5 Tips To Create A Facebook Event From The Social Network’s Events Team

With over 47 million events being created on Facebook in a single year, getting yours to stand out from the crowd is no easy task. Here we look at 5 tips from the Facebook Events Team on how you can make you next event, whether it's a workshop or an album release, catch your fans' attention.

 _______________________

Guest post by Rachel Grate of Eventbrite

Did you know that 1.59 billion people use Facebook every day? Not to mention, 700 million people use Facebook Events each month. But with more than 47 million public Facebook events created last year alone, how can you make your event stand out?

To find out, we turned to Virginia Maloney, the Business Product Marketing Manager at Facebook Events, for her tips on promoting events through Facebook.

Watch the full webinar recording of ‘How to Use Facebook to Sell Out Your Event’ here, or keep reading for some top tips.

Event promotion on Facebook starts the moment you create your Facebook Event. There are five tips you want to keep in mind when creating your event:

1. Choose a 1920×1080 cover photo that looks good at any size

Your event cover photo will appear in different formats across Facebook, on both mobile and desktop. A 16:9 ratio will look good at any size, without causing your photo to appear cut off or incomplete.

It’s also important to choose an image with little or no text so it’s easy to understand at a glance. If you choose to set up ads using your event photo, ads with more than 20% text won’t be approved, so it’s good to think ahead now.

2. Choose a clear, short name that represents your event

You want people to understand what your event is about — but long names often get cut off on mobile experiences.

Don’t duplicate information about the location or time in the event name — those details will be included in your event posting.

Events with long names usually receive fewer responses. Names written in all capital letters or with lots of glyphs are often hard to read and feel less legitimate, which can also lead to lower engagement.

3. Be specific about location, time, and category so Facebook can help promote your event

Selecting an accurate location, date and time, category, and tags allows Facebook to recommend your event to people who live nearby and have similar interests. Using a location that corresponds with a Facebook page or Facebook-suggested location improves these recommendations.

Keep in mind that you can’t create an event that’s longer than two weeks. If you’re organizing a recurring event, we recommend creating separate Facebook events that each have their own time and place for more discovery opportunities.

4. Craft a compelling event description

One way to do this is by using hashtags and mentions in the event description to generate buzz. This enables people to participate in the conversation, or find out more by clicking on the pages of any performers or partners.

You also want to be sure your event description is well-formatted and easy to understand with the important details up front. Tell people why they should go, the line-up or schedule, any age requirements, when tickets go on sale, how to find the venue, and any other FAQs.

5. Sell tickets directly on Facebook

If you partner with Eventbrite (and your event qualifies), you can automatically import all of your event data to Facebook — including your ticketing link. Using Eventbrite’s integration with Facebook makes your event an Official Event, which helps your chances of qualifying for better Facebook search and News Feed recommendations. 

The integration enables people to discover and purchase tickets for your Eventbrite event without ever leaving the Facebook app, which has been found to result in 2x increase in actual ticket sales. Facebook also found that events that sell tickets directly on Facebook have, on average, twice the number of viewers on Facebook as those without native tickets.

One event creator, Craig Hammill of Secret Movie Club, shared that not only did they sell out by selling tickets directly on Facebook, but “working with Eventbrite cut down on the amount of time that I had to devote to organizing the event.”

The integration takes as little as 8-10min to set up. Check out thisstep-by-step guide to set this up through your Eventbrite account.

For more on how to promote your event on Facebook, watch the webinar with more pro tips from the Facebook Events team. You’ll learn:

• Which free tools can help you increase reach and sell more tickets through Facebook Events
• How new Facebook Event ads features can help you grow your sales
• How event creators like you have doubled their attendance and driven 61x ROI on Facebook ad spend — while saving 12 hours a week on event promotion\

And to learn more about using Facebook to promote your event, check out the new eBook, Facebook and Instagram Reveal How Users Discover Events.

Rachel Grate is a writer for Eventbrite, where she regularly interviews organizers of the country's most popular events, from massive music festivals to small food & drink gatherings. She's a live music lover, a foodie, and a big fan of smiles.