Facebook has rather quietly launched a brand new app, Events from Facebook. Millions of people rely on Facebook to share and discover events so it seems a natural and promising extension of its platform.
Events from Facebook
According to Facebook, hundreds of millions of events are shared annually on its network across users, companies and nations around the world. Events from Facebook features events you’ve interacted with (such as RSVP’d events and occasions you’ve been invited to), events your friends are interested in or plan to attend, recently published events from liked Pages and tailored recommendations. The already highly-rated app allows you to browse or search for events based on places, times, locations, interests and current physical proximity (such as on Friday night within a 5 mile radius of your home). It makes for the perfect tool to create plans during travels and for specific occasions such as during the holiday season as well as for any spontaneous moment.
It’s possible to keep track of upcoming events and events you’ve RSVP’d to and you may upload other mobile calendars to be able to compare them side-by-side with your Facebook event schedule. It includes an interactive map and the ability to share RSVP data with your Facebook friends. Events on Facebook is currently available for iOS and will be launched for Android in the near future.
B2B or B2C Event Marketing on Facebook
The popularity of this app will have wonderful implications for event planners. The number of guests who may attend your event is likely to increase significantly as well as the number of interested guests (an important type of RSVP which creates additional exposure for your event and encourages additional RSVP’s from friends and colleagues). What kind of events are you featuring on Facebook? Be sure to use all of your associated keywords and tags to increase exposure via Events from Facebook searches by interest. Don’t reserve Facebook Events for parties, gatherings and seminars alone. Be sure to include less obvious happenings such as online events (i.e. webinars and live stream events), in-store sales events and promotions, the arrival of new collections, etc. Think outside the box, be creative and really focus on value – why should members of my target audience attend? What value will this event add to their lives?
Tip: If you’re in an industry that relies heavily on events (such as music, sports or retail), go ahead and craft an engaging post for your fans introducing them to this exciting new app. The more engaged users this app will have, the greater the potential for a boost to your business!
