……Part 2 in the Beyond the Press Release series
When you are promoting a large-scale community event, there are lots of people who can help you get the word out about your event. So let’s get organized about it.
Make a list of all the groups you should be talking to. Think in terms of anyone who may have an interest or a stake in the success of your event? Who can help you influence increased attendance and ticket sales for your event? Consider including mainstream media that encompasses your entire geographic target market as well as specialty media that relates to any key attractions you have planned.
Be bold and set some specific goals for each group. What practical role will each of these groups of influence play in your promotional outreach? By considering how each of your key publics fit in with your event you will be uncovering lots of new opportunities for PR.
Corporate Sponsors are always a great starting place. They represent a very important group of influence for most events and they also have a major stake in the overall success of the event. They’ve already agreed to be a sponsor, so our communication with them now is focused on how they can help us influence others.
Many sponsors have high-traffic websites, lots of customers, suppliers, and professional colleagues. We want to share information about the event with them and get them to distribute it down stream strategically to everyone they communicate with routinely. I recommend doing a bit of recon, to determine just how they can be of the most help. Set some goals around your new info.
About Linda Sparks
