How to Promote Your Event Using Facebook Ads

Trying to attract more guests to your next event? Consider using Facebook ads to grow your reach. The popular social media platform boasts 2.19 billion active monthly users. It also gives Facebook advertising firms and event marketers alike the option of targeting specific types of users with its Custom Audience tool. That makes it easy to reach people who are actually interested in your event.

To design an ad that performs well, it helps to focus on these key features:

• Visuals – With so much content in their feeds, users are more likely to notice your ad if it stands out. Think about using brightly colored graphics and video content. Facebook recommends using less words, and more images for your banner.
• Relevance – The ad will be more effective if it accurately explains the experiences users could expect to have at your event.
• Value Proposition – Make sure your ad explains why attending your event would benefit a user.
• Call-to-Action – The ad shouldn’t merely let a user know your event is happening. It should entice them to take a clear action, like registering for it.

Studying examples of strong Facebook event promotion ads can help you better understand what you can do to guarantee yours is effective. The following examples illustrate how to create promotional ads that work.

Run multiple ads

Many events feature a wide range of “sub-events” that may be more appealing to specific types of users. For example, a music and arts festival could play host to sub-events like a specific artist’s performance, a unique exhibit, and individual activities.

That’s why these examples from London’s annual “Totally Thames” event are worth paying attention to:

Instead of promoting the event in a generic way, the marketing team focused on ways to highlight the individual activities guests could participate in. This is a smart tactic for larger events with many attractions that could otherwise be overwhelming to attendees.

Use Video

Statistics indicate that using video in marketing content can have an extremely positive impact on an ad’s effectiveness. That’s why you should use it when promoting an event on Facebook, like the marketing team for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe did.

Video works because it gives users a more dynamic look at the event than they are likely to get from images alone. This makes it more naturally appealing, and viewers can get a true sense of the event as well.

Highlight the Good You’ll Do

Corporate events often support social causes. Organizers may look to donate a portion of the proceeds to a charity, for example. It’s smart to highlight this in an ad. This example from Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea indicates how you might do so:

This is a particularly smart strategy if you’re targeting a younger audience. According to surveys, members of Generation Z want brands to be socially-conscious. Even if they can’t attend your event, users who see this type of ad may be more likely to engage with your brand in the future.

As with all Facebook ads, it’s important to A/B test, experimenting with different approaches to find out which are most effective. These tips will help you design ads that perform well and attract guests to your event. By applying them and monitoring your ad’s performance, you’ll achieve the best possible results.