Do you have a workshop coming up and wish to maximize your audience? Are you new to Facebook marketing and want to learn how to get started to expand your reach? If that is the case then read on ahead on how you can get started with promoting your workshop on Facebook.
One of the biggest challenges of hosting an event such as a workshop is to spread awareness to both existing and new audiences. Ideally, you want people to be talking about your workshop not just before it happens but after it has concluded, too. If you are going through the trouble of attracting people to your workshops then it might be time that you start building and executing a marketing strategy on Facebook.
In this blog post, we explore some creative ways on how you can promote your upcoming workshop on Facebook.
Create a Facebook event for your workshop and optimize it for maximum reach
For things such as workshops, vocational classes, or other discussion sessions, Facebook Events is a wonderful tool available to marketers. It lets you consolidate all the information about your workshop and/or classes on a single page, so you can engage with audiences.
You can learn how to create a Facebook event for your page here. When creating an event, be sure to add in all the relevant information including:
- Days and timings for the event.
- Location and instructions on how to reach the venue.
- Schedule and agenda for the workshop.
- Pricing and other payment information (where applicable).
Once you have created a Facebook event for your workshop, the next step is to optimize it for reach. This involves adding small details and metainformation to your event page so that it shows up in relevant search results and suggestions on Facebook. Here are some tips on how you can achieve this:
- Make sure that you add suitable tags related to your event. You should add location-based and workshop-specific tags to make sure that your event page is shown to the right audiences.
- Use ‘keywords’ in your event name and description that make it easily searchable. For example, if you are hosting a workshop for cybersecurity, you can add in keywords such as data privacy, cybersecurity, information security, etc. Facebook also recommends keywords when you are creating an event, so you can use those, too.
- Add a unique, customized cover image to the event that makes it stand out. Ideally, this should be a picture of the location where the workshop will be held (or a picture from one of your past workshops). This will help build trust with your target audiences.
Here’s an example of a good Facebook event page for a workshop by Herspace Media:
Share your workshop event on relevant groups
Facebook groups provide a great platform for marketing events and workshops. If you have a group for your business, that is the first place you should share and promote your event page. This is because your group contains an audience that is already interested in your workshops and has most likely either attended or wants to attend a workshop.
Therefore, the first step that you should take after creating your event page is to share it in your own business groups. Next, you can start exploring groups that you are already a member of and that you feel have an audience suitable for your workshop. For example, if you are hosting a woodworking workshop and are already part of a creative woodwork group, you can share your workshop event there.
However, when sharing to groups that you do not own, make sure to check the group rules. You do not want to get kicked out from a group for promoting content without the admin’s approval or against the group rules.
Additionally, it is important that when promoting your workshop, you do not write a salesy caption and sound too promotional. This can backfire, especially when members start to feel that you are sharing content only related to your business.
Instead, make sure that you are contributing to groups regularly with authentic and helpful ideas and tips. This will help you build trust and establish you as a thought-leader so when you do share a workshop or vocational class, people know the value you can offer.
Finally, to increase engagement, try making use of well-designed workshop flyers and invitations to promote your workshops. You can use a graphic design tool such as PosterMyWall to create and customize these event flyer templates and event invitations with a few simple clicks. The best part is that you can share them digitally, or get them printed and use them for offline marketing, too!
Post statuses and updates that highlight your workshop
Posting regular updates about your workshop is important to build interest and keep audiences engaged. Reach out to the followers of your page with a quick reminder every week or so informing them about more details about the event.
Be sure to make use of customizable Facebook post templates, images, emojis, GIFs, and other interactive elements to boost engagement and make sure that the audience is excited about the upcoming workshop
Here are a few ideas on the type of content you can share to share updates about your upcoming workshop:
- Countdown to the workshop with an enticing caption such as “have you registered yet?” or “limited seats available”.
- Short videos (or even live videos) about behind-the-scenes preparations and how it all comes together before the workshop.
- Information about the location, where people can park, and what is the best time to arrive to avoid traffic.
Here’s an example of a good follow-up post to a workshop event from Van Putte Gardens.
Enjoy a full-house at your next workshop
Facebook marketing has the potential to increase engagement and maximize attendance for your next workshop. However, to make sure that you succeed with it, you need to plan and execute the right marketing strategies successfully. This blog post provides you with a guide on how you can get started with such strategies and take the first step towards having a full attendance at your next workshop.
