• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Social Media Examiner

Your Guide to the Social Media Jungle

  • 🔥 Free Newsletter
  • ⭐ FREE Web3 Course
  • 🗓️ Our Events
    • Social Media Marketing World (Mar 13-15)
    • Other Industry Events
  • 💡 Society
  • ⚙️ Tools
  • 🎙️ Podcasts
    • Social Media Marketing Podcast
    • Social Media Marketing Talk Show
    • Web3 Business Podcast
    • Our YouTube Channel
  • 🎯 Partner With Us
    • Podcast Sponsorship
    • Email Sponsorship
      • Email Newsletter
      • Dedicated Email Blast
    • Event Sponsorship
      • Social Media Marketing World
    • Tools Sponsorship
  • 👋 About Us
    • Our Story
    • Articles
      • Web3
      • Instagram Marketing
      • Facebook Marketing
      • YouTube Marketing
      • LinkedIn Marketing
      • TikTok Marketing
      • Expert Interviews
  • Search
  • Social Media Marketing World10th annual. Biggest industry event. Get the recordings!IMPROVE YOUR MARKETING

    How to Add a Facebook Virtual Event to Your Launch Strategy

    by Danielle McFadden / September 18, 2018

    social media how toDo you host online events, webinars, or product launches? Wondering how to incorporate Facebook events into your marketing strategy?

    In this article, you'll discover how to create and host a virtual Facebook event.

    How to Add a Facebook Virtual Event to Your Launch Strategy by Danielle McFadden on Social Media Examiner.
    How to Add a Facebook Virtual Event to Your Launch Strategy by Danielle McFadden on Social Media Examiner.

    Why Host a Virtual Facebook Event?

    A virtual Facebook event allows you to actively engage Facebook users without having (or in addition to) a live event. Virtual events can be used to promote a new website or new location via an open house or grand opening, or launch a new product. They can even be used to open a live event to people who can't be there.

    Add the ability to target a custom audience of people who attended your event with Facebook ads, and virtual events have even more value.

    Ready to host your own virtual Facebook event? Here's how to get started.

    #1: Gather the Details for Your Virtual Event

    Hosting a virtual event doesn't mean you get a pass on arrangements. Before you create your event, be sure you set your scheduling, sponsorships, and other specifics. Because you're going to host this event on Facebook, it's important that you keep the event page specs in mind when you define the following:

    Choose a Theme for Your Virtual Event

    When it comes to theme, the possibilities are endless. Create and fill in a calendar with holidays, local events, national or global days of recognition, and other happenings that align with the goals and interests of your business and brand.

    National Day Calendar is a great resource for national events by month.

    Consider creating an event themed around dates for March Madness or the Super Bowl, the 12 Days of Christmas or Halloween, or National Autism Awareness Day; even something fun and unusual like Left-Handers Day or National Ice Cream Month. The National Day Calendar (shown above) is a great resource for events.

    Choose a Name for Your Event

    While Facebook event titles can be up to 64 characters long, good event titles are short, memorable, and relevant. To increase the chances that your whole title will appear on mobile devices, opt for a shorter title.

    Pro Tip: Because this is a virtual Facebook event, consider using the word “virtual” in your title.

    Consider using the word "virtual" in your Facebook event title.

    Decide on the Length of Your Event

    Facebook events can be up to 2 weeks in duration. Each day will require a hefty time commitment, so factor that into your decision when you choose the length of your event.

    3 Days of World-Class Training—Zero Travel!

    Social Media Marketing World

    Travel to Social Media Marketing World off the table? Get all of the great content at a fraction of the price with an On-Demand ticket.

    That’s full access to recordings of every keynote, workshop, and session—the ones people travel thousands of miles to see. Don't wait. Get your On-Demand ticket and enjoy actionable content that you can watch anytime, anywhere.

    GET YOUR ON-DEMAND TICKET NOW

    Consider Partnering With a Co-Host

    Partnering with another business, brand, or organization not only allows you to share the workload, but also gives you access to their audience, which may lead to potential growth of your own audience. Both you and your co-host will be posting in the event and interacting with attendees, which will reduce the amount of time you both have to spend on the event.

    Another benefit is the opportunity to share the cost of any giveaways you'll offer, paid advertising or promotion costs, and so forth. If it makes sense for you to partner with one or more businesses or organizations, make sure everyone is on the same page before you move forward with creating the Facebook event page.

    #2: Create an Event Page for Your Virtual Facebook Event

    To host a successful virtual Facebook event, it's important to clearly lay out the details for your attendees. Facebook makes it easy to fill out and select the appropriate information, but there are some considerations for you to keep in mind.

    Design Your Event Cover Photo

    Your cover photo should be eye-catching and convey to your potential attendees what your event is about.

    Your Facebook event cover photo should be eye-catching and convey to your potential attendees what your event is about.

    When creating your cover photo, don't use too much text. A good rule of thumb is to follow the 20% text rule that Facebook requires advertisers to adhere to. You can check to see if you fall within the 20% text guidelines by uploading your cover image to Facebook's text overlay tool.

    Pro Tip: A tool such as Canva makes it easy to create a customized graphic that is 1920 pixels wide by 1080 pixels in height. Canva is free with the option to purchase images within the site/app.

    Enter a Location for Your Event

    Your event will be virtual, but Facebook requires you to designate a location. Using the address or location of your business is an appropriate option.

    Select a Category for Your Event

    Facebook provides a drop-down menu with more than 20 event categories for you to choose from. Choose the category that best describes your event. When in doubt, choose Party. You can't go wrong with that for a virtual event!

    Choose the category that best describes your virtual Facebook event.

    Pro Tip: Choosing Other as your event category will reduce the chances that your event will be found organically or within a search.

    Compose a Description of Your Event

    First and foremost, let your attendees know this is a virtual Facebook event so there isn't any confusion. While you want to generate excitement for your event, it's also a good idea to answer the Who, What, When, Where, and Why questions within your event description. If you have an event hashtag, make sure you include that, too.

    Add Three Searchable Keywords

    Begin by typing in a keyword (or tag) that encapsulates or represents your event. As you type, Facebook will populate a list of words for you. Choose up to three keywords that will be associated with your event.

    Tools Resource Guide

    Looking for something to make your life easier?

    Discover the tools we recommend to drive engagement, save you time, and boost sales across your entire marketing funnel or business.

    Whether you need help planning content, organizing social posts, or developing your strategy, you’ll find something for every situation.

    FIND YOUR NEXT FAVORITE TOOL

    Open the Messaging Option

    To provide an open communication channel between you and your attendees, select the option to allow people to contact you via Messenger.

    To provide an open communication channel between you and your Facebook event attendees, select the option to allow people to contact you via Messenger.

    Pro Tip: If you get the same question more than once, post the question and your answer in the Discussion and update your description to include that information.

    Posting

    Select the option to allow anyone to post. This will encourage attendees to interact with each other, which will lead to a fun and engaging event.

    Co-Host

    Enter the names of the business pages or friends you'll share your event with.

    Enter the names of the business pages or friends you'll share your Facebook event with.

    Guest List

    If you want to allow others to see who has responded to your event invite, leave this box checked.

    #3: Promote Your Virtual Event Off of Facebook

    You're hosting your event on Facebook, so that's a natural place to promote it via Facebook ads, shares to the timeline of your page and profile, and event invites. That said, keep in mind there are other key channels on which to generate interest and attendees:

    • Social media: Use your Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn presence to drum up interest in your event using your event hashtag.
    • Website: Add information about your virtual Facebook event to the home page of your website and have the section link directly to the Facebook event.
    • Newsletter: Mention the event in your print and email newsletter. In the email newsletter, be sure to link back to the Facebook event.
    • Email signature: Invite recipients of your emails to attend your virtual event.

    Promote your virtual Facebook event in your email signature.

    #4: Grow Your Audience on Facebook Before Your Event

    Once your event page is live, you'll want to work on building your list of attendees. Here are some tips to get you started:

    Promote your Facebook event by inviting friends and sharing it via Messenger and as a post.

