How to Promote Your Event

Video Transcript

"Promotion is defined as advancement of position, encouragement of the progress, growth or acceptance of something. Hi, I'm Peggy Collins and I'm here to help you learn how to promote your event. I'm a firm believer in developing smart partnerships. Look for the synergies such as media partnerships with local radio stations, TV stations, newspapers and cable companies. If you don't have a relationship with a reliable account executive who's competent, get on that now, long before your event. They can provide you great support with related cross promotions and help you develop a strong working relationship with your media partner. What media partners generally want from you is to own the event, taking sponsorship credit for it in the community with no cash investment and to secure exclusive rights to be on site in exchange for promotion on air or in kind advertising at no cost to you. Media partnerships are an excellent way to do more with less and you always have less than you'd like. Consider working with related businesses so that both benefit from the team work. For instance, if your event is a concert, tickets and t-shirts become currency. Give them out a couple of days before the event to create a little buzz. Give some to the store owner to give away as contest prizes with register to win materials at the store to help generate traffic. If you're hosting a fashion show, team up with local clothing retailers and shoe stores. Include them in your ads with simple name mentions or put their logo in print advertising and offer to let them hang banners or give them signage on the stage during the show. Do not overlook internet advertising and reciprocal partnership opportunities. Viral marketing is an effective way to build interest in your event. For some guerilla marketing tactics, you can do something as simple as creating a good video for You Tube, your website and anywhere else. Give away goodies like t-shirts, caps and fun trinkets on the campus of colleges in the area. But be creative. You can pull off an elaborate stunt to generate news media attention. But be smart. Nothing dangerous. Dramatic is good and funny is better. I strongly recommend you read Jay Levinson's book, Guerilla Marketing. Next step, plan and place your paid advertising. Yes, you will need to spend some money. Coordinate everything, all the details with the venue where your event will take place. When it comes to the details, the ones you overlook are the ones you'll get, that'll get you every time the day of the event. Careful, thorough planning is crucial and record keeping and organization a must. Keep great notes. You'll need scripts and ad layouts, both of which can be provided by the media where your ads runs, often at no charge. The better prepared you are, the better the experience and results. Now write some great press releases and get them out including any trade, community or student publications that might be appropriate for your event. Now review those details and have a great promotion. I'm Peggy Collins, your promotions expert wishing you a successful event."