Tips for setting up a Facebook event (soundbite)
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Setting up a Facebook event seems way simpler than it is. If you’re not careful, you can easily make a mess of things. But worry not! In this week’s soundbite episode of Marketing + Margaritas, Jade breaks down what makes a good Facebook event and how you can use them to get more eyes on your event.
“Why should I care about setting up a Facebook event in the first place?” I hear you ask. Well, Facebook events are super useful for event marketing. People can comment on posts, tag their friends, + they can click ‘interested’ or ‘going’ which helps build the reach for your event. Now that we’re all on the same page about how useful FB events are, here are our top tips for making your event one to remember!
Make sure you don’t over-post in the event page
People’s attention is precious and if you keep spamming them with updates, they might just check out or unfollow your event. Respect your audience and make sure you only post updates if absolutely necessary.
Update your event cover
By default, Facebook will make your event cover the same as your Facebook page cover. We defs recommend updating it to something specific for your event. Whether that be a bit of repurposed collateral or something new.
Just make sure you check both the desktop and mobile versions of the cover. Both crop different parts of the banner out so you have to make sure it’s legible + looks good on both!
Make sure your title is super clear + descriptive
Your event name is one of the first things people will notice. A clear, descriptive name will go a long way to drawing the right people in.
For example, don’t just call it “Mackay Yoga Class”. If it’s a morning class, maybe go with “Eimeo Beach Morning Yoga”. What about if it’s a Mums + Bubs event? You could call it “Mackay Mums and Bubs Yoga”. You get the picture.
Also, if your event is a recurring one, make sure the time/date is in your event name. If I want to go to “Awesome Music Festival” but on Facebook I see 7 years worth of events with the same name, it’s difficult for me to see which one is the most recent one. Clearly labelling your name with the year + month (if it’s monthly) helps people know this is the most up-to-date event.
Put all the event info in the description
Make sure your event description has ALL the info about your event. If people know what to expect, they’re more likely to come along to your event. Some common questions to answer in your event description include:
The cost.
When to RSVP by.
Where is it?
What's the date(s)?
What time is it starting/finishing?
What's the purpose? Why does this event exist?
What cool stuff is happening?
Is there stuff being provided? Or do people need to bring anything?
But you still need to consider your online writing principles. A long, bloated description with a wall of text will scare off most people. Make sure it’s laid out so that people can quickly and easily get the gist of it.
Make sure to tag your event in Facebook posts
The ability to tag your event means you can easily reference it in posts from your Facebook page. If your event has a lot going on (e.g, Auction, Keynote speakers, buffet dinner, etc), pull out an aspect of your event and write up a post on it. Then link to your event so that if that gets people excited, they can click the link to see all the deets + sign up for your event.
And for our wrap up tip…
Invite co-hosts
If you’re organising an event for someone or if it’s a charity event, make sure you invite their page to be a co-host. There’s a section in the event setup that allows you to invite another page to co-host your event. This allows them to make changes, it shows up on their page + you get extra reach on any posts because they’re connected to the event!
That’s all for this shorty episode, do you have any event success stories? Or is there something else that you’d love to learn about? Either way, send an email to Jade with your thoughts!