Use an event press release to generate excitement for your upcoming event
If you have an upcoming event, generating buzz among your customers, investors, media, and prospects will be much easier with a well-written event press release. Writing a press release is a formal but efficient way of announcing upcoming events regardless of the type of business you’re running. It discloses vital information about the event including the theme. Other important things it covers include the location and venue of the event as well as the key speakers.
On that note, here is a guide on how to write an event press release in 2024:
Writing an event press release
1. Identify your target audience
Identifying your target readers is an integral part of creating a press release. With that information, you can create a brand story they can relate to. But how do you manage this? Well, you should first create a profile for your reader.
With the help of demographics like values, interests, income range, age, and gender, you can attain your objective. Furthermore, knowing your target audience is very important. It allows you to directly target, engage, and invite them to your event.
2. Use correct formatting
Bulky text is always overwhelming to read and understand. The same goes for your event press release. The last thing you want to do is invest your effort into something only for the target audience to ignore it. That being said, here is a standard format for press releases:
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Prominent headline
Create a prominent headline to capture the audience’s attention. In order to do this, you need to make it short and punchy. Most importantly, make sure you include vital details about the event. These include the event location, theme, name, and activities. You should invest more in the headline to make it special. After all, this is the only chance you have to capture the attention of your readers.
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Lead paragraph and dateline
Start with the date of the event and then proceed with the lead. By including a date, you’re informing the media that your event is coming up soon. Thereafter, write a charming lead paragraph that addresses the five Ws – Who, What, Why, When, and Where. With this information at hand, the reader can decide on their next move and know what to expect if they want to attend your event. Meanwhile, keep the lead brief. Between one to four lines is enough for this section.
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Press release body
The body gives you a chance to shed light on the event. This is where you expand the information in your lead paragraph. Be descriptive and use the same inverted pyramid writing structure that makes a press release worth reading. In other words, you should start with the most important information and move on to the other information later in the press release. The body can contain 2 to 3 paragraphs.
The first paragraph is where you write all critical information regarding the event. Thereafter, you can leverage the remaining two to expand on what you discussed in the first paragraph. In the body, you should cover the name of the event in addition to highlighting the theme, activities, venue, and date.
Make sure you also indicate the performers or guest speakers of the event. This will entice your readers to attend, especially if they were on the fence before. Lastly, end the body with a Call to Action (CTA). It should urge the readers to seek more details by following the provided link. You can also use it to encourage ticket purchasing or signing up for the event.
3. Add visuals
Do you have impressive videos or visuals that are relevant to your story? Well, you can include them in your press release to make it more captivating and engaging. To avoid overpowering your release with visuals, one embedded image should be enough. If you believe the reader may want to see more, provide a link to the rest of the visuals.
4. Add boilerplate and contact details
The boilerplate is a brief paragraph at the end of your release. It’s also known as the about section. This is where you briefly present information highlighting the mission of your business. Here, you should briefly describe your business and highlight its principal values. Thereafter, provide contact information that comprises the website link, email, phone number, and organization details. Ensure the phone number you provide is always active so that the reader can reach out at any time.
FAQs
When is the best time to send an event press release?
When it comes to publications, lead times are different. For example, if your target is newspaper magazines, you need to send your event press release at least 2 weeks earlier. If you’re targeting a magazine, you may have to send it three to six months earlier.
Also, make sure you adhere to a standard press release writing format to ensure your content doesn’t get tossed out. Please note, no matter how great your content is, a press release with poor formatting will not be published. As for the best days of the week to send it to the media, Thursdays, Wednesdays, and Tuesdays work well. Meanwhile, avoid sending it on Friday or Monday. These are the worst days of the week to send your release.
When it comes to time, you should target 10 am to 2 pm. This is the time when most reporters, editors, and journalists open and read their emails. Speaking of which, you should not send your press release too early in the morning. It may get overshadowed by emails that arrive later on.
How do you distribute the event release after writing it?
The best means of distributing your release is by using emails. Alternatively, you can use press release distribution companies. They will increase your reach and exposure. This is more effective than relying on your own capability to distribute the press release.
How should you highlight the important details about the event in the release?
1st Start with a prominent headline to capture the readers’ attention.
2nd Include the lead paragraph and dateline.
3rd Build the body by starting with the most important details and then closing with the least important. That being said, you must start with the event theme, hosts, special guests, and event activities.
4th Include visuals, videos, and images to enhance the value of your press release.
Conclusion
Writing an event press release isn’t complicated after all. You only need to understand the standard press release writing rules and formatting. A bit of experience should help you create the best press release. If you feel you need help writing it, then you should consider hiring professional press release writers.
The best PR professionals, such as those at Pressfarm, will go beyond writing your press release to identify the best places to publish your press release. Using a targeted media