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How to Promote Events and Sell Tickets on Facebook

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Planning an event takes a lot of time and effort, but it’s only half the battle. During the planning period, there comes a time to start thinking about how to ensure

ticket sales and a successful turnout. There are many promotional tactics that you can use to increase awareness and boost attendance at your event, so read on

for our compilation of highly effective marketing methods.

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A Little Bird Told Me…

o  If your Twitter account already has a large following, you’ll be ready to start firing off promotional announcements and updates about your event. If you’re new to Twitter or if your events are not well known, there is some extra work to be done to build up your following before you can see results from tweeting. One way to boost your account’s visibility and popularity, is to search for relevant keywords and accounts on Twitter and start following and engaging them.

o  You should create an event hashtag to ensure that all tweets related to your event are centralized and easy to find. Hashtags also encourage more people to join in on the conversation and to share excitement.

o  Another way to increase the reach of your tweets is to include other relevant hashtags when tweeting about your event. For example, you can hashtag your city (#NYC) or important keywords such as #event. If your event is a fundraiser, you might want to add hashtags such as #nonprofit and #charity. These might help your tweets get discovered.

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Tap Into Facebook

o  Create an event on Facebook and share it widely. Some ticketing platforms integrate with Facebook to enable ticket sales directly on your brand’s Facebook Page.

o  Make sure to post updates from both your Facebook page and your personal account to encourage people to buy tickets. Take advantage of this opportunity to use rich media such as photos or videos to help showcase how great your event will be, along with a call to action link to purchase tickets.

o  Check out this post for more information on the promotional potential of Facebook for events: http://bit.ly/1cdm2sv

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Build Hype Early

o  It’s possible to create hype and start building your guest list before tickets are even available. Try releasing teasers, videos and other information about your event and then linking to a website like LaunchRock. This site allows you to create ‘landing pages’ where your guests can enter their emails and elect to be notified the day tickets go on sale.

o  Using this technique can enable you to generate interest earlier, secure more potential buyers and build a stronger following for your event.

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Initiate Incentives

o  A great way to build your guest list is to reward attendees with deals and giveaways. Providing incentives sparks interest in your event and enhances engagement. Social deals provide discounts to those who share your event details on Facebook or Twitter. Here’s how to set them up: http://bit.ly/1cXDPlz

o  Running a contest is another useful trick that creates buzz for your event while rewarding participants with free tickets or related prizes. One easy type of contest you can run is a Twitter draw: encourage your followers to tweet using your event hashtag within a certain time frame, then randomly select one winner from the bunch. This kind of contest can generate lots of online activity about your event.

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Mailing List Announcements

o  Try announcing your event by sending out an e-newsletter to your mailing list. Make sure to include all of the exciting and must-know information about your event. Feel free to jazz it up with some attractive images and graphics.

o  If you’ve received positive reviews from past events, this is also a great place to showcase them. Make sure to include a link to your event page so those interested can purchase tickets right away.

o  Don’t hesitate to use every avenue of communication possible to share your event information with all of your connections.

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Local Event Calendars

o  Take advantage of local publications that include event calendar sections. These outlets inform readers of events happening locally, and it’s generally easy to get yours published. This tactic can significantly expand the reach of your event by providing more opportunities for discovery. Seek out as many local blogs with event sections as you can, submit your details, and watch your ticket sales grow. Give it a try!

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Get Physical

o  Your event marketing doesn’t have to stay online, so print out some physical flyers and postcards and take to the streets.

o  Strategically plan your advertising venues to meet your targeted audience; if you’re hosting a craft beer tasting, try visiting local microbreweries or specialized craft beer pubs to see if they’ll let you leave some event flyers behind for their customers. If it’s a fitness event or workshop, try to get some exposure by inquiring with the owners of local gyms and yoga studios.

o  Choosing your advertising spaces selectively will make the most of your time and investment.

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Media and Influencers

o  Know any popular online influencers whose audiences are relevant to your event? A smart marketing tactic is to provide these influencers with free tickets in exchange for promoting your event through Twitter and other online networks.

o  Similarly, offering free tickets, exposure or other benefits to journalists, bloggers and media personnel in exchange for event coverage can help showcase your event to ensure its continued success in the future.

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A Little Help from Your Friends

o  If you are working with and featuring brands at your event, ask if they can help spread the word to their community; the cross-promotion of your event with their products is an effective marketing technique that is mutually beneficial. Discussing marketing strategies with everyone involved will increase exposure to serve multiple interests.

o  Get your team to help promote your event using the above tactics. Sponsors, event partners and other organizers should be doing their parts to draw in guests and make the event a huge success.

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