With the postponement or cancellation of mass events due to the Covid-19 pandemic. As well as social distancing paving the way to a home-centric lifestyle, businesses were forced to think outside the box. This includes Facebook, who has just announced Facebook paid live events in Singapore (and 19 other countries).
Many businesses consider events as critical platforms for their growth in developing connections and reaching new and existing audiences. The use of ‘virtual events’ has emerged as a viable alternative to their traditional counterpart.
Even in a post COVID-19 world, it has been widely accepted that virtual events, whether hybrid or online, will continue to be an incredibly important marketing tool. Facebook’s ‘live broadcast’ feature doubled its user base in June 2020 compared to a year prior. Having recognised this growing trend, Facebook has launched paid live events to assist businesses in monetizing their online events.
With the update, page owners will now be able to host virtual live events, promote them, as well as collect payment directly from participants. By combining marketing, live video, and payment, these all-encompassing paid events will set to further furnish the demands of businesses.
All in all, streamlining the virtual event process – something we’re excited to trial in Singapore!
Why should Facebook’s paid events be part of your digital strategy?
Large companies may have the manpower and finances to host sophisticated online events. However smaller firms, including fitness trainers, online e-learning courses, and mentoring, have fewer options to monetize their skills and knowledge. Facebook announced they would waiver all paid event charges, for at least the next year. It’s therefore never been a better time to experiment and further develop your online strategy to reach your target audience.
The function will allow businesses to host large events through Facebook Live, providing a new way for you to monetize your live online events through a one-time access charge. This update will also help businesses to streamline the customer journey from event sign-up and payment, through to the live event.
How will paid events work on Facebook?
Enabling the admission fee will be part of the event set-up on Facebook but you will be required to have a payment account on file.
The paid event can be set-up after the page has been approved and passed the monetization review. This will be the same set-up as physical events, but you will need to make sure you select ‘Online Event’.
Please note for pricing, you can only currently choose one price per event and once the event is published, you will not be able to change the fee. For up to 50 people you can offer free access to your online event – a great opportunity to provide exclusive access to influencers.
Once published, the following information can be accessed:
- Estimated earnings for your event
- How many people have purchased tickets
- How many free access invites you’ve shared and the number that has been accepted
The requirements for Facebook Paid Events:
- You must be an owner of a Facebook page, which is a public profile for businesses, brands, causes, and other organisations
- Be 1 / 20 countries that Facebook is rolling the feature out to – Singapore is currently the only SE Asian country
- Your page is eligible for monetization – you can check this by going to Creator Studio > Monetization and click the View Page Eligibility button
- Adhere to Facebook’s Monetization Standards, as well as the Paid Online Events Terms & Conditions.
For full eligibility requirements, please visit the Facebook Business Help Centre.
Explore our market research in Singapore
- ① Cultural social media insights in Singapore
- ② Social media marketing in Singapore
- ③ Online marketing in Singapore
Explore our article on live streaming:
- How to implement live streaming in your video marketing strategy?
- All you need to know about WeChat Live Streaming
