Planning & Promotion

Get Your Event Under the Magnifying MediaScope With These Tips

Eventually Learning Team

07 September 2022

Read time 6 Minutes 5 Seconds

Huge business events like Dreamforce by Salesforce and Apple product launches have meticulous event marketing teams supporting the promotional activities around their event day in and out. Irrespective of the industry perspective, PR and media coverage for the events play a huge role in the impact of the overall event marketing campaign. Unpaid and authentic – press coverage and opinions get the event some much-needed credibility!

Strategizing a PR plan might sound as a part of the event marketing campaign – but it is not! Event PR must receive undivided attention so that an ample amount of media gravitates towards the news of the event and everyone wants to share it, giving it an edge in the ultra-competitive event world.

Here are a few ways in which you can bring your event under the MediaScope!

Go Ahead And Attract The Media!

Different conferences offer different opportunities to get covered in different ways. – Post Planner

The media and PR for your event will only arrive when the reporters or the entire media team attends the event. You need to invite them, treat them to the event experience and make sure that you follow up with them post-event, for the publishing. Follow these steps to invite the media over to your event!

Make sure your media list is in good shape. A media list is your group’s running list of media contacts: four local TV affiliates, one or two local radio stations, the political reporters at your local newspapers and notable bloggers. Make sure you’re following these contacts on Twitter and connecting with them there, too.
Write a media advisory. A media advisory is essentially an invitation for members of the press to attend your event. It’s shorter than a press release (one-two paragraphs) and covers the basics of your event: Who, What, Where, When and Why.
Send your media advisory to your media list—then, follow up. Sending your advisory to the right people with a compelling subject line is the first step. But, reporters’ inboxes get flooded with advisories every day. The critical next step is “pitching” your event—following up is necessary to make sure the right information gets seen by the right people at the right time. There’s a routine to this, if you can make time - do it.

Networking With The Reporters Will Help!

Forging a good connect with the reporters will help your event get GOOD coverage! We are not promoting biased coverage, but having a few friends in the all-powerful media industry does help you get better space in the press. This would include getting a bigger, better picture of your outdoor event in the newspaper or digital press. Here are a few easy networking tips for you:-

Set your ego aside – Talk to the reporters and call them without procrastinating. This is going to be a roadblock in the path when you start avoiding the reporters because they in turn ignored your requests!
Be Patient – You need to be patient and understand that the reporters have a lot of other work as well. Just make sure they get the urgency of the matter and help you by publishing the event information sooner.
Partnership In-Kind – You take one and you give one! Give the reporters free passes, tickets to the events, event swag kits or freebies and gift coupons in order to make the partnership more alluring.
Media Space – You will have to give the media partner space on your website as well in order to show them that the partnership is equally favourable.

Your Success Mantra? Pitch! Pitch! And Pitch!

You must never get the 3 Ts of media off your head, focus on the timing, topic and targeting. Indulge in a deep research and detailed study of the media channel, so that you know what you are pitching is of value to them. Post good photos and videos on social media, tagging journalists. Consider posting a summary on the public Event Facebook page, and sending that around to your list. Consider sending out a press release: four-five short paragraphs featuring quotes from key participants and organizers.

Press Makes Press – Leverage Existing Press

Any coverage you received before or during the conference should be leveraged after you get home, a few points to be kept in mind are:

Put the media organization’s logo on your website
Share the article on social media
Write a blog post about the experience

This will help you parlay coverage from niche publications into exposure for your company in the mainstream press.

Bonus Tip – Don’t Give Up The Connect!

Stay connected with the reporters and have a good camaraderie with them even during the post-event stage. This will enable you to reach out to them with ease if your event is an annual event or when you organize an event in the similar stream.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Event PR?

For every event, it's important to consider public relations during the early stages of planning. Before you launch a PR campaign, think about your goals and objectives for the event, the tactics and strategies you want to use to achieve them and the target audience you want to reach!

What are some important points to consider while writing a press release?

Here are a few points to be considered when you write an event press release:

Start out strong and succinct
Use active voice
Identify a point person where readers can direct their inquiries
Use a professional tone without jargon in your writing
Tell an interesting story with your press release
Send the press release out in a timely fashion

How can the Event media coverage be amplified?

Here's how to set up and manage the day so that you build useful relationships and get the media coverage you want for your business event:

Invite the right people to your media event. Researching your invite list is essential.