Planning Primer: Creating the Buzz

Special events such as grand openings, product launches and annual fund-raisers are great opportunities to garner media coverage and build brand name recognition. If you are looking to create a buzz, build your brand and increase attendance at your next event, here are some tips on how to promote it.

Do: Know your target market and do your research. Remember the old adage, if you don't know where you're going, any road will take you there...? Ask yourself these questions: Who is my target market and how do I reach them? How will my target market benefit from my event and or services? Who are the key people that will assist in the promotional campaign?

Do: Develop a public relations plan that outlines your marketing objectives. Behind every successful and well-publicized event is a well-researched event and PR plan. A PR plan is a step-by-step guide on how to market a product, event or service to a specific target market.

Do: Determine if your event is newsworthy. Five factors determine newsworthiness. In order for your event to be considered for news coverage, it should meet at least two of the five criteria: timely, topical, close proximity, have prominence and human interest. Remember: News is the unusual, the first or the most outstanding.

Do: Invite the media to your event so they participate in it, not just cover it. A newspaper or magazine food editor, for example, may consider writing an article on the unusual ethnic foods featured at your festival. Involve TV anchors, weatherpersons, sportscasters or other on-air celebrities as event emcees. If they agree, there's a good chance their station will cover it.

Do: Hire a professional event photographer to take photos of your event and submit them to local lifestyle and business magazines for publication. If it's an annual event, you can use the photos as part of your publicity campaign throughout the year. Post event photos to your website and online photo sharing sites such as Flickr, Photobucket or Picasa.

Do: Utilize both traditional media and new media to promote your event. New media is often produced by "citizen journalists" on sites where anyone can join in the conversation by creating, discussing and sharing sharing content. You can also promote your event by posting content to social networks like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Digg, My Space, YouTube, etc. Just as with traditional media, make sure your content is relevant and of value to the reader, viewer or listener.

Do: Submit your event to community calendars, including those maintained by TV stations. (This should be done two to three months out.) Also send your news release to relevant trade publications. Remember that magazines have lead times as long as six months out. Submissions to newspapers should be made three to four weeks out. Finally, be sure to submit postings to relevant online forums, newsgroups and archive sites.

Do: Offer cross promotion and business opportunities. If you are promoting a community event or festival, ask to cross-linkwith agencies, businesses and organizations whose websites include event announcement pages, "what's happening" pages, etc. Most of these sites are free, and you often can include promotional videos and event photos.

Do: Contact the assignment desks at your local TV stations prior to the event and notify them about interesting visual opportunities they can cover. Remember that TV is a visual medium. Draft a media advisory containing the "who, what, when and where" basics and send it at least one week prior to the event.

Do: Give thanks and provide a post-event recap. If pre-event coverage helped you draw a large crowd or raise more money than expected, let your media contacts know that in a follow-up thank you letter.

10 Ways NOT to Pitch a Reporter

Don't: Fail to provide a press release. Even with the emergence of new media, reporters still value a good old-fashioned press release.

Don't: Put an embargo on a press release. An embargoed release is shared with the media well in advance of its publishing date. Some media will no longer accept them.

Don't: Send unsolicited photos with your release. Hi-res images often don't make it to the intended receiver because they get caught in firewalls.

Don't: Pitch breaking news to traditional media (except newspapers, which have put a lot of resources into online coverage). Online media is better geared toward covering breaking news.

Don't: Try to befriend the media. Provide accurate, compelling and newsworthy information and you will become a trusted resource.

Don't: Use industry jargon. Stay away from language, acronyms or terms that people outside of your industry don't understand.

Don't: Have an outdated media list. Take the time to research the right contact at each media outlet. In today's economy, staffs are shrinking fast.

Don't: Spam the media. Be sure to courtesy copy all of the other reporters you're including at the same media outlet.

Don't: Be guilty of not knowing your subject. Reporters appreciate succinct pitches and people that are knowledgeable and prepared withtalking points.

Don't: Pitch items that are NOT newsworthy. Simply put, the media is inundated with a lot of useless information. Don't waste their time.

Get Connected:

Mallory & Associates Public Relations & Special Events // Sacramento / 916.646.1543 / www.mallorypr.com

Specializing in building brand name awareness, Nancy Mallory's expertise transcends all areas of public relations including promotions, event coordination, media relations and complete public relations campaigns.