Building a buzz about your event takes hard work, careful coordination, and lots of creativity. It does not, however, have to break the bank. With all the media outlets available to you today, you can create an affordable low-cost-and even no-cost-PR plan that draws attention and nets results. Emily Bertram, Social Media and Marketing Specialist at Visit St. Cloud, has more than a few ideas on how to do just that.
A. Visit St. Cloud is a CVB servicing St. Cloud and the surrounding area. As the Social Media and Marketing Specialist, I work with our team focusing on marketing for everything, including conferences, association gatherings, public events, and general leisure travel. We help place media, both print and digital, working with planners to build a buzz about their event. To that end, we identify and form relationships with social media influencers who are reliable sources for PR. I write blog posts, press releases, and social media posts, as well as web content.
A. Getting the community interested or aware of the event is your first step in promoting a public event. The best place to start no matter who the audience, is by creating a social media or Facebook event page. For those who might want to attend, this becomes the central searchable hub to locate and receive details about the event. The FB event page will also show up on local area calendars for FB members, making it more searchable. This strategy works well for an open invitation event or private association event, though for the latter, you might want to designate the event page as private.
Additionally, reaching out to the area CVB in the community you’re hosting the event is a good idea. Most times, CVBs provide services at no charge, unless they’re something like hard media costs. At Visit St. Cloud, we work with clients on social media, blogging, and press releases to help promote their event. That’s what we’re here for.
Community calendars are often free or low cost, as are publicity from local chambers or newspapers. It’s important to try to get the event information on their searchable sites.
If the planner or company has a website, that’s another good place to promote the event.
Keep your audience in mind when considering which media channel you should use to promote your event. For example, if your potential attendees are primarily age 55+, social media may not be the most effective place to promote. Instead, consider print or even radio options, though they are not free. However, if you’re reaching out to a younger audience who are online and more mobile-focused, social media is a good outlet.
Also, consider reaching out to influential members of the community who may be able to spread the word for you in exchange for a mention in your conference materials.
A. Social media ads on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter can be cost-effective and net you a greater reach. Also, you can pay to promote your Facebook event page to get more views. Boosting your event on Facebook can be low cost. And of course, face-to-face interaction works for all age groups to get people excited prior to the event.
A. A mix of face-to-face meetings along with personalized, customized blog and social media posts. Remember to make sure your messaging is consistent across all channels, which lends your event authenticity and legitimacy. Things like a tagline or hashtag are good examples. Also, a mix is effective in reaching different market segments whether through print or digital ads, radio, or social media. To make an impact, you need to reach your audience wherever they may be.
A. Content for your messaging can be as expensive or affordable as you make it. It’s important to come up with unique way to promote your event that sets you apart from other events. For example, produce a funny video at the event site and share it on social media. Or, consider planning a pop-up event at the site prior to the actual event itself. Be creative and really consider how you can create a buzz and make people want to learn more.
Emily Bertram previously worked at a marketing and advertising agency as an account manager, and at a digital and mobile advertising company in account development. She is passionate about traveling, being outdoors as much as possible, and writing, and she might be just a little addicted to social media. Bertram is a marketing graduate from St. Cloud State University, and she loves the St. Cloud area.
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