinforce each other and present a coherent overview of what the audience can expect at your event is a great way to engage your social media followers. Twitter has recently introduced a mobile feature which lets you upload a total of four separate photos to be part of a single tweet. You can preclear an instant collage which shows your audience the way to happiness. However if you want more graphic control over your photographic collages you can’t ever go wrong with the old standby of Photoshop: The image software that does it all!
    5. The spontaneous shot. Maybe your entire crew is enjoying a clambake or other similar group activity and you surprise them with a fish(man) in one hand and a non-alcoholic beer in the other. Whatever it is that you shoot in your spontaneous photo ensure that it’s never posed or pre-arranged. The vast majority of individuals on this planet (and this includes a disproportionate number of Oscar winning actors) cannot fake surprise in a convincing manner. We are all usually absorbed in self analysis. So if you’re going to surprise a staffer make sure that you surprise them thoroughly and snap that shot at the precise second when it’s totally and honestly spontaneous.

If your event’s promotional campaign is looking for a new slant on life or insight into the science of survival in a crowded marketplace, you cannot deny the Scientificological basis of appealing to your event’s online prospects through the primary types of social media images. You’ll gain success through communication … of the visual kind!