The numbers don’t lie: social media platforms might have tens of billions of users, but engagement is quietly plummeting. Meanwhile, photo booths, event experiences, and offline moments are experiencing a renaissance that’s rewriting the rulebook for how brands connect with the audience.
As Instagram’s engagement rate plummeted to historic lows of 1.16% in 2025—the lowest ever—and daily social media use fell to 141 minutes a day despite now having more platforms than ever, something fundamental changed in the world online. We’re seeing what behind-the-scenes organizers are referring to as the “great social media recession,” and it’s causing brands to rediscover the strength of tangible, real experiences.
The Engagement Cliff
I’ve been following this trend for months now, and the trends are indisputable. When Instagram’s lowest-ever engagement levels, experiential marketing spending is astronomical. Businesses are catching on to what advertising professionals always knew back during the Mad Men days: genuine connection trumps algorithmic reach by a mile. Instagram’s average engagement rate dipped from 2.94% in January 2024 down to just 0.61% by January 2025. TikTok, once the engagement sweetheart, saw its rates dip from 5.14% to 4.56% between these two periods. Even LinkedIn, the dark horse in this case, only succeeded in breaking the trend because only 1% of the members on LinkedIn update content regularly, and therefore there is not so much competition for their content.
“We’re experiencing a fundamental change in the way humans are interacting with content,” says Sarah Chen, digital strategist for a large experiential agency. “The infinite scroll isn’t hypnotic anymore. People crave something real, something authentic.”
When Digital Becomes Too Perfect
What’s the issue with today’s social media is not that it’s bad—it’s just that it’s too slick, too formulaic. Everything is the same on every feed. Everything is the same when they refresh. When the machines can create flawless content and everyone’s using the same filters, nothing ever penetrates.
Individuals are experiencing what academics call “digital authenticity erosion.” They can sniff out imitation content from afar, and they’re starting to tune it out. Meanwhile, a modest photo from an event booth that’s marginally imperfect but genuinely spontaneous cuts through the noise like a hot knife through butter.
Individuals are experiencing what academics call “digital authenticity erosion.” They can sniff out imitation content from afar, and they’re starting to tune it out. Meanwhile, a modest photo from an event booth that’s marginally imperfect but genuinely spontaneous cuts through the noise like a hot knife through butter.
The Emergence of “Touch This” Marketing
Enter the surprise stars of 2025: photo booths, pop-up events, and what the trade refers to as “analog activation.” They are not mall photo strips you are familiar with—rather, AI-powered, 360-degree video experiences combining up-to-the-second technology with reach-and-grab, immediate moments.
Worldwide experiential marketing expenditure was $128.35 billion in 2025, and 74% of Fortune 1000 marketers intend to spend more. The market for photo booths alone will account for 35.4% market share by 2025 on the back of desire for personalized photo experiences that move beyond novelty stunts to provide engaging and immersive ones.
What’s driving the trend? Simple: 82% of event-goers would rather attend live events, and only 1% choose virtual ones. The pandemic reminded us of the irreplaceable value of being there, and brands are now doubling down.
The Photo Booth Renaissance
Step into any large conference or brand activation event and there they stand: shiny photo experiences that bear little resemblance to the dark ’90s mall booth. Companies such as Photoflyer are introducing an entirely new category—shareable, instant photo moments that preserve memories with custom and branded polaroids, ready to be given away at any occasion.
These aren’t just taking a photo anymore. They’re building tiny experiences. The new arrangements cull through thousands of photos in minutes, using professional-level edits Photoshop magic would have consumed hours of a few years ago. Some booths feature augmented reality overlays, in which users can interact with their photo taken among pseudo-props that convincingly feel real.
The 360-degree video phenomenon perfectly encapsulates this transition. Imagine this: you mount a pedestal, pose, and a camera arm slowly orbits around you, producing a Matrix-esque video that cries out for “share me.” It will be shared on Instagram, without a doubt, but the experience itself is unquestionably physical.
“People are fed up with watching content,” says Marcus Rodriguez, who oversees experiential campaigns for a number of tech brands. “They want to make it. A great photo experience allows them to have their moment rather than just passively scroll along someone else’s.”
Why Your Brain Craves Real Experiences
There is actual science behind the fact that physical experiences endure and digital ones fade. When you touch, taste, or laugh in the same room as another person, your brain lays down many memory traces. The experience of a photo booth has vision, hearing, movement, and social interaction all together—that’s memory gold.”.
Compare that to swiping your feed. How much, regardless of how good the content is, you’re merely relocating your thumb and eye. Your brain files it away as “digital noise” and moves on.
That’s why event marketers are so brazy with their numbers: people spend 15-30 minutes interacting with actual brand experiences, and digital ads get maybe three seconds’ worth of consideration before the scroll gets ahead.
The TikTok Paradox
Here’s the thing that’s nuts: even as social interaction took a nosedive, people continued to crave shareable experiences. But there’s a catch—they want to earn it, not have it served up to them by an algorithm.
Photo moments such as Photoflyer’s instant print booths are building what industry professionals refer to as “earned social.” Rather than brands pouring content into users, they’re enabling people to create their own stories. The result? Content that is actually being shared because it’s personal.
Consider this: if a friend shares a fantastic candid photo taken at an event photo booth, nobody scrolls on by—rather, they pause and want to know where it is. That’s organic reach that paid advertising can’t compete with.
Most clever companies understand this psychology. They use physical experiences to create social chatter, and each attendee is a happy brand ambassador.
Where the Money’s Actually Going
The budget changes are revealing the true story. Elena Vasquez, marketing expenditure manager for a number of Fortune 500 companies, revealed something to me recently: “We’ve shifted nearly 40% of social ad expenditures to experiential activations in the past year. The math simply works better.”
She’s not the only one. B2C businesses spent $90.3 billion on experience marketing over the past year—a growth surge that occurred while traditional social media ad performance continued to slip. When photo experiences and pop-up activations repeatedly outshine sponsored posts, the decision is clear.
What’s behind this isn’t only better ROI (even though that assists). It’s a realization that making one strong experience often yields more real-world social content than months of paid-for messaging.
The Human Element in a Digital World
More importantly, 78% of planners name in-person events as the optimal advertising vehicle for their organization. With decades of Zoom exhaustion and digital saturation behind us, brands are going back to what folks in adland learned years ago: there is just no substitute for human interaction.
The most successful 2025 campaigns aren’t digital vs. physical—they’re making flawless connections between the two. Envision AI-creatively created custom artwork at events, holographic displays at pop-ups, or custom digital mementos from physical encounters.
What This Means for Brands
The social media recession is temporary, but it’s showing us something about what human behavior values. We yearn for real connections, memorable experiences, and moments where we feel we count. Algorithms can’t deliver that—only real, physical brand moments can.
Brands that are working their way through 2025 know: the future isn’t all-digital. It’s “phygital” and combining the strengths of both to produce experiences people actually want to share and remember.
The photo booth is not only back, it’s revolutionary. In an era where humans scroll and scroll, sometimes the most revolutionary thing you can do is give people something tangible to hold onto.
