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Facebook can be a powerful marketing tool to promote your event and drive up attendance and sales. With so many companies and individuals using the social media platform, it can get competitive and difficult to gain the attention of Facebook’s billions of users.
Fortunately, there are a few things you can do as an events management professional to generate more leads for your client’s events. Whether it be a small event for the like-minded to a huge concert or conference, here are some event marketing tips for events of all sizes:
1. Know Your Event and It’s Specifics
Before even thinking about marketing on Facebook, you should know what the event is about, have the full details and know what kind of attendance outcome you are aiming for. Who is your market? How much do you want to make? What is your budget for expenses? How many attendees do you want? If you are unfamiliar with marketing basics and event details, it is best to do your research or enroll in a professional events management program. If you are tackling a large-scale event such as a conference or exhibition, you can consider taking a short course on M.I.C.E Professional Events Management. The more insight you have about events and marketing, the easier it will be to reach event success.
2. Create an Event Page
Facebook allows you to create an event on its platform. When doing this, choose suitable graphics and photos that portray the essence of your event that will make people better understand what the event is all about. The more details you can put out, the higher the chances in getting people interested. These details include the type of event (i.e. fundraiser, academic, social, concert, etc.), place, date, time, fees, etc. Try to be as brief but concise as possible. Once you’ve created your event page, don’t forget to make it public so you can have a further reach.
3. Maximize Organic Distribution
Before you start paying for post boosts and ads, try to gain public attention the organic way. This includes tagging friends and sharing the event with your contacts. You can also add co-organizers to the admin page so you can target a wider friend base for sharing. Post relevant photos, short videos and articles that will show viewers that you are a legitimate and active event. Continued shares and posts by you and your co-administrators will result in more news feed presence and higher awareness of your event.
4. Be Audience Specific
When your organic distribution appears to need a bit of a boost, you can opt for Facebook’s paid ads and post boosts. In doing this try to be specific – the more specific you are, the higher your chances in targeting the right people and getting the proper attendance. However, being too specific can also cut out a potential audience, so be specific but not too much. General specifics include an age range, population location and common interests. Frequently check your page statistics to know how well your posts are doing, which ones are popular and which ones are doing poorly so that you can adjust your next posts.
5. Make Your Page Interactive
You can also use simple contests to get more people involved in your page. Running a contest with an incentive is a quick and easy way to increase engagement and garner more visibility. Offer enticing prizes such as free tickets, a get-away or goodie bags. One of the nice things about the contests is that they aren’t complicated nor are they expensive – especially your prizes come from sponsors.