Creating Your First Event Ad Campaign
A step-by-step guide to creating your first event ad campaign on ToneDen.
We've built an event creator-friendly version of Facebook Ads Manager to help you make better ad campaigns. You can learn how to create an event ad using ToneDen by watching the below video or reading the below support article.
If you're curious about different targeting strategies for different event categories (e.g. concerts, comedy, food & beverage, etc.), please visit our section on strategies for specific events:
Once you've watched this video, please move onto the section we've built around conversion tracking:
In your dashboard, create a new ad campaign by selecting Advertising followed by +Create New Ad Campaign in the right-hand corner. Select the Event template and Facebook Ad Campaign which is optimized to sell more tickets and increase attendance of your event on Facebook and Instagram.
Your campaign starts by asking you the question: what do you want your ad to do? This initial section helps to set up your campaign to help you achieve the right outcome for your event, whether that's driving ticket sales or awareness.
ToneDen will automatically optimize your ad campaign depending on what you specify in this step.
Using the Get people to buy tickets on your website objective is best if your goal is to drive sales. Choosing this objective will allow you to track revenue and target potential customers who are more likely to complete a certain conversion event, such as making a purchase.
Conversion campaigns use conversion tracking to track revenue and allow you target people who are likely to purchase. Learn more about how conversion tracking and conversion campaigns work here.
After specifying your objective, you'll choose the event you want your campaign to promote.
If you've chosen to run a conversion-based campaign, you can either enter a webpage URL, one of your Eventbrite events, an existing Facebook post, or info from a previous ToneDen campaign.
Use a link is best if you would like to send fans to a specific web URL.
Use a Facebook Post is best if there is a preexisting Facebook post that you would like to promote and you do not wish to create a new one for the campaign.
You will be able to select any recent post from a Facebook Page that you have Page Advertiser access to from a drop-down menu.
If you cannot find your Facebook post, you can input the Facebook Post ID of the Facebook post you would like to use, so long as you have Facebook Page Advertiser access to the Facebook Page.
Use an Eventbrite Event is best if you'd like to send fans directly to your Eventbrite event listing page. You'll be able to select any one of your active Eventbrite events from a drop-down menu.
If applicable, always try to use Use an Eventbrite Event because ToneDen will automatically install your Facebook pixel on the Eventbrite event you select. ToneDen will also automatically pull your event image and details and include them in the Design Ad stage.
Once you're finished with this section, click the green Update Objective button on the bottom right side of your screen to proceed.
To navigate to any step of the ad creation process, click on the specific step under the table of contents on the left side of the screen to skip between steps at any time.
Using the Get people to RSVP to your Facebook event objective is best if your goal is to drive RSVP's. This option will create a campaign designed to raise awareness and the number of RSVP's to the Facebook event you select in the dropdown.
The Get people to engage with your post or page objective is best if your offer is not on sale yet and you are looking to drive awareness ahead of time, or if you’re trying to run a Page Likes campaign or Facebook engagement campaign.
In this section, you'll select the ad account with which you'd like to pay for your campaign and the page from which you want your ad to run. We'll automatically load the ad accounts you have access to on the personal Facebook account you link with your ToneDen account.
You can choose which Facebook Ad Account you'd like to advertise from by clicking the drop-down menu below Select A Facebook Advertising Account.
You may have different payment methods, custom/saved audiences, and FB Pixels across different ad accounts. Be sure to select the correct one for your respective campaign.
Select the Facebook page from which you'd like your ad to run. You can select any page that you have page advertiser access to in this field.
If a page doesn't show up, make sure that you have advertiser access to it on the personal Facebook account you've linked with your ToneDen sub-account.
Also, make sure to grant ToneDen access to all your Facebook pages so we can load them in our interface.
If you have access to a large number of pages, try typing your page in manually if it doesn't automatically appear in the drop-down section.
We'll automatically use the Instagram account connected to the Facebook page you select in the step above.
Feel free to leave this section blank unless you'd like to select a different Instagram account than the one already attached to your page.
This section allows you to determine in which geographies your ads will be served.
You can choose in which locations you'd like your ads to be served by typing into the field below Locations. Enter any city, region, or country into the field.
You can also re-use locations you've selected in previous campaigns by pressing Select from previous campaign.
Use the +50 mile radius. Campaigns with a wider geographic range tend to perform better than those with narrower ranges. If the location you're trying to target doesn't initially show up, type the city name without commas and then select it from the drop-down.
You can choose the age range of the people your ads will be served to by selecting one of the three available options:
- "All Ages” is best suited for events available to all ages
- “18+” is best suited for events available to people 18+
- “21+” is best suited for events available to people 21+
Campaigns with a wider age range tend to perform better than those with narrower age ranges.
