Many businesses are turning to social media, more particularly Facebook, to create events. As per a survey, the social network emerged as the most preferred platform for event planners with more than half of the respondents finding it the most effective tool to promote their events.
Some of them even hire reputable Facebook marketing companies and use professional Facebook marketing services to create events and promote them. The sheer simplicity and immense marketing opportunities is making the social platform extremely popular for events. This blog post discusses nine simple but effective steps to create and promote Facebook events.
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1. Create a Facebook event and optimize the page
Create an event page using the business page and after that optimize the page. Include important information such as the name of the event, date and time, venue, and all key details in the event banner picture. If it is a ticketed event, add a ticket link that enables interested attendees to purchase tickets. Also, write engaging, optimized, and useful event descriptions and add hashtags and keywords related to the event. Taking the help of professional Facebook marketing services can help in creating and optimizing the event page.
Invite people to the event
Although Facebook doesn’t have the feature to invite page followers to an event, it does allow users to invite their friends to the event. Use a personal profile to invite the people you know and encourage your team members to invite their friends to the event. However, make sure to invite only those who are the target audience and for whom the event is relevant. Don’t invite the entire friend list as it will look spammy and insincere.
Encouraging team members and other known people to share the event page are the easiest and the most efficient way to promote the event for free of cost. Share the event page to business and personal pages. If possible incentivize the event by providing some incentives to guests and contacts to invite their friends. An attractive offer or discount for those who invite one or more of their friends can be a worthwhile incentive.
Send reminders and activate the event wall
After sending the invites, plan for a countdown to the event as many invitees may forget about the event and the invite. These countdowns will serve as reminders and will notify them about the date and time the event is scheduled. The social network has an active event wall that can notify the invitees by appearing on their notifications page and news feeds with relevant updates. A professional Facebook marketing company can create countdowns and send reminders to invitees.
Create a buzz around the event by sharing relevant content and posting regular updates of the latest news and information. Start discussions, upload behind-the-scenes images, share ticket links, run a contest, and offer gifts and free tickets to the winners. This will help the invitees to view the engaging and interesting content and keep them abreast of the date and time of the event. Also, highlight the main attractions of the event and keep updating the list of speakers and performers in the event.
The email signature and company newsletter is a lot more powerful marketing tool than you think. Promoting the event page using both is an extremely prudent marketing strategy for all businesses and marketers. All it takes is copying the event page’s link and pasting it to the company newsletter and email signature. Craft crisp and simple content and pair it with attractive visuals that will encourage people to click on the event.
Leverage paid advertisements
Facebook paid advertising is paid promotions by the social network available in a wide range of formats that enable businesses to target a specific demographic. Businesses also get to decide the overall amount of money they would like to spend. If budget is not a constraint, then using the platform’s paid advertisements can help you reach a highly targeted audience and encourage them to click on the event link. Leveraging paid ads is an easy process. After creating the event, go to ‘Boost event’ and select the ‘Increase ticket sales’ option. After that select the demographic factors that are relevant to the target audience.
8. Involve a co-host or sponsor
One of the best ways to network and show the business’s value to a prospective customer is to involve a co-host or sponsor. By partnering with another company to co-host or sponsor the event a business can reach out to more potential customers and gain a new customer base. It is also a win-win situation for both. The co-hosts and sponsors also get visibility and can leverage the event to reach out to new potential customers. It is an excellent way to build synergies. However, make sure to team up with the brands and companies that are relevant to the target audience.
9. Cross-promote with co-hosts, sponsors, performers, and speakers
One of the best ways to enhance the visibility of the event page is to cross-promote it with the co-hosts, sponsors, speakers, and performers. Encourage them to add the event and share it with their friends. The more people promote the page, the more eyeballs it is going to garner. It will enhance the visibility of the event and make it visible to a wider target audience. Request all the attendees to press the ‘Going’ button that will indicate their decision to be present in the event. Ask other invitees to click the ‘Interested’ button that will show their interest.
Taking everything into account,
Facebook events are becoming popular among businesses. More are considering joining the bandwagon to make the most of the social media platform. With the above nine steps, any business can leverage the social network to create and promote their events.
