By now, you no doubt realise and appreciate the value of using social media platforms to promote your own business. A website is a great start, but by using Facebook marketing, you can really get your business “out there”. With the recent changes to Facebook’s algorithm, it’s become even more important to be clever about your marketing strategy. Facebook has an exceptionally powerful tool which can be used here, to reach more people and sell event tickets: the Facebook events application.
Setting up your event
So, you’ve planned the event you want people to attend and added it to your website, but you have no attendees – yet. Not only can you create an event on Facebook, but you can now also use the Facebook Events application to boost your event and reach more people, resulting in increased ticket sales. Sounds awesome, right? Here’s how to get started with this type of Facebook marketing:
Step one – create an event
The first step is to create an event on your Facebook business page. You’ll need to log in to Facebook as an administrator and then navigate to your Facebook business page. Scroll down past the cover photo until you see a little menu of options to post a picture, video, create an event, and so on. Click the “Create an event” option.
Step two – time to add some details
A little window will pop up, allowing you to add details and an image for your event. Always try uploading an image that has been sized correctly for the space Facebook allows (1920 pixels wide x 1080 pixels high in this case). Upload your image and fill in the details of your event, including name, location (Facebook is quite clever in that you can start adding in a location and it will pop up with the venue), start and end times etc.
Step three – selling tickets
When you reach the “Tickets” section, this is where it starts getting cool. Here, you should copy and paste the URL of the section on your website where you created the event and are currently selling tickets. The added advantage of using a link to your website on Facebook is sending traffic from Facebook to your website – people will start investigating your business and what you do.
Finally, you have a few options regarding event co-hosts and guest lists. Whether you select these options or not, is entirely up to you and how you’d like to promote your event. One thing to bear in mind is the more people who see your event the better. So, if you think an option will lead to increased ticket sales, go for it.
Boosting your event for a wider reach
This is the really handy part. At the bottom of the event you’re creating, you’ll see an option to “Boost Event”. Assuming you’re already promoting your business via Facebook Ads and would like to reach even more people to attend your event, you can get some bang for a little extra buck.
Once you’ve selected the Boost Event option, another window will pop up, and this will allow you to boost your event to reach more people. The targeting option is very useful – you can either promote your event to an audience which you’ve already set up via Facebook Ads, or you can select people who like your page currently, and include their friends. With each of these options, you can edit the target market and make it very specific by pinning a location on the map and selecting a radius around the location you’d like to reach.
When you’ve pinpointed the area you’d like your event to be promoted, you’ll need to set a budget. The amount you’d like to spend is up to you, but bear in mind again, that the more moola you spend on promoting your event, the more people you’re likely to reach. Once you’ve set your budget, Facebook will give you an indication of how many people you’ll reach per day.
Then, select how long you’d like the boost to run for. If you’re in panic mode and your course is next week, then perhaps seven days is the best option for you. Facebook will create a preview for how your ad looks and once you’re happy, select “Boost”, and Voila! Now all you have to do is prep for your sell-out course next week. 😉
Want to get to grips with using social media platforms to market your business? Join us for our next Social Media Course. We run courses in Durban, Johannesburg and Cape Town. Book your spot today.
