Guest blog: How to promote your event on Facebook

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By Asya Chirkova, Tendee

Step 1. Preparing a Facebook event

Fill in all the information, making clear the descriptions and add ticket links. Mind other important fields – venue, date, time, event category and keywords.

Cover Cover size: 1920×1080 pixels.
Event name Shorts and clear, recommended size – 45 symbols. 
Description Simple and laconic, about 500 -1500 symbols.
Tickets Ticket link. Do not forget to shorten links.
Hosts Add all co-hosts so that Facebook recommends your event to more users. 
Keywords Topic, genre and other tags that help Facebook recommend your event. For example, «concert», «music», «sport» etc. Put them into description. 
Posts moderation enable this option to avoid spam messages. Moreover, you will be able to control the content other members of the event try to post.
Events Tab Place “Events” tab at the top of your page so that users can easily notice it. To manage tabs or change Page Template go to: Your Page > Settings > Edit Page > (Scroll down to Tabs list)

Step 2. Content posting

Keep people interested in the event to motivate them to buy tickets. Publish posts 1-2 times a week at the beginning of the promotion and try to make posts daily or every other day 1-2 weeks before the event. 

5 obligatory post types:

  1. Reminders that show days before the event starts and price changes. This motivates people to buy tickets.
  2. Performers. It’s good practice to explain what each of the performers is famous and unique for, and why people should attend the event: their work, interviews, previous performance videos.
  3. Ticket categories (group packages, VIP, sales, promo codes, pre-sales etc.) and ticket prices and price changes. Let people know about the number of tickets left.
  4. Event agenda. For example: set-lists for a concert, lists of activities for a business meeting, or lists of stages for a musical festival.
  5. Venue. Location, special considerations, driving directions, tips for selecting tickets, parking, etc.

Step 3. Attracting responders

Distribute information about your event at your page, launch ads. 

Co-Hosts The more co-hosts an event has, the more Facebook will recommend it to its users. 
Friends Invite friends to your event
Posting Beside your own page try to post information at co-host pages, in groups with similar topics and events relevant to yours.
Calendar Add the events calendar at your page. The post will include only 3 closest events.
QR-codes If you promote events off-line (posters, billboards) use QR-codes. Due to these codes, users can subscribe to your event updates.
Contests A contest for subscribers can raise audience engagement. But mind strict Facebook rules.  

How to launch a Facebook ad on your own:

  1. Choose ad type
  2. Choose audience
  3. Choose interests for event response ad
  4. Choose ad placements
  5. Calculate the budget
  6. Make creatives

Step 4. Reading the Facebook metrics

The metrics show which parts of promotion are working effectively and which parts need correction.

5 tips on how to work with metrics:

  1. Make decisions using metrics.
  2. Monitor metrics over time instead of just relying on the final count.
  3. Monitor metrics on a regular basis, at least once a week.
  4. Start with the general metrics.
  5. Analyse what’s working and what’s not in content and advertising. Then improve.

What main metrics should be checked:

  • The number of new responders.
  • The number of LP views.
  • The number of sold tickets, registrations, clicks.
  • Cost per action (purchases, clicks, event response, registration etc.)
  • The number of times your ads were shown (it helps to understand if your ad campaign has impressions or not).
  • Spend budget: it’s important to control ad costs.
Molly Hookings
Author: Molly Hookings

Molly joined the editorial team in March 2019. She has several years’ experience working in broadcast and journalism, as well as marketing and PR. Past experience includes working for the BBC and independent publishing houses. If you have a story you think Molly might be interested in, please email: molly@eventindustrynews.com