You can choose who sees your ads in the Modify Target Audiences section.
Takeaway: Choosing the right audiences is extremely important to your campaign's success. Learn more about how to reach your target audiences here.
Press the Add New button to add an audience.
After pressing Add New, select an Audience Template for your audience in the Audience Builder section.
Audience Templates are designed to give you a quick way to target a particular type of person on Facebook or Instagram.
Different Audience Templates provide different targeting options.
You can pick Audience Templates in the “Recipes” column. There are different Audience Templates depending on which data source you choose from the “Ingredients” column.
For example, the Facebook Interest Audience template in the Facebook Ingredients data source allows you to create an audience of all Facebook users narrowed by specific interests of people on Facebook.
The Facebook Page Likes template in the Facebook Ingredients data source allows you to create an audience of individuals who are “connected” to your Facebook Page.
Takeaway: The "Facebook Interest Audience” template is the easiest template to start using. The majority of advertisers are already familiar with interest-based targeting.
Campaigns with multiple audiences increase the number of conversions by over 20%. Learn more about the benefit of incorporating multiple audiences here.
After choosing an audience template, your new audience will appear in the section below Modify Target Audiences.
You can configure the audience template further by clicking on the audience box, which will prompt a menu to appear to your right.
For example, if you’re using the Facebook Interest Audience Audience Template, you can skip immediately to the Advanced Targeting section and begin typing interests in the field below the Find people who share at least ONE of the following Interests text.
The estimated size of that audience will be found in the center column below the name of the audience in a section titled Approximate Size.
Takeaway: If you’re using the “Facebook Interest Audience” template, after typing and selecting just one interest in the “Search likes on Facebook” box, the service will provide more targeting recommendations.
If you’re using a different template, you'll need to configure Template Options before the audience is ready for use.
For example, with the Facebook Custom Audience Audience Template, you can choose which custom and/or saved audiences you'd like to import from Facebook or directly upload a CSV of a contact list.
Automatically target anyone who has purchased or RSVP’d to one of your past Eventbrite events by using the “Eventbrite Audience of Past Attendees” Audience Template.
If you'd like to remove an audience from your campaign, you have two options:
- 1.Click on the trashcan icon in the top right corner of the audience box located in the Modify Target Audiences column
- 2.Click on the Remove text located in the right-hand column that you use to configure the Audience Template
If you'd like to duplicate an audience, you have two options:
- 1.Click on the folded papers icon in the top right corner of the audience box located in the Modify Target Audiences column
- 2.Click on the Duplicate text located in the right-hand column that you use to configure the Audience Template
To change an audience template without deleting the audience, click on Change Template in the right-hand column that you use to configure the Audience Template.
In the habit of using multiple audiences for every ad campaign that you launch? Save time with Sets.
A Set is a group of multiple target audiences that are included in an ad campaign.
If you notice that you use a similar group of audiences for the majority of your campaigns, you can save that group as a Set by clicking on the Save Set button at the top of the Modify Target Audiences column.
If you use this set in the majority of campaigns you create, you can also check the box that says Make Default Set for New Campaigns so that the Set will automatically appear when making a new campaign.
Takeaway #1: Incorporating multiple audiences is one of the best ways to build a successful campaign. Check out our Cheat Sheet section to find a recommended audience mix for your vertical here.
Takeaway #2: Our automated budget allocation will automatically portion your budget so you're spending on the audiences most likely to purchase at any time. Learn more about our automated budget allocation here.
Choose the day you'd like your ad campaign to begin by selecting the Please select a start date field.
Choose the time you'd like your ad campaign to begin by selecting the Select a start time field.
Choose the day you'd like your ad campaign to end by selecting the Please select an end date field.
Choose the time you'd like your ad campaign to end by selecting the Select an end time field.
Takeaway: Expect the best results from campaigns that run within 1 to 14 days of the day of your event’s initial on-sale, and from campaigns that run within 1 to 14 days of your event date.
In order to get the most out of your budget, make sure you're running your campaigns during the on-sale and closeout periods when consumers are most likely to purchase.
This is where you can determine how much money to spend on your Facebook Ad campaign.
Use Total Budget if you don't plan to frequently adjust the budget of your campaign once it's launched.
When you use the Total Budget option, Facebook will take the total amount you input into the “Amount” field and spend it evenly across the total number of days you chose in the “Set Schedule” step.
For example, a four-day campaign with a $100 Total Budget will spend $25/day.
