Facebook is becoming a must have for event marketing and amplification. Facebook loves events; event planners and venues love Facebook.
The number of tools for Facebook event pages grows exponentially.
Event lovers like Facebook even though sometimes its viral wave can be tough to control.
Looking for the Best Facebook Event Pages
I must admit: it has not been an easy search.
Popular events with great websites in most cases have very basic Facebook pages.
Despite all the hype and growing number of case studies on the impact of Facebook for brands, the vast majority of event planners ignore easy to implement tricks.
It is also true that this is a great opportunity to really make an effort and ramp up your Facebook page.
Here is a bit of inspiration for you:
10. Best Social Integration: Coachella
I really love the way Coachella put together live Tweets on their Facebook page. Looks great.
9. Best Contest Likegate: LeWeb
LeWeb features a fantastic likegate to win free tickets, valued at several thousands $/£/€. I also liked the fact they sell tickets directly from the page.
8. Best Streaming: Blog World
I fancy the way BlogWorld is focussed on video and remote attendance, in true social spirit. They use the Ustream and Youtube apps to deliver a great experience to remote audiences.
7. Best Global Charity: Movember
Managing social channels for global initiatives can be tough. I speak out of experience. Movember displays an amazing looking page with clear calls to action. They clearly show the other countries involved in the project, this is not as easy as it looks.
6. Best Website in a Tab: Sundance
My beloved Sundance Film Festival was able to recreate a tabbed website in their custom tabs. You don’t really need to go on their website to get all the info about their event. That could be a good or a bad thing as you are driving traffic away from your owned assets, but hey, it looks cool.
5. Best Volunteering & Rules: Games Maker – London 2012
Having rules for your Facebook page becomes a necessity for events with a large Like-base. I appreciated the informative way Games Makers (the volunteer initiative for London 2012) wrote their ‘House Rules’. Definitely relevant.
4. Best Video Interaction: Social Media Week
Now, here is a great find. Social Media Week uses VYou to stimulate their audience to ask questions that will be addressed via video. It is a great concept to foster remote participation. Like.
3. Best Call to Action: Web 2.0 Expo< Gone/h3>
So what was the ROI of your Facebook Event Page? Web 2.0 Expo (Page is gone) clearly wants to be able to easily answer that question. The call to action to sign up for their newsletter is prominent and hard to dodge. If you want to make sure you know what your event page delivered, include conversion avenues such as newsletters or registration tabs. I also liked the LinkedIn Group integration.
2. Best Simplicity: f8
I believe nobody knows how to master Facebook event pages better than Facebook themselves. Their f8 conference page is somewhat austere. Nonetheless I invite you to look at the size of the banner and profile pic they use as I am sure they really know what works best.
1. Best Engagement: Back to the Future
Not sure how many of you are aware of this, but in few years time Doc Brown, Marty McFly and Jennifer Parker will arrive to Hill Valley. Well there is obviously a Facebook Event page for that.
Jokes aside, they were able to put together 3,500+ attendees for such a special event. This tells us a story on what people like on Facebook.
Sometimes it could just be a fun and engaging idea. Now think if you actually plan an an event for that day. Also consider if you cross promote it with the fictional page that has gone viral in the meanwhile. Looks like a great social marketing tactic to me!
Any other cool pages? Share it in the comments.