Solved: Low Facebook Ad Reach for Techno Events

Hi there,

Thanks for reaching out!

Happy to give you some initial thoughts on your situation with the techno events and the Facebook ads. It's a really common problem, seeing a partner with a big existing audience get great results while your own efforts seem to fall flat. The good news is it's solveable, but the solution probably isn't what you think it is. It's not about finding a magic tutorial for Business Suite, it's about completly changing how you think about what you're asking Facebook to do for you.

You're focusing on 'reach', but reach doesn't sell tickets. I'll walk you through how to switch your focus to what actually matters: getting people to the checkout and building your own audience data so you don't have to rely on the venue forever.

We'll need to look at why 'Reach' is the wrong metric...

Okay, let's get straight to the point. The single biggest mistake people make with Facebook ads, especially for things like events or product sales, is using the wrong campaign objective. When you tell Facebook you want 'Reach' or 'Brand Awareness', you're giving it a very specific, and very unhelpful, instruction: "Find me the largest number of people for the absolute lowest price."

And the algorithm is incredibly good at its job. It goes out and finds all the users in your target audience who are the least likely to click on anything, the least likely to engage, and definately the least likely to ever buy a ticket. Why? Because these users aren't in high demand. Other advertisers aren't bidding for them because they don't convert. Their attention is cheap. So you're literally paying one of the world's most powerful advertising platforms to find you the worst possible audience for your event.

You might be thinking, "But it worked for the venue!" And you're right, it did. But that's because they are playing a different game. They have years of data. They have a huge list of past page engagers, a massive email list they've probably uploaded, and most importantly, years of Meta Pixel data from their website tracking everyone who's ever looked at or bought a ticket. When they run a reach campaign, the algorithm has a rich, pre-qualified pool of people to draw from. It already knows who their customers are. For them, it's like shooting fish in a barrel. For you, starting with a new page and a fresh pixel, it's like trying to hit a bird in a thunderstorm with a blindfold on.

The fix is simple, but it requires a mental shift. You must stop optimising for vanity metrics like reach and start optimising for what actually puts money in your pocket: ticket sales. This means using the 'Sales' objective in Ads Manager. When you do this, you tell Facebook, "I don't care how many people you show my ad to. I only care about you finding the specific people within my audience who are most likely to click through and complete a purchase on my ticketing page." The algorithm then completely changes its behaviour to hunt for buyers, not just passive scrollers. This is the first and most fundemental change you need to make.

I'd say you need to build your own data asset...

The venue's real advantage isn't their older page or bigger following, though that helps. Their real power lies in a hidden asset: their data. Specifically, their Meta Pixel data. For years, every single person who has visited their website, looked at an event, or bought a ticket has been tracked by their pixel. This has allowed them to build a massive, incredibly detailed profile of what their ideal customer looks like. They know their interests, their online behaviours, their demographics. Facebook's algorithm uses this data to find more people just like them. It's an insanely powerful feedback loop.

You need to start building this asset for yourself, starting yesterday. The very first thing you MUST do, before you spend another penny on ads, is install the Meta Pixel on your website and your ticketing platform's pages. Most major ticketing platforms (like Eventbrite, Resident Advisor, Skiddle etc.) have integrations that make this fairly straightforward. You need to ensure you are tracking not just page views, but also key actions like 'ViewContent' (when someone views the event page) and, most importantly, 'Purchase' (when someone buys a ticket).

Once this is set up, every ad you run will start feeding the algorithm information. It will learn from every click and every purchase. At first, it'll be learning from scratch, so performance might be a bit erratic. This is called the 'learning phase'. But as you get more ticket sales (you generally need around 50 purchases per week for the algorithm to fully optimise), it will get smarter and smarter. Your cost per ticket sale will go down, and your results will become more consistent. This data becomes your property, your competitive advantage. In a year's time, you'll have a powerful data asset that allows you to sell out your events consistently, without having to rely on the venue's audience.

You probably should structure your campaigns like this...

Once you've got your pixel sorted and you're using the Sales objective, you need to think about who you're showing your ads to. Don't just chuck a load of interests into one ad set and hope for the best. You need a proper structure, a funnel, that talks to people differently based on how familiar they are with your events.

We usually break this down into three stages: Top of Funnel (ToFu), Middle of Funnel (MoFu), and Bottom of Funnel (BoFu).

1. Top of Funnel (ToFu) - The Strangers

This is your cold audience. These are people who have likely never heard of your event brand before. Your goal here is to introduce them to your event and get that first ticket sale. Your campaign objective is still 'Sales'.

For targeting, you'll use detailed interests. Think about your ideal attendee. What do they like? -> Artists & DJs: Target followers of the DJs playing at your event, and similar artists in the techno scene. -> Record Labels: Labels known for the kind of techno you play (e.g., Drumcode, Afterlife, Ostgut Ton). -> Festivals & Clubs: Famous techno festivals (Awakenings, Time Warp) or clubs (Berghain, Fabric). -> Related Interests: Things like "Boiler Room," "Mixmag," "Techno music," "Minimal Techno."

You should group these into themed ad sets. For instance, one ad set for fans of specific DJs, another for fans of certain labels. This lets you see which audience pockets are most responsive. Don't lump them all together. After a few days, you'll see which ad sets are driving ticket sales at a good price, and you can put more budget behind them.

