With a view to help local businesses and content creators monetise their events, Facebook has launched the Paid Online Events tool. Content creators and businesses can now earn money and thrive on the platform through the new feature which is available in 20 countries. Facebook also confirmed that their Paid Online Events feature is expanding to an additional 24 countries in the coming weeks, with South Africa being the first country in Africa where the tool is launching.
Says Jocelyne Muhutu-Remy, Head of Strategic Media Partnerships, Sub-Saharan Africa: “Since launching Paid Online Events in August 2020, it has grown tremendously, providing creators and businesses another valuable way to earn money on Facebook. Many conference organisers, musicians, trainers, theatre producers, creators and businesses are losing revenue during the pandemic due to social distancing measures. Paid online events will help them to reconnect with their fans, monetize and reach larger audiences all around the world.”
Some details around it reveal that event hosts can now allow their guests to watch a paid event through the Facebook event page on many devices, namely phones, tablets or computers, or through the Facebook TV app. Paid Online Events work with the live video method that works best for ones needs, whether that’s Facebook Live or a third-party site.
Each option allows one to live-stream their event, while providing different benefits. If anyone uses Facebook Live, only people who have purchased access through the event page will be able to attend, unless they extend an invitation for free access. They will also be able to re-watch the event after it ends.
For those using a third-party site to host their paid online event, their guests unfortunately won’t be able to re-watch the event after it’s ended should they miss the live broadcast for whatever reason. No matter which option one chooses, Paid Online Events can help replace lost revenue from cancelled in-person events and reach new larger audiences online.
Paid Online Events is a positioned as a feature that provides a simple, flexible way to reach and monetise audiences. Conveniently for businesses and creators, there won’t be any need to stitch together event marketing, customer purchasing and the virtual venue across multiple platforms. They can now do it all in one place, offer a better guest experience while reducing the complexity of hosting a successful virtual event. Key to note that Facebook will NOT take any fees, and does not plan on taking fees while communities remain closed during the pandemic, until at least August 2021. Quite cool of Facebook isn’t it? To learn more about how to set enable Paid Online Events then check here.
