Facebook Events allow you to arrange real life events that users can sign up to on Facebook. You can use them in both a personal and professional capacity, so whether you’re having a party with friends or holding a promotional event for your business, Facebook Pages can help you organise and broadcast the event online.
How to create a private Facebook Event
From your personal profile, open Events and choose Create new event. Select whether it is in person or virtual, then choose Private in the audience setting. Menu names and placement can vary by device. You cannot change an event’s privacy status later on, so confirm your choice before going on to fill out the rest of your event’s information. Only invited guests can see a private Facebook Event.
How to create a public Facebook Event
If you’re a business, you may wish to host a Facebook Event to attract customers to a showing or promotional event run by your business. If the business is hosting, switch to the appropriate Page before creating the event. Meta’s Help Centre states that Page-hosted events are public. From a personal profile, choose Public in the audience setting instead of Private.
A public event means that people not specifically invited can see your event. You can also categorise your event (for example, tagging a ‘food festival’). Users then searching for these type of events may see your event in search results.
Why create a Facebook Event?
Facebook Events have many uses. Private events make it easy to keep track of who you’ve invited and easily enable people to RSVP. Guests can also write on the event’s wall, and it generally makes an event more social and easy to organise.
A public Facebook Event is a great way to boost publicity for promotional events and help spread the word. Guests can also RSVP to public events, so it can help you to get a rough idea of attendance figures, useful for both logistics and sponsorship reasons. You can add additional imagery and information for your event and you can respond to any queries people might have directly on your wall.
What to prepare before publishing
Write a title that identifies the activity, then state who it is for and what people can expect. Include the start and finish time, time zone where relevant, full venue address, access instructions and any price. If a separate booking is required, say so clearly. An Interested or Going response is not a ticket purchase and does not guarantee attendance.
For example, a workshop listing should explain its level, duration, materials needed and whether places are limited. A visitor should be able to decide whether it suits them without searching through comments. Put essential details in the description as text, even when they also appear in the cover image.
Manage questions and changes
Assign someone to check the event discussion and answer recurring questions. Keep one current version of the practical details, and announce important changes such as a new entrance or revised start time. For an online session, explain how registered people obtain access and test that process before the day.
Check the chosen host and visibility before inviting people. Meta says event privacy cannot be changed after creation. For a private gathering, also review whether guests can invite friends. After the event, compare actual attendance with registrations and responses; those are different measures and help you plan the next event more realistically.
