How to make good use of the Facebook Event tool
Facebook has taken over from our letter boxes, and has allowed us to create an online invitation that you can use to either invite a select few people, everyone on your friends list or the entire world, to your event. It may not be a true reflection of the amount of people who will actually attend, because admittedly, RSVP’ing on Facebook requires no real commitment, but because the event reflects on a person’s timeline once they have joined, it is the perfect promotional tool.
Make it appealing
It may seem trivial, but choose the images for your event page carefully. Design a cover image that contains all the relevant basic information for a quick glance, to avoid the annoyance of trying to find the information buried in the page. Once you get someone on to the page you need to try and get them to engage, they will only do this if the information is clear and easy to find. This cuts down on questions, and if it’s appealing enough, encourages instant engagement with an RSVP. Make sure your images reflect the style of your event and appeals to your target market.
Don’t leave anything out
Within the page there is plenty of space to fill out all the relevant information. Make sure people don’t have to ask any questions regarding how to get there, what time it starts or ends, whether children are welcome or not and so forth. This will make it easier for them to make an instant decision and join the event.
Spend some of your event budget on Facebook
Social media is supposed to be free! But, if you’ve created a Facebook event and want it to get some good exposure then set up some ads to promote your event page with a Facebook ad. This will help the event page meet a much wider audience with less input from you.
Don’t be afraid to keep sharing.
Share the invitation to your page as soon as you have created it, but remember that Facebook’s algorithms mean that only a small percentage of your followers are going to see the post the first time you share it. Don’t be afraid to keep sharing up to the day of the event, and encourage your family, friends, and followers to do the same, in order to reach higher a larger audience.
Don’t let it die
A soon as people start to join the event on Facebook, you need to be ready to keep the momentum going and the information fresh. Post fun pictures or videos of past events. Create mystery with teaser posts, add links to relevant songs or talks (Up the Creek does an excellent job of this!). Continuously keep people interested, and engaging on the event page .
Spread the word
Not everyone uses Facebook regularly. Use every other platform to draw attention to the event page and encourage people to join. Link to it from Twitter, mention the event page in your email newsletter and in a blog post on your website, and add a link that will take readers directly to where they can join. If you have sponsors or speakers or anyone else linked to your event with a Facebook page, then promote their page and encourage them to link to the event as well. This could exponentially multiply the audience and help to spread the word.
Even if your event is by invitation only and you know that most people will be attending, it’s a good idea to create a Facebook event page anyway. It is a great way to promote your business or cause, and to get people talking whilst increasing your visibility to people across the world.
