If you have an upcoming event—either in-person or virtual—Facebook can be a great resource to promote it. There are lots of ways to go about this, but the platform’s Events feature is a great place to start!
Are you ready to get this (event) party started?
Organic Social for Facebook Events
Step 1: Create the Facebook Event
If you’re hosting an event, create a Facebook Event once you have the details finalized. It’s best to give your audience at least 4 weeks’ notice (especially if you’re considering running Facebook ads). An Event can hold all of the details, create more engagement around the event, add a physical location (with map) to increase visibility and give your audience longer to RSVP.
Pro tip: As the host, it’s good to continually monitor your Facebook Event to keep track of the guest list, check metrics and answer any questions that your audience might have.
Step 2: Create Supplementary Facebook Posts
To supplement your Event, create organic Facebook posts! It’s best practice to have the general information (location, date, time) in every post for quick reference, then link back to the Event so your audience can RSVP and find additional information.
You can also use organic Facebook posts to tease details about the Event or announce new details as they become available.
Quick Tips for Facebook Events:
- Use an original photo as a cover photo, if relevant
- Add the location, date, time and any other details that your audience will need in the description
- If tickets are required, you can add registration information when you click through to create your Event
Paid Marketing for Facebook Events
One great benefit of managing your Event on Facebook is gaining access to the platform’s robust marketing tools. Implementing paid advertising into your marketing strategy can be effective in not only promoting your upcoming event but also increasing brand awareness and generating more ticket sales.
Campaign Timelines
When creating a paid advertising campaign to promote your event it is important to leave enough time in the lead-up to the event for the ads to reach your desired audiences. Having a paid campaign run at least 4 weeks before the event allows enough time for Facebook to optimize ads and ensure they are being served to the people most likely to engage with them.
Audiences
Using the Facebook Business Manager audience-building tools, you can also create lookalike audiences of people who share similar interests and traits to those who have already engaged with your Event. This results in a more effective campaign that produces a greater number of ticket sales, strengthening your return on investment. Similarly, a newly created custom audience of people who have already RSVP’d can be used as an exclusion audience. By doing this, you can avoid spending unnecessary budget on those who have already engaged with the Event through either paid or organic content.
Quick Tips For Paid Event Promotion
- Create a paid campaign at least 4 weeks before the event
- Create a lookalike audience to increase ad reach
- Create a custom audience of attendees to exclude from paid ads
Looking for some extra social media muscle to help promote your next event? Get in touch with the GMD experts here!