FIND TOOLS
Online Events
Learn to create virtual experiences using Facebook’s platforms and tools.
Make your Event Page a central destination for your fans to view and engage with your content. You can schedule an online event in advance and host the event in real time.
Convenient scheduling
Schedule your live broadcast in advance and promote your event on- and off-platform using shortened event links.
Help fans find events
Fans have several ways to discover your online events. Holding Facebook Live events may drive growth in views.
Earn more from online events
Inspire loyalty with special access to your live videos.
The global pandemic has made face-to-face events challenging and we’ve heard from many of you who are moving your work online.
However, when we can’t be together in real life, Facebook and Instagram have a comprehensive set of tools to help you organize online events. Example use cases may include:
As a media company, I want to host a talk show virtually and engage with viewers
As a news organization, I want to host a community meeting with gated admission
As a chef, I want to schedule and promote a virtual cooking class
Whether you're hosting a live town hall to answer audience questions, or leading a fitness class, this guide can help you learn how to plan, produce & manage your online events on Facebook.
Plan Your Online Event
Once you're clear on your approach, setting up your Online Event is simple.
1. Start from the Events tab, click “+Create” and then select “Online”.
2. Be sure to fill out Event Details, such as Event Name, Date and Time, so your attendees know what to expect.
3. Select to create a “Private,” “Public,” or “Group” event and click Done.
4. Next, toggle to select “Online Event” and choose from the below four event formats.
Messenger Rooms: This option generates an automatic link for the event that launches a room at the scheduled start time. As the host, you can allow your guests the ability to share the event, which will make the event public. This is great for smaller, more engagement-oriented virtual events like workshops, meetings, and classes.
Facebook Live: This feature is currently rolling out to all event creators and selecting this will generate an automatic link for Facebook Live, which the event host will be able to initiate at the time of the event. Once live, you’ll be able to broadcast and interact in real-time with event guests. Live works best with large, more-presentational virtual events like performances, simulcasts, or speeches.
External Link: Using this option allows you to add any video link (ex: Premieres, Playlists, BlueJeans, Zoom, etc), just copy it into that field.
Other: Write a custom description explaining how people can join your event.
5. Choose “Admission”: How much do you wish to charge? Select “Enable Paid Access” and choose your price from the drop down.
Your audience and monetization goals will affect your choices. For example:
For a large community meeting with gated admission, try Online Events with Live
For a musician who wants to schedule a virtual performance and engage fans, try Online Events with Live
For a creator who wants to host an interactive experience, like a small fan meet-up or VIP cooking class, try Online Events with Messenger Rooms
Plan For Engagement
As with events in real life, keeping an audience present and engaged can be a challenge. When engaging at-home audiences, distractions can come up at any moment. Given our increasingly screen-filled days, planning brief, dynamic content is critical in addition to a few other best practices:
Avoid planning more than 1-2 hours of programming; brevity is key.
Break up long-form programming into concise segments with breaks.
Go from storytelling to storydoing – engaging and interacting, not just telling.
Inspire with creative interaction, networking, and socialization. Learn more about comment moderation here.
Offer a variety of formats: presentations, interviews, panels, workshops, and brief videos to break up the action
Create moments of surprise and delight in real time and throughout the engagement.
Prep your speakers to ensure they’re energetic, enthusiastic and articulate during presentations. Encourage them to state key points at the start, and summarize takeaways at the end.
Promote Your Online Event
Sharing your Online Event to Facebook Groups, co-host and/or personal Page, Facebook and Instagram Stories and other social channels helps increase awareness of your event and may help drive registration.
Use News Feed posts, Stories, Events notifications, hashtags, newsletters and Ads to create a steady cadence of information and engagement prior to your virtual event. For example:
Seven Days Prior: Create your Online Event
Six Days Prior: Invite friends and ask them to share your event with others
Five Days Prior: Create an event ad in Ads Manager or by boosting an event on your Page; event ads increase your event presence on Facebook.
Four Days Prior: Post agenda details to your timeline
Three Days Prior: Post featured speaker photos and bios to your timeline
Two Days Prior: Post a promo video to your timeline
One Day Prior: Post a promo photo to your timeline
Day Of: Use Stories to drive tune-in and engagement
Tips & Tricks: Create Cohesion
Upleveling the look and feel of your content with small touches can drive real impact.
Find a quiet space that is free from distraction
Ensure your background is clean, neat and free of anything unsightly
Position your camera in line with the top of your head, then angle down to meet your eyes
If you lack studio lighting, place a table lamp just behind your screen, or face a bright open window
After Your Online Event
Create Momentum
Use each event as an opportunity to listen to your audience and build your community.
Create networking Groups and Rooms to facilitate ongoing conversation
Trim the beginning and end of your previously live video if there’s any unnecessary footage you’d like to cut, or clip shorter segments from the longer broadcast.
Share out new, snackable content to keep discussion going on News Feed, Stories, IGTV, etc.
Measure Impact
The global COVID-19 pandemic has transformed our daily lives and many of us will be testing, learning and iterating as we adjust to a new normal. Measuring the impact of your event will arm you for the next performance or presentation.
Encourage feedback throughout your event in order to learn more about what your audience prefers
Consider surveys to go deep on your audience’s response to specific session
Use data like RSVPs, audience engagement, or viewing time as means to track your impact — and progress
