What role do press releases play in promoting events?

With the decline in traditional media sources, particularly print media and radio in Canada, press releases have become a great way to become our own publishing entity. There was a time when it was important to get a press release in front of the media. Now it is important to write your press release in an engaging fashion that provides the 5 Ws and the H (Who, What, When, When, Why and How), but is also written with SEO in mind. Write the press release, publish to your own website, share through socials, blogs, LinkedIn, etc., and as a result, an engaged audience finds content that they are interested in - as opposed to a press release showing up in the newspaper, which may or may not get read by the right audience.

The key aim behind getting a press release done is to get as much information about a product, service or event into the public eye as possible. This is what will make people want to come and see it for themselves. The more that is said in the press release, the more appealing it becomes to readers.

The use of press release with current trend not only for mainstream media anymore. Press release can be published in many online media platform such as blog, social media (with the help of visual). The main objective of press release is to give information about the product or event that company just hit its milestone such as launching or celebration. With the help of digital marketing now, press release can be optimized by using SEO keyword to improve visibility and increase company image and reputation. Press release can also be source of truth to increase organic awareness for online media or mainstream media to publish the information.

Have a look at how various publications (e.g. Time Out or Secret London) approach event coverage. One of the key lessons I've taken away from my university degree in journalism is that to write news effectively, you must immerse yourself in reading news in the first place. This can be applied in PR, too. Make sure to identify the unique selling point of your event, whether it's an exciting name in the local music scene or the fact that it's free to attend. Find the thing that makes your event stand out from the rest, and use it to your advantage. Lastly but certainly not least, do not withhold information from journalists. Make it easy for them and answer the so-called 5Ws & 1H: ? What ? Why ? When ? Where ? Who ? How

One of critical role in public relations is media relation management. PR need to building relationship with journalist or media representative, blogger, influencer to increase pick up chance of its release to be published on their platform or media channel. We can also publish press release from our official website, social media and blog to increase visibility from organic source.

we can measure the success of press release for an event with media monitoring tools. The advance one would be using analytics tools to analyze key metrics and indicator such as website traffic, social media analytics, clicks, conversions. We can also monitor and gather media coverage using simple tools such as spreadsheet.

Here's a contrarian view: Press releases are very corporate and generally full of filler language. To announce an event, you're better off sharing an invitation to an event with a particular journalist - and telling them why. Of course, include the event details in a media alert which is a boiled down version of a release, without the formal structure. Instead, a media alert offers the who, what, where, when and why - and can be as simple as an email with a link to a webpage. Just the term press release makes me flash back to the days when women were required to wear hose, even on Fridays - because casual Fridays weren't a thing yet. While those days weren't that long ago, we're all happy those policies and tools are in the past.

Consider the things you can offer to capture the journalist's attention. If you can secure media passes, extend an invitation to the journalist for your event. If your event involves talent or celebrities, look into securing media interview opportunities with them to talk about it. For publications with a strong social media presence, reach out to their social media editors, videographers, photographers, and others who may be interested in featuring the event on Instagram, TikTok, X, or wherever else. There’s a broad variety of strategies to explore — all of which make excellent alternatives to having your event listed in a things-to-do guide (even though the victorious feeling of such an accomplishment is simply unparalleled).

Press release nowadays can be impractical, since sometimes media pick up the release at least 1-5 days. To announce milestones such as launching and celebration, use other channel such as social media that can be real time to engage and create enthusiast of users to celebrate together in real time.