Event Promotion Tips Using Facebook Events

Over the last couple months I have noticed that our Facebook events tend to get the lowest amounts of impressions from any other type of post that we do. On the handful of Facebook pages that I manage both professionally and as a volunteer, I have noticed that there is actually not much of a difference in the amount of reach whether your Fan Page has 5000+ people liking it or just 500.

Event Pages on Facebook have become an essential part of event promotion strategy. But most of the time they just seem to be another item on the list of things that you should have when promoting an event. The problem is with most of these event pages, we create them and then do nothing with them. There is no strategy and no effort to actually use them for promotion.

Marketing is all about tools and how you use them. There needs to be thought behind it, measurable goals if possible, and a strategy to have the Facebook Event lead people back to your homepage. Here are a few ways to get more people aware of your event on social media.

Ways to Increase your Reach with Facebook Event Pages

1. Use staff Members as Social Media Ambassadors

Have your staff like posts and also have them invite people. Anyone who is going to an event can invite other people. They say they are going, they then click on Invite and choose their friends to invite.

You should also engage other organizations/pages who are co-sponsoring to help share the event on your page. If you have other sub-brands that have their own pages they should also share the event. 

2. Share your event everywhere

Have your social media ambassadors and hosts of the event share the event. You should also share the event in groups on Facebook that might be have people interested in attending. Keep your audience in mind and the kinds of Facebook groups they are involved in. That is where you should concentrate promoting your event.

3. Add share buttons on your event registration confirmation page

Once participants have registered for an event, have them share the event on social media and visit the Facebook event page. 

4. Create a strategy for your Facebook Event page

There are so many ways you can engage your audience prior to the event. You can post pictures of preparations or even ask participants to post their own pictures. You can ask people to post questions for the speaker ahead of time and choose questions from the Facebook page. You could create a Top 10 Reasons to come. 

Other Tips for Promoting your Event

1. Make sure that you choose a #Hashtag for your event

The #hashtag should be something meaningful to your event and easy to remember. If there are trending/popular tags that you can use, I would also use a single one in posts. Hashtags can help engagement, but too many will actually hurt your engagement rates.

2. Get people excited for the event

Prior to the event, get people excite for the event by showing a glimpse of the activities or profiling speakers. If you are serving something interesting, then food is always a great way to get people excited. 

3. Spend money on advertising

If you are interested in reaching more people, spend some money on advertising. Just make sure you continuously monitor your ad to make sure you are meeting your goals.

4. Make sure your Facebook cover image is sized correctly

The size of the Facebook Event Cover is 784 x 295. Just remember the name of the Event and the date cover the bottom of the event cover. You can download a Photoshop Template to help you size your event cover.