Creating a Successful Event PR Campaign
A vital piece of every promotional strategy is public relations, especially when promoting events for a company. Plenty of the time local media outlets tend to target a local community, which means media coverage in local publications for an event will result in the event reaching the right people.
However, companies that don’t have the right approach to PR will end up wasting their time without the benefits of positive media coverage. Additionally, there already are plenty of events both locally and globally in most locations, and without strong PR any company’s event will get lost in the crowd. Additionally, the target audience won’t feel like the event is noteworthy, to attend in the first place.
Event Details
The first step in promoting an event with the help of public reactions is to let the public know the details about that event. The key information for the event should be provided from the start, which includes details like the name of the event, date, location, time, ticket prices and sales locations, and potential highlights.
Press Pitch
Although most event sponsors are only interested in the numbers for the event (especially the number of attendants), when it comes to media outlets it’s best to share the story behind those numbers. A press pitch for an event should cover some of the basic information for that event, including things like why the audience should be interested in the event, why is the event being promoted in the first place, and how it fits in the publication’s own brand.
To get the best possible results from any media coverage, a company should first research the different media outlets, journalists, or publications that would be interested in such an event. Then it’s easy to narrow down the list and only target the people– from writers to editors– who will be interested in talking about the event to the public.
Starting Early
Most media outlets have a lead time, which is the span of time from when the outlet receives the pitch up until that story is published. One of the best ways to get positive media coverage with publications is to share the story about the event as early as possible – at the very least, a month before it happens for digital outlets and two months for print publications. Additionally, if a certain outlet is larger or more popular, it will require even more lead time than smaller ones.
Assets and Hashtags
Finally, every single pitch for the press should come with its own visual assets, which will make the piece stand out from the crowd. This makes it more likely for journalists to cover an event, and the pictures can easily convert the readers into attendees of that event. Whether the pictures are of the speakers or performers at that event, or older ones from a previous event, or even an infographic, any visual asset is beneficial.
To get even more potential assets for future events, companies should also utilize branded hashtags for each event that attendees can use when sharing content on social media about that event, build traction for it, and get better long-term results.
