Harnessing the Power of Event Marketing

The Power Of Event Marketing

Event marketing is all about creating an experience for your prospects and customers in the form of an event or activity, and then building buzz and anticipation about that event.
Let me give you a real-life example…
The Bloom Supermarket chain is regularly known for holding stunts and using social media marketing (especially YouTube, Facebook and MySpace), press releases, guerilla marketing and viral marketing to get publicity and buzz. For example, in the spring of 2008, Bloom introduced a new “Muffin Top” product. To raise awareness and get buzz, Bloom staged a multi-day celebration, including a parade of muffin tops.
But here’s where it gets good… Bloom also staged a faux protest from the disgruntled muffin bottoms that were now “out of work.” The protest included handing out flyers, defacing a Bloom billboard and more. Did it get the desired publicity? You bet it did! (And here we are all this time later still talking about Bloom’s publicity stunts and event marketing, so the buzz is
still going!)
You can do the same thing to get publicity for your business. You may follow Bloom’s lead and stage publicity stunts. Or you may decide to be more traditional and stage events like charity fundraisers, customer appreciation days, and similar.
You can even create and market events online, such as teleseminars or webinars.

Here’s how to get ideas for events:

1. Brainstorm on paper. Take out a piece blank piece of paper and spend 20- 30 minutes brainstorming events you can use to create buzz and publicity. No idea is “dumb,” so don’t edit while you’re brainstorming.
2. 
   Brainstorm with others. You could brainstorm with other business owners and then stage an event together.
3. 
   Watch the news, read your paper. Look at what other businesses are doing to get publicity.
4. 
   Search online for “publicity stunts,” “event marketing” and similar. Also, be sure to follow those that regularly do publicity stunts (such as Bloom Supermarkets).
5. 
   Follow event marketers on Twitter and other social media sites. It’s an easy way to hear about what others are doing to build anticipation, buzz and publicity.

Use the above five tips, and you’ll have more event marketing ideas than you can possibly use.
Then it’s just a matter of raising awareness about your event. Like Bloom, you should use a variety of ad venues, including social media, viral marketing and press releases.
Which brings us to the next topic…

Writing the Press Release

A press release is NOT an ad. And if it looks like an ad, you can bet the newspaper editor or other decision-maker will send the release straight to the trash. That’s because the editor is looking for news – something that his or her readers (or viewers and listeners) will want to know about.

Here’s how to make a press release look like news and not an ad:

• Create a compelling title with a good hook – perhaps something that arouses curiosity. But use the title to get the reader and editor interested in the article, and don’t create self-promotional title.
• Write the release like a reporter. Include the who, what, why, when, where and how in the beginning of the article. Don’t self-promote.
• 
  Write it from a third person point of view. Don’t use “I” or “me” or “mine.” And be careful about using “you” too often, as your article can easily turn into an ad.
• 
  Create an engaging article. If people would rather eat burnt toast than read your article, than your article is too dry. Instead, share a story. Write in an active voice. Make it newsworthy and interesting.
• 
  Mention your business sparingly. And when you do mention your business, then mention it without promoting it. Remember, if it starts to read like an ad, it will end up in the trash.

Now here’s the best advice of all: Read the newspapers where you’d like your release to appear. Study the press releases and other articles about businesses and events. Then model success by modeling those published articles when you write your own.
TIP : Most editors prefer press releases that are created and submitted using a standard format. Google “press release format” to see exactly what your press release should look like.

Submitting the Press Release

You can submit your press release to newspapers, radio stations, TV stations, bloggers and other media. Here’s how:

• Some blogs in your niche exist to share niche news events. Seek out these blogs and submit your release.
• 
  Submit your release directly to the local newspapers, radio stations and TV stations. Be sure to spell the editor’s name right. And also be sure to submit your release using their preferred method (fax, email or snail mail).
• 
  If you’re seeking nation or international attention, then you can get an updated list of names and addresses and send the release yourself, or you can hire a press release distribution firm to do it yourself.
• Another way to get national or international attention is to use online press release distribution services such as PRWeb.com.

TIP : There are thousands of releases on PRWeb at any given time, which means your release has a lot competition. So while it’s a good idea to use PRWeb (and similar), it’s also a good idea to submit your release directly to those media venues where you’d like your release
to appear.
One final tip – once you get published in any sort of media, work on developing a relationship with that editor. You’re more likely to get published in the future if the editor recognizes your name.