Better Than A Picture: The Importance Of Marketing Events Using Facebook Events

How many times have you seen a great event flyer on Facebook? How many times have you had trouble tracking down the picture that was shared of a flyer to get the information you want later? This is why whether you are a running a business, non-profit or just trying to organize a gathering of family and friends you should get familiar with and use the Event function on Facebook.

Creating an Event on Facebook is FREE and takes about the same time as posting a picture of a flyer (maybe a few seconds longer :) Make the Event as soon as the details of the Event are planned and give people on Facebook more time to share it and get the details out so they can plan their calenders and have the facts and not the rumor mill version.

Creating a Facebook Event makes it easier for people to find your Event when they want to come back to the post to find out more information or share it with others. Once an Event is showing up in an individuals Events listing (due to being invited by someone, or they clicked that they are "Going" or "Interested") they simply can come back to Events from their Home page to find out more information. Viewers of an event can select on "Going", "Interested" and can "Invite" others by either selecting friends that they think they would like the event or by sharing the event to their wall or the wall of a page that they are the admin on.

One of the best things when it comes to advertising events is that if the details change for any reason: time, date, place... the creator of the Event can correct that information and Facebook automatically will send out a notice to all those that clicked that they are going or interested or invited to make them aware of the changes to the event. Less angry mobs showing up at the wrong time or wrong place is always a good thing.

An important feature of the Events when it comes to marketing is that when it is getting close to an event or an event is happening the Facebook user will get a reminder pop up on Facebook. This reminds them of the event that they are planning on attending so they will be less likely to forget about it.

Another cool feature of Event creation is that if you have a reoccuring event that is for example a monthly meeting, or a sale that is for several different saturdays in a row instead of having to recreate the event from scratch you can simply "Copy Event". Once you create the initial event you can go to the Event and click on "Copy Event" and simply change the date and/or details as needed to create the next Event posting quickly and easily.

Create An Event

Using a Organization/Business Profile Page:

From your Organization page simply click "Offer, Event +". Next click on "Event" fill in the fields to tell about your event, you can also "add event photo" for the event if desired. Once you are done you can select "Publish" or "Save Draft" under the drop down arrow. You can come back and edit your event if any main details change from the event page when yo click on your event. You can also add pictures of flyers for the event, venue location, group logo, etc...

Using a Personal Profile Page:

If you are using a personal Facebook page Events can be set up as private invitation only (so everyone on Facebook can not see it), great for birthday parties, weddings, etc..., or they can be set up as a Public Event (everyone on Facebook will see). If you are helping advertise for a fundraiser for a group that does not have a page setting up a Public Event will allow you to reach a larger audience than invite only, by setting it up through your personal page it will show you as the "host" but will allow you to list "co-hosts" where you can list other event organizer names or simply type in the name of the organization the fundraiser/event is being held for. To make an Event from your personal page, from your Home page click on Events listed on the left hand side of the screen. Once it opens you will see any Events that you are invited to or already have made. To make a new Event click on the Create button above the events. Then select if you want to "Create Private Event" or "Create Public Event" and fill in the Event form. You can also create a semi-private event by selecting "Create Private Event" and also selecting the "guests can invite friends" box that appears at the bottom of the box for setting up a private event. Be aware that the "guests can invite friends" box appears filled in and if you want a private event with only the guests you want to invite be sure to uncheck this box before hitting the "Create" button. However, Events can be edited so fear not. If you are the creator/host of an event one of the selections under the Event listing for you will be to "Edit".

Examples of creating an Event from a Organization Page: