Facebook for Retailers Series: Facebook Events for Shop Owners

Whether you own an online shop or a brick and mortar store, Facebook Events are valuable.

In my “Make the most of your Facebook Page” post, I mentioned that an “Event” within your Facebook page is a great way to get more exposure for your shop events. When you publish an Event on your Page it will appear in the feed of some of your followers.

If you are familiar with Facebook then you know every time you publish something only a small percentage of followers will actually see it.  But don’t let this discourage you!

Because THIS is the benefit of posting Events:  If one of your followers mark “interested” or “going” then your event could potentially appear in their friends’ feeds,  and so on and so forth. You see the snowball effect?

Facebook rewards engagement.  If someone checks “interested” in an event, if they comment or like one of your posts, then  Facebook will give it more exposure.

If you own a brick and mortar store and you host shopping events, parties, workshops and other events then posting an Event applies to you.  If you own an online shop and attend local markets, participate in pop-up events, or host flash-sale events online – Facebook Events are ideal for you too!

Let’s start with the basics – how do you create an Event?

1. Go to your business page
2. Click on “Events”
3. Click on “Create Event”

What do you need to create an effective Event on Facebook?

• First and foremost, an eye-catching event cover.

Social Media graphic and image sizes can be frustrating, right?  Social Media graphic and image sizes can be frustrating, right?  Instead of bombarding you with a million different pixel sizes I like to keep it simple.  Use the free version of Canva and the recommended size for the social platform and graphic-type, like this:

Here are some Facebook Event Cover tips:

• Keep the main focus of the Event Cover in the center of your design.  That way if the event is viewed on a mobile phone the Event Cover doesn’t get cut off.
• Don’t use a lot of text – if you eventually create an ad for your event, Facebook doesn’t like to see a lot of text in ads
• The date and title of the Event will appear to your followers so you don’t have to repeat this in your Event Cover
• Use a GREAT image (and if needed, a little text) to draw your followers in – think about what will resonate with them, what will get them to click “interested” or “going”?

One of our most popular Event Covers to-date is this one.  A picture from a workshop we co-host with a hand lettering artist:

• Event Name, Location, Date and Times

The basics, nothing special, just fill in the info.

• Select a Category

For us, we usually choose “Shopping” for our shopping events and “Crafts” for our creative workshops but there is a dropdown list of categories to choose from.

• Description

This is where you will enter all of the other details about your event – be as descriptive as possible.

• Ticket URL

Use a link where people can get more information, purchase tickets, RSVP, etc.  The link might lead to your website, Eventbrite, or online shop.

• Additional Options

If you have co-hosts with business pages, you can link them up here.  We recently hosted a pop-up shop at our store.  We linked up the other four business pages to our event.  Doing so will display the event on all of their business pages too.  Again, more exposure.

You can choose who can post in the event and you can choose to display the guest list if you like.

Keep this in mind, it’s a little bit of work to create a Facebook Event but, it’s FREE.

And more importantly, remember what I refer to as the “snowball effect”.  I can’t stress this enough. 

I’ve heard so many people say they heard about our Events and Workshops because it came up in their feed that a Facebook friend was either “Going” or “Interested”.

Do you have a Facebook Event success story?  Will you be listing your first event soon?  Either way, I’d love to hear about it!

Want to learn more?

1. Follow Savvy Shopkeeper on Instagram or Facebook or sign up for email updates!
2. Visit the Shopkeeper’s Academy to learn more about our group memberships and 1:1 coaching.
3. Listen to the Savvy Shopkeeper Retail Podcast.
   

I share some of the most helpful information and tips for retail business owners on the Savvy Shopkeeper Retail Podcast. I know you’re busy so episodes are short and sweet at around 20 minutes. Want to work less, profit more, and grow? Listen on any of these platforms:

You’ll find the Savvy Shopkeeper Retail Podcast on all these listening platforms: Spotify  Apple  iHeart  Audible  Amazon Music