Using Zoom, Eventbrite and Facebook to promote your event

Boring post alert.

Sometimes you need to be boring to be creative.

This is a really boring post about something I find myself doing lots and lots: setting up an event on Zoom, selling tickets for it and promoting it. My hope is that by sharing these steps you will need to spend less time figuring it all out yourselves.

The set up

Through trial and error I’ve arrived at the following combination of platforms.

I host the event on Zoom. I do ticket registration on Eventbrite (whether event is free or paid), and I advertise my event on my website, Facebook and using Mailchimp.

I use Zoom because of its ease of use and, now, people’s familiarity with it. There are some security risks with ‘Zoom bombing’, in which no-goodniks infultrate your meeting and share nasty content. To reduce the chances of this, set up your Zoom meeting so that you require registration with Zoom. This is an additional step that means people who want to attend have to register their email address with Zoom too. It isn’t full proof, but it is a deterrent.

I use Eventbrite for event registration. I am considering moving to Brown Paper Tickets, which are a fair trade ticket company.

The steps detailed below are

• Gather the main info in a base doc
• Create the Zoom event
• Create the Eventbrite event
• Create a web page
• Advertise on Facebook
• Advertise on Mailchimp

Write a base doc with all the info

Create a document that contains all the main information about the event. As part of your description write a short summary no more than two lines long, which you can elaborate on in the subsequent paragraphs.

You can then copy and paste the text as appropriate on different platforms. Similarly find an image that you can use in various places. Eventbrite and Facebook events typically need a wide rectangular image. I don’t worry too much about the exact dimensions. Just make sure there is quite a lot of uninteresting space around the edge of the image so you can crop it when uploading to other platforms as appropriate.

Create the Zoom event

I recommend getting a Zoom account and not worry about your event running longer than the 40 minutes allowed by the free account. The subscription is a lot less than hiring a space!

Create your Zoom event, copy and paste the relevant information into the appropriate fields. Make sure you check the option ‘require registration for the event’.

Save the event, and copy and paste the event invitation into your base doc.

Create the Eventbrite event

Create a new event and work through the menu on the left-hand side of the Eventbrite editor.

(1) Basic info

Add the basic info as required. I add as many tags as possible.

Location

I select the box that says online.

(2) Details

Add your image, event summary and event description.

In the event description I add the following text:

‘We will deliver this webinar using Zoom. As an added security measure we require participants to register with Zoom before they can access the event. All you need to do is follow the link that comes in the confirmation email from Eventbrite.‘

I skip the option to add online details on Eventbrite. Instead, I just type ‘online’ in the event location.

(3) Online event page

I ignore this page and instead I send the Zoom details out in the event confirmation.

(4) Tickets

Enter your ticketing options. I create a general admission ticket. Adjust the number of tickets available. I find I get about a 2/3 no-show rate on free events so don’t set the limit too low.

I set the end time for ticket sales as just before the event as you always get people registering last-minute.

Upading the confirmation email

We want Eventbrite to send out the link for Zoom registration when people book their tickets. Do this as follows.

The first step is to customise the confirmation web page that appears when an attendee books. Go to left-hand side and click on Dashboard/Order options/Order confirmation

Under ‘Customise web page’, I replace the text with the following text.

“Thank you for registering for this free CPD course. When you receive the confirmation email, please follow the link to register for the event on Zoom. We take this extra registration step as a security precaution for our events.

Our free CPD courses usually sell out. We understand that plans change, so if you are no longer able to attend, please cancel so someone else can take your place from the waiting list.”

The second step is to customise the email that goes out to attendees to confirm their booking. I use the following text:

Thank you for booking your place on the [insert event title].

Please arrive 15mins to make sure your audio and video are working. You can then mute while you wait for others to arrive. We will make a prompt start.

To access the webinar you will need to take the extra step of registering with Zoom for the event

[paste in here the URL you copied from Zoom earlier]

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

(5) Publish

Finally, go to the publish menu option, and publish your event.

Click on the button at the top that says ‘view’. This will take you to the customer-facing page. Copy the URL of the customer facing page.

Click on the button at the top that says ‘view’. This will take you to the customer-facing page. Copy the URL of the customer facing page.

Create the event webpage

Create a post or a page on your website with all the basic event info and copy and paste the link to the Eventbrite page.

I tend to share the web page on social media rather than the eventbrite page as it might encourage people to see what other events I am running on this site.

If the event is listed on an events or courses section of your site, consider writing a news post as another way that people can find your event.

Create Facebook event

Create a Facebook event from your Facebook page for the host organisation. Under ticketing options add the link to the Eventbrite page.

Create a Mailchimp campaign

The last stage is to let people on your mailing list know about the event. Link them directly to the Eventbrite page, but ask them to consider sharing the event on social media too.

Was this advice useful?

Let me know if these steps worked for you. Is there a better way? If so then I’ll be all ears (which will make cycling harder).

Boring post almost finished. Do the boring stuff so you can go and be creative.