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Ways to Make PR Work for Your Event

Ways to Make PR Work for Your Event

When it is necessary to announce an event, who do you tell about it and what promotion tools should you choose in order to get the maximum coverage? What PR strategy for an event should you create? Let’s find out.

What is PR?

PR, or public relations, is communication with the public and uses technology for creating and introducing both PR and the event. In both the socio-economic and political competitive systems, PR creates a positive image of an event in a certain social or business group in order to consolidate this image as ideal and necessary in the business environment.

Reasons why PR needs to be part of event planning.

Public relations, through both traditional and new channels, can effectively generate ticket sales and attendance, secure sponsors and advertisers, create a buzz of excitement and public awareness around your events, and encourage media to attend and/or cover the event and any future events. Here’s why PR and event planning should also be a tool in the event planner’s toolbox.

The top 20 ways to use PR for your events.

We’ve noticed a trend: The more difficult it is to get into an event, the more interest it creates. Exclusiveness guarantees greater coverage. But this selectiveness must be justified. The essence of the exclusivity must be brought to the event—something that will hook everyone. So how do you create interest using a PR plan for an event?

If this is a closed event, then you need to bet on uniqueness. Then, you need to find bloggers and micro influencers so that they can convey the information to the right people.

If you have an open large-scale event, think about what audience you can gather, concentrate on what this audience wants, and use the following communication ideas.

Media releases

A press release, news release, media release, press statement, or video release is an official statement delivered to members of the news media for the purpose of providing information or an official statement or making an announcement. Use it each time you have something to announce.

Content marketing

Apply a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly-defined audience and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action.

Storytelling

Sharing stories, sometimes with improvisation, theatrics, or embellishment, is a non-traditional way to attract attention to the event.

External communication

External communication covers all content that originates inside a company that is intended for those outside the company.

Crisis management

An organization should deal with any disruptive and unexpected event that threatens to harm the organisation.

Executive services

A full offsite/onsite service without the high overhead costs to your company and executive teams in the world’s top industry will definitely be a plus.

Change management

Use a systematic approach to dealing with the transition or transformation of an organisation’s goals, processes, or technologies. Implement strategies for effecting change, controlling that change, and helping people to adapt to the change.

Public affairs

Public affairs work combines government relations, media communications, issue management, corporate, and so much more.

PR strategy

A PR strategy will help you organise your PR activities and make strategic decisions around the best way to communicate.

Testimonials and reviews

Reviews and testimonials are very simple ways to find out what the public opinion is.

Online community management

Launch, grow, and maintain your branded online community to make a bigger impact. Get tips, tricks, and best practices from experts running the most successful communities.

Speaker press

Media interviews with speakers in the online and offline press and media is a great way to use PR.

Creating a creative hashtag campaign

Create brand awareness to increase the visibility of your content. Make it easier to track and quantify your content via hashtags.

Event buzz

Create pre-event buzz in the right places by choosing the right hashtag. Follow the backchannel buzz on Twitter or create buzz on any other social media outlet.

Connections

With connections, global industry leaders and other participants can participate in an exclusive, all-inclusive event with targeted one-on-one experiences.

Help with making a major announcement

The announcement may be related to organising plans for a future event. This creates interest and anticipation in the audience.

Visuals

The development of integrated multimedia solutions, the creation of shows and 3D-presentations for screens, design of exhibition stands, and more will add to your PR strategy.

List your event

Submit your event and access targeted networks where eventgoers look for new events, and promote good event standards through enlisting your brand.

Find media that relate to your event niche

You may use terms that are less specific to your event but are still highly relevant if they gain publicity in the press and on social media for their efforts.

Use online tools to target prospects

Find the best online tools for PR in event management. Use online event management and promotion platforms to help you succeed.

Building a successful event PR strategy: before, during, and after the event.

To build a successful event communications strategy before, during, and after the event, consider the following points:

Before:

Create an online community and then make announcements and release a PR statement. Start by choosing the social media platforms where your target audience members are. Then create a communications plan.

During:

Use your talent. Invite media and target bloggers or powerful business influencers, experts, and so on. Create a hashtag as well.

After:

Ensure that you have interesting post-event images on hand. Release reports and media kits, and follow up on social media with sponsors, participants, and the media.

How to implement a PR strategy.

You can implement your PR strategies for planning an event in a few ways:

  • Determine your public relations goals.
  • Know your target audience.
  • Give your audience objectives.
  • Determine your strategies for every objective.
  • Create tactics for every strategy.
  • Plan activities.
  • Inform yourself through evaluation.
  • Remember that materials matter.

To implement and create long-term and positive PR results, the most important first step is to develop a PR strategy from the outset. For example, you could create an action plan that details the PR activities for a particular month.

Tips for an event PR strategy.

So how do you successfully use PR at an event?

Use a teaser campaign by making the event placement or listing and then sending gifts to bloggers. If the bloggers invite subscribers to the event, then most likely they will be interested. Also, do not forget about the classic channels, such as placement in social networks.

Then the question arises about efficiency. It is important to initially try to take advantage of the maximum toolkit. At the end of the testing stage (after a week or, if it is a long campaign, within a month), permanently get rid of any useless elements.

Run ads on all social networks where you think your audience is located. In a week, it will already be visible where it works and where it doesn’t. Make sure you don’t waste your budget.

It is necessary for the event and communication to be at the same level. People will then likely switch to your brand.

Creativity is important in any communication channel.

It is important that the team works on the project seamlessly. It often happens that there is no coherence or cooperation.

Finally, follow the recent trends, such as selling emotions and impressions, not products.

How will the event planning tools help you?

Technology is used by event creators of all shapes and sizes to help them reclaim some space in their busy schedules and make the communication easier. You may use either a free app that is suited for event planning or some budget-conscious paid platforms that will do much of the work for you.

Explore an event management platform.

Get the most out of PR for your event with Gevme’s features. They provide you with an unlimited number of events and attendee management. Highly customisable attendee and buyer forms (with form logic), public or configurable private access, QR code tickets for both buyers and attendees, a landing page, and an RSVP and waiting list will all come in handy while building strong promotion. Use a single tool for a specific PR need, or take advantage of selected features.

Run successful public relations activities to promote your event.

People do not usually understand the rational difference but would rather follow their emotions. This is the main marker of a successful PR campaign. Brands are becoming emotional, and this affects PR. So use effective tools and follow the tips from the leading event providers to succeed with your PR activities for events.

Level up your events with Gevme’s omnichannel event platform

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