Use Daily Budget when you plan to frequently adjust the budget of your campaign once it's launched.
When you use the Daily Budget option, Facebook will take the amount you input into the Amount field and spend it daily.
E.g. A four-day campaign with a $25 Daily Budget will spend $25/day.
Use the Total Budget option and spend at least $7/day for each day your campaign is live. This ensures you're maximizing your campaign's reach.
Takeaway: The minimum cost for your campaign to run is $1/day per audience in your campaign. If your budget isn't large enough to include all your audiences, try running a shorter campaign rather than excluding audiences.
Choose how your ad(s) will appear on Facebook and/or Instagram by customizing each part of your ad below.
If you chose the “Use a Facebook post” option in the “Edit Objective” stage, you won't be able to customize your ad because the post that will be used is the existing Facebook post.
The Image/Video section allows you to choose what image or video you would like fans to see.
You have multiple options to add images and videos:
- Use images or videos you’ve used in your past ad campaigns by using the Ad Account Library option
- Use images or videos you’ve uploaded to your Facebook Page by using the Facebook Page Library option
- Design your own ad creative using ToneDen's Canva integration
- Upload a new image or video by pressing the Upload New Image option.
Recommended Image specs include:
- 1,080 x 1,080 pixels 1200 x 628 pixels
- To maximize ad delivery, use an image that contains little or no overlaid text.
Video Recommendations include:
- Recommended Length: Up to 15 seconds
- Recommended Aspect Ratio: Vertical (4:5)
Video Specifications include:
- Recommended format: .mp4, .mov or .gif
Required Lengths by Placement:
- Facebook: 240 minutes max; Instagram Stories: Recommended to be 15 seconds or less; Instagram Feed: Up to 60 seconds
- Resolution: 600px minimum width
- File size: Up to 4GB max
The service will test every combination and find the ad your audiences will respond to the best. Create multiple variations by adding more than one creative variant to a creative section.
For example, if you already have an image and then press the Add Image button below, the service will create two different ad combinations for the campaign.
Unless you plan to spend over $30/day on a campaign, use at most two combinations of creative, specifically the image/video creative.
On average, advertisers see a 50% increase in performance when using multiple versions of images. A/B testing your multimedia content results in better improvements over A/B testing other fields.
Takeaway: A/B testing guarantees you're putting the best quality ad you can in front of your customers. Learn more about the importance of A/B testing here.
The post text section allows you to include text that clearly tells people about what you are promoting.
The most effective post text includes the following elements: event name, event location, and event date.
A highly effective post template is “Don’t miss your chance to attend <<Event_Name>> at <<Event_Location>> on <<Event_Date>>!"
The headline section allows you to add a brief headline to let people know what your ad is about.
The character limit for the headline is 40. You can add more text and go over the character limit, but it may be cut off when people see your ad in certain placements.
The most effective headline includes the following elements: event name, event location, and event date.
A highly effective headline template is <<Event_Name>> | <<Event_Location>> | <<Event_Date>> (example: New Year's Eve Party | The Club Room | 8pm Tuesday, December 31st)
The Link Description section allows you to add additional text to emphasize why people should interact with your ad. This won’t appear in all placements.
A highly effective link description template is “Click here to get your tickets."
The Call to Action section allows you to choose the action you want people to take when they see your ad.
There are several different Call to Action buttons you can choose from.
A highly effective call to action is Buy Tickets.
If you have the same event type on multiple dates, a highly effective call to action is Get Showtimes.
The ad preview will show you what your ad will look like based on the creatives you selected. You can see how your ad will look on different platforms by pressing the respective platform’s icon below the ad preview.
If you have a verified custom domain that's been connected to ToneDen, you are able to see this last step where you can select the specific action you want to Facebook Ad campaign to optimize for. Your event will determine how ToneDen will optimize your campaign’s budget while your ads are live.
Remember: you need to own your domain to take advantage of conversion tracking. Otherwise, all campaigns will default to link click optimization. Owning your domain is the key to maximizing the benefits of the Facebook pixel. Here's a step-by-step guide to creating your custom domain and connecting it to ToneDen:
Your event will determine how ToneDen will optimize your campaign’s budget while your ads are live.
You’ll get the best results when selecting an event that aligns with what you'd like to happen as a result of your ads.
For example, if you choose the Purchase event, ToneDen will automatically shift budget towards audiences that are getting you the most purchases at the best cost possible.
Optimize for the Purchase event whenever possible to maximize sales.
Takeaway: Setting your goal to the Purchase event is more effective for driving sales than optimizing for Link Clicks. Facebook reports no significant correlation between click-through rates and purchase intent.