How To Use PR To Increase The Impact of Your Event
At some point, many businesses are presented with an opportunity to host or participate in an event in their area of expertise. Whether the event is large or small, it can benefit from the use of an effective public relations strategy. A well-planned PR strategy can help companies to raise the profile of their business, generate leads and build brand equity.
Here are some of the ways by which PR can help increase the impact of your business:
Invite the press to your event
Inviting the press to your event will help take your message to a much wider audience. When reporters write about the event they attended, more people read about it in turn. It is advisable to email journalists a few weeks ahead of the event to invite them and see what angles can be of interest to them. Try always to find a nice story to tell. Your invite to media can include all relevant information such as when and where the event is taking place, a concise description of the event and who from the business or VIP guests shall be present. It is also a good idea to share this information with listing sections in newspapers in advance, in order to let more people know that such an event is taking place. This may take some time, but it is worth doing in order to boost the reach of your event. Finally, it is important to put together a media kit for the event. Reporters need to receive information about the event in a certain way, and a media kit is the best suited to that. The kit should ideally contain a media release, factsheet, corporate profile, hi-res photos of your speakers and any other information which you think may be compelling and useful to reporters. PR team that works with you can help you with all those tasks.
Use the event to position business owners/senior management as industry experts/thought leaders
Becoming an industry expert can have a profound impact on your business and bottom line. When you start building a network of advocates who admire and respect your expertise, referrals start coming your way. Other people in the industry may also see you as a trusted advisor and mentor. It is therefore critical for businesses to look for opportunities to build their position as thought leaders and events are one such way to achieve this. Investing in speaking opportunities at the types of events your potential customers would be likely to attend and engaging with the key reporters present at these events can go a long way in positioning yourself as an industry expert.
The power of announcements
Having an announcement related to your business at the event can make you stand out from the crowd. An announcement could be related to the launch of a new product or service from your business, a new partnership, the next business deal and more. Such news is almost always of great interest to press attending the event and can increase publicity for a business participating in the event.
Create a strong and complementary social media strategy
Social media can be the perfect complement to your public relations strategy to promote your business at an event. You can create an event on Facebook or a post on LinkedIn, invite your friends and ask them to share it. Similarly, Instagram is perfect for events as the site is based around visuals. Twitter, on the other hand, can be a great platform for live tweeting from the event; it will help you keep your audience engaged, just don’t forget to tag relevant accounts and use keywords/hashtags. Combining the judicious use of social media with the right public relations strategy can promote your event in a big way.
If you are looking for a communications partner to assist with your PR efforts, get in touch with us at [email protected]