2. Middle of Funnel (MoFu) - The Acquaintances

This is your warm audience. These people have shown some interest but haven't committed. They've interacted with you in some way but haven't visited the ticket page. Your goal is to keep your event top of mind and nudge them towards checking it out.

Here, you'll use Custom Audiences for retargeting. This includes: -> People who have engaged with your Facebook Page or Instagram Profile in the last 30-90 days. -> People who have watched a good chunk (e.g., 50% or more) of your event videos. -> People on your email list (if you have one, you can upload it).

The ads here can be a bit more direct, maybe showing off clips from past events to create some FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out).

3. Bottom of Funnel (BoFu) - The Almost-Customers

This is your hottest audience. These people are on the verge of buying. They've been to your website or ticketing page but for some reason, they didn't complete the purchase. Your goal is to get them over the finish line.

This is where your pixel data is absolutly critical. You'll create Custom Audiences for: -> Everyone who visited your website in the last 14-30 days (but excluded those who purchased). -> People who triggered the 'ViewContent' event on your ticket page in the last 7 days (but excluded purchasers).

Your ads to this group need to create urgency. "Last Tier Tickets Remaining!", "Event is This Saturday - Don't Miss Out!". Sometimes a simple reminder is all it takes to close the sale.

By structuring your campaigns this way, you're creating a machine that constantly finds new potential customers (ToFu), nurtures their interest (MoFu), and converts those closest to buying (BoFu). It's a much more sophisticated and effective approach than just running a single ad set.

Your creative needs to sell the experience, not just the event...

Right, let's talk about your ads themselves. A static flyer with the date and DJ lineup isn't enough to cut through the noise on social media. People are scrolling through hundreds of posts a day. You need to stop them in their tracks and make them feel something.

For a techno event, your best friend is video. If you have footage from previous events, use it. Short, high-energy clips of a packed dancefloor, the DJ in the zone, the light show... that's what sells the experience. It shows people what they'll be missing out on. Even short clips filmed on a phone can be more authentic and effective than a polished graphic. If you don't have past footage, ask the DJs on your lineup if you can use clips from their sets. The goal is to convey the vibe and the energy.

Why video? First, it grabs attention better than a static image. Second, it's a great way to build your MoFu audience. Remember I mentioned retargeting people who watched your videos? You can create an audience of everyone who watched at least 15 seconds of your event promo. That's a highly engaged group of people who are clearly interested in what you're offering.

Your ad copy needs to match this energy. Forget formal language. Speak like you would to a mate you're trying to convince to come out. Tap into the pain points of a boring night out and position your event as the solution. Use a framework like Problem-Agitate-Solve:

(Problem) Tired of the same old weekend plans?
(Agitate) Sick of cheesy clubs and commercial playlists? Ready for some proper, underground techno?
(Solve) Join us on [Date] at [Venue] for a night of relentless beats from [DJ 1] and [DJ 2]. This is the real deal. Grab your tickets before they're gone.

Here's a couple of examples of how you could structure your ad copy:

Test different videos, different headlines, and different copy. What resonates with one audience might not work for another. The key is to be authentic and sell the feeling, not just the facts.

You'll need to manage your budget and expectations...

So, how much is this all going to cost? That's the million-dollar question. The answer depends on your ticket price, your audience, and how good your ads and event page are at converting visitors into buyers.

Based on our experince with similar campaigns, like one we ran for an events app where we got over 45,000 signups at under £2 per signup, the costs can be quite reasonable. Now, a ticket purchase is a bigger commitment than a free app signup, so you should expect your cost per purchase to be higher. A realistic starting point for a cost per ticket sale might be anywhere from £5 to £15, but it could be more or less.

The important metric to watch isn't just the cost per sale, but your Return on Ad Spend (ROAS). If your average ticket is £20 and it costs you £10 in ads to sell one, your ROAS is 2x (£20 revenue / £10 ad spend). That's a profitable campaign. If you can get that cost down to £5, your ROAS is 4x, which is fantastic.

To help you get a feel for the numbers, I've built a simple interactive calculator below. You can play around with the sliders for your daily ad spend, your average cost per click (CPC), and your website's conversion rate (the percentage of clicks that turn into sales) to see how these factors impact your potential results. This should give you a better idea of what's possible and what you need to aim for.

This is the main advice I have for you:

I know this is a lot to take in, and it's a big shift from just boosting a post or running a quick reach campaign. But this is how you build a sustainable, profitable promotion system for your events. It takes more work up front, but the payoff is huge. Here is a summary of the main recommendations I've detailed for you.

This whole process can feel a bit overwhelming, and it's easy to make costly mistakes when you're starting out. Getting the pixel set up correctly, choosing the right initial audiences to test, and analysing the data to make smart decisions takes a bit of experince. It's not just about pushing buttons in Ads Manager; it's about understanding the strategy behind it all.

That's where working with a specialist can make a huge difference. We've run many campaigns for events and apps, and we know the common pitfalls and the shortcuts to getting profitable results faster. We can help you implement this entire structure, from the technical setup to the creative strategy, taking the guesswork out of the process for you.

If you'd like to chat through this in more detail and have us take a look at your specific situation, we offer a free initial consultation. We can review your current setup and give you a clear, actionable plan to start selling more tickets for your next event.

Hope this helps!

Regards,

Team @ Lukas Holschuh