7 Considerations for a Wildly Successful Press Event

Holding a press event, such as a press conference, press visits or a media day, is a great way to build awareness for your brand and products, generate positive coverage and build relationships with industry media. But there is an art to planning and executing.

Here are seven key considerations to ensure your event is a success.

1. What’s newsworthy?

The No. 1 rule for a press event is to have news. As obvious as that sounds, it can be a challenge to separate what a company’s internal audience thinks is exciting and what is actually exciting to the target audience and, therefore, the press.

That’s where a PR strategist comes in, especially one who understands your company and customers and has relationships with media serving your industry. He or she can help identify a news hook that is relevant and interesting enough to the audience to draw the press to your event.

2. Carefully choose date, time and place.

The next step is to make it as convenient and pleasant as possible for media to attend. Ideally, you want your event to be the most exciting thing on the editors’ calendars that day. Some food, drinks and a place to sit.

If you are planning a press conference at a trade show, it’s helpful to review the full schedule of events and contemplate the day in the life of an editor. Be strategic about choosing the date and time and avoid events that are tough to compete with. If some mega-brand is throwing an extravagant party at their booth, for example, avoid that time for your press event. Also consider key editors’ likely travel schedules and availability, so you don’t host an event after all editors have left the show.

For media days, consider holidays, major events and printing deadlines that could draw attention away from your event. Think about a location that is easy to get to and offers a suitable venue as well as good lodging, dining and entertainment options. If it will be outdoors, consider the weather and plan how to keep press comfortable. If it’s likely to be hot, for example, provide seating in the shade, cold beverages and snacks that won’t spoil or melt.

Here are four questions to use as a starting point when planning media days:

• Location – is it near a major airport or a central location where editors can easily drive?
• Venue – is there a room with a projector for presentations, Wi-Fi, etc.?
• Equipment access – do you have a dealer or customer nearby who would be willing to provide live equipment demos?
• Cost – what costs will you cover and what will be on the press to cover?

3. Make the message about customers/stakeholders.

As the team develops the messaging, make it about the customers/stakeholders. Why will they care about what your company has to say? How will it benefit them? Nothing makes editors lose interest faster than messaging that is all about how something benefits a company instead of focusing on how it affects the people actually using the product or service.

4. Keep the presentation concise and punchy.

This is not the time to put 1,200 words on each slide of your 75-page deck – and then proceed to read each word. Lean on a PR strategist and professional designer to craft a compelling narrative and visuals that convey your core messages in a concise manner.

For a media day, demos and hands-on experiences are always a huge hit. Give everyone a chance to try their hand operating the equipment they write about so often. And with the ever-growing popularity of video, you are bound to gain some additional media coverage. Here are a couple examples of real headlines our clients earned from media days:

• “This Thing is Awesome”: Mecalac’s 8MCR Skid-Excavator
• Editor at Large: Visiting ASV in Grand Rapids, Minn., to Test Operate the New VT-70 High Output Track Loader and more

5. Develop a press kit.

The host of a press event traditionally distributes a press kit to editors who attend. A press kit typically includes press releases, photos, brochures and video — all the nuts and bolts an editor needs to craft a story.

A listing of speakers, with their titles and brief bios, is also a good idea. Editors expend a surprising amount of energy catching everyone’s names and titles and spelling them correctly. Help them out, so they can focus on the fun stuff, i.e., what’s cool about your brand and products.

6. Prepare.

You eat, breathe and sleep your brand. You talk about it all day, every day. You KNOW this stuff. But we’re here to tell you, you still need to prepare.

You don’t want to deliver a monotone monologue or forget the key features of your product. You want to show up as the polished professional you are! This is the time to let your PR strategist guide and prepare you. Serving as a company spokesperson and presenting to or interacting with the media is different from your day-to-day interactions with customers or your team. Editors expect a clear, succinct message with meaningful supporting details

7. Follow-up.

The host of a press event traditionally distributes a press kit to editors who attend. A press kit typically includes press releases, photos, brochures and video — all the nuts and bolts an editor needs to craft a story.

The end game

Whew! That’s a lot! But it’s totally worth it when you see your brand on the cover of your favorite magazine or notice a great headline written about you.

This doesn’t have to be just a pleasant daydream. If you have the right team of PR experts behind you, this can be your reality.