“Content is the fire, and Social Media is the gasoline”

All my social media strategy revolves around this quote.  Social media doesn’t and shouldn’t change what you do in your small business or side hustle, but it should help  with how you spread the word to your intended audience. One of my favorite ways to do this is through the creation and promotion of Facebook events.

Creating an event is a relatively simple process that takes a few clicks to get off the ground. But the proper way to get your audience engaged and interested in what you do is an art form that requires dedication and creativity from you and your social media team that requires four steps.

4 Steps to a Facebook Event

1. Create an event graphic: When you make a new event, Facebook automatically defaults to your Page’s cover photo as the image associated with it. While this is ok for the beginner, you want to evolve to incorporating original graphics that communicate to your target audience and make them stop scrolling through their cluttered Newsfeed. To do this (and to make sure it fits the pixel size necessary for the event cover space), I use Canva. I always use a branded image or text graphic design, so followers can quickly and easily associate this event with my client. It’s also helpful to add a logo or overlay for quick image-association.
2. Create the event: Once your graphic is done, head on over to the Book and create an event from your desired account. If you want to make it a personal event unrelated to your business, use a desktop or laptop and find “Create Ad” in the lower left navigation pane. For a business event, go to your Page, click on the “Events” tab, and then “Create Event.” In the pop-up, enter all your event details such as a catchy, short title; dates and times; address; and brief description. You can also link to a website so attendees can purchase tickets or add co-hosts to link to other people and businesses who may be involved.
3. Promote within the event: Once your event is created, it’s like a small child. You can’t just leave it laying there and hope it takes care of itself; you need to nurture it and grow it and build interest…aka pour on the gas. You can do this by posting photos or GIFs within the event, creating a poll to ask attendees what they hope to get out of it, sponsor a giveaway, invite friends who may be interested, or go LIVE to tease the info. Do this on a regular basis, so potential attendees can build excitement and keep you fresh in their mind.
4. Promote outside the event: Even if you are punctual with your posts, engaging with your audience, and sharing the event with interested parties, you still may not reach everyone you want due to the Algorithm and just people who don’t regularly access their Facebook account. This final step is getting outside your Facebook event and doing outside promotion. Share the event from your personal profile, post about it on your other social media profiles such as Instagram, arrange a newspaper interview about your intended goals, hand out event fliers, etc. Create a buzz and excitement about what you’re doing, and your audience will follow.

For even more training and some hands-on tutorials, head over to the “Videos” tab on the Molly Knuth Media Facebook page and watch today’s live stream.

MKM LIVE_ Monday, July 9 available here