Stories that are event-based–with a specific time and a specific place–offer three bites at the publicity apple.
If you’re settling for anything less, then you need to work on growing your PR appetite. Not to get too technical, but I like to refer to these bites (or “phases”) as:
1. Before.2. During.3. After.
Before: This is a preview that promotes the event, to encourage attendance by media and/or interested individuals. It also lays the groundwork for a follow-up.
Here is an example from this week’s media outreach by Inside Edge PR, on behalf of DivorceIllinois and its Feb. 4 meeting in Oak Brook.
During: This is when you can secure coverage of the event itself, via the presence of one or more media representatives. Serving as an “In-House Journalist,” Inside Edge PR often plays the role of pool reporter for those media outelts unable, or uninterested, in attending.
After: This is typically a news release, often accompanied by video and photographs, that highlights significant developments at the event. It represents an opportunity to break new ground, so should go beyond a re-hash of the preview with a mere revision of verb tenses.
All along the way, too, you should be buzzing things up on social media, through communication portals such as <ahref=”http://www.youtube.com”target=_blank>YouTube and <ahref=”http://www.facebook.com”target=_blank>Facebook.
<ahref=”https://www.insideedgepr.com”target=_blank>Inside Edge PR’s website has a bevy of other resources to help you secure media coverage, including “To Get the PR You Want, Focus First on The Media’s Need.’