    • Use the Invite Friends option to share the event with friends one at a time, or click on Suggested and select friends to see a bulk share.
    • Select the Share in Messenger option to send a private message to those who are closely tied to your business. Use this option sparingly and don't send a group message to people who don't know each other because that could be considered spam and may turn people off from your event before they have a chance to learn more about it.
    • Use the Share as Post option to post the event to the timeline of your business page and personal profile. The more shares, the more people your event will reach.
    • Go live on your business page to let folks know about your virtual event. If you're excited, they'll likely be, too!
    • Invest in a desirable giveaway and make its awarding contingent upon reaching a certain number of attendees. For example: “If we reach 100 attendees by tomorrow, three lucky attendees will win an Amazon gift card!” If you do offer a giveaway, pin a post about it in the event's Discussion to ensure it stays at the top of the feed.

    #5: Engage Your Audience Before and During Your Event

    To ensure that your audience members enjoy themselves during your event, publish fun and engaging posts throughout the course of your event. This is especially important for multi-day events.

    Remember, when people engage with your posts, they may show up in the news feeds of their friends. Here's some inspiration to help you develop a variety of posts:

    • Entertaining content: Quiz, trivia, viral video, Facebook story
    • Engaging content: Poll, “this or that” question, “fill in the blank,” ask people to respond using emojis, GIFs, or bitmojis
    • Educational content: Fact, tip, how-to/do-it-yourself
    • Visual content: Quotes, comics/cartoons, memes, “caption this,” selfie, infographic

    To build anticipation for your Facebook event, ask participants to respond to an event post with their bitmoji.

    Pro Tip: Even if it's your first virtual Facebook event, keep in mind that you can build on the success and momentum of this inaugural event. When you host a future event, remember to go back to your past events and publish a post to invite past attendees to your new event.

    #6: Measure the Success of Your Virtual Event

    Once your event is complete, you'll want to do some analysis. Here are some things to consider both to determine its success and to bank some benchmarks for future virtual event planning and analysis:

    • Review event Insights. Facebook provides a lot of detailed information in your Insights. A quick overview is provided at the top of your event page. Click See More to view more detail.
    • Take screenshots, or note important comments and posts during your event. Track the number of shares for the event, the number of people invited, and the number of actual attendees.
    • Gather feedback. Ask clients, employees, and friends what they liked and didn't like about the event. Encourage them to share ideas to help make future events successful.

    Find a quick overview of your Facebook event insights at the top of the event page.

    Click here to discover 10 Facebook event FAQs for marketers.

    What do you think? Will you consider holding a Facebook virtual event for your business? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.

    Get Your FREE Course: Web3 for Beginners

    Web 3 for Beginners

    Curious about Web3, but don't know where to start or who to trust?

    Introducing Web3 for Beginners, a course taught by Michael Stelzner, the founder of Social Media Examiner.

    Learn the basics of Web3 and apply it to your business with this FREE comprehensive course.


    CLICK HERE TO GET FREE ACCESS

    Tags: Facebook

    About the authorDanielle McFadden

    Danielle is the President of the Greater Lowell Chamber of Commerce and a Social Media Enthusiast. Connect with her at @DMcFaddenLowell on Twitter and Instagram.
    Other posts by Danielle McFadden »

    Get Social Media Examiner’s Future Articles in Your Inbox!

    Get our latest articles delivered to your email inbox and get the FREE Social Media Marketing Industry Report (39 pages, 50+ charts)!

    Industry Report Cover

    Worth Exploring:

    Facebook

    Marketing Help Explore More →

    Instagram

    Marketing Help Explore More →

    YouTube

    Marketing Help Explore More →

    Linkedin

    Marketing Help Explore More →

    Web3

    Marketing Help Explore More →

    Social Media Marketing Industry Report

    Get Free Report →

    Social Marketing Trends

    The data you've been missing!

    Need a new plan? Discover how marketers plan to change their social activities in the 14th annual Social Media Marketing Industry Report. It reveals what marketers have planned for their social activities, content marketing, and more! Get this free report now and never miss another great article from us. Join more than 400,000 marketers!

    Enter your email to get
    our free report:


    Footer

    Your Guide to the Social Media Jungle
    Copyright © 2023 Social Media Examiner®
    All Rights Reserved. Terms of Use | Privacy Policy.

    Helpful Links

    • About us
    • Our content via email
    • Our podcasts
    • Our YouTube channel
    • Our live show
    • Our industry report
    • Sponsorship opportunities
    • RSS
    • Accessibility