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New Trends in Marketing – Facebook Events
How to Take Advantage of This Powerful Tool
Facebook can be a very effective way to market your events – and the best part is that it is totally free. When it comes to driving traffic to your event website and increasing ticket sales, Facebook has the potential to make a big impact.
The first step, of course, is to create a Facebook Page for your event. This isn’t too difficult and if this is a yearly event you can keep the same page by simply adjusting the cover photo and details to reflect the upcoming event. Make sure that you keep the title and the URL of the page generic, so that it is not specific to the year. You want to be able to use this page, and the following you have built up, for your next event!
Before the Event
It’s never too early to start promoting your event. Make sure that you include all of the important information about the event, including the location, the date and any other relevant info. The event page can be filled with pictures, blog posts and other content relevant to your event.
Then, you will be able to invite people on Facebook to the event. When they receive the invitation they will be able to respond with Yes, No, or Maybe. This will give you an idea of who is interested in the event and how many attendees you will likely get.
Leading Up to the Event
Your event is coming up soon; how can you get people intrigued? A day or two before the event, take the time to send out messages to the groups of people attending, people who replied with Maybe and people who have not replied. You can do this quickly and easily on the event page and send the same message to everyone in the group. For example, for those who haven’t replied or who have said Maybe you could sweeten the offer with a ticket discount or a free gift.
During the Event
Keeping the page active during the event can be a great way to build your brand. During the event, you can post photos, videos and updates on the event page so that anyone who is not attending can see what they are missing. You can also encourage event guests to post on the Timeline of the page so that you can get a conversation going.
After the Event
So what do you do after the event has come to a close? Even when the big day is over, your promotional efforts should not cease.
After the event, make sure that you send out a follow up email thanking everyone for attending. Also, you can let everyone know about when the next event will be so that they can mark it in their calendar. Many marketers forget about follow up once the event has passed, but this can be an important way to keep a connection with your loyal attendees and make them more likely to come to your next event.
Have you used Facebook to promote events? What strategies work for you? Share them with us in the comments.[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space][/vc_column][/vc_row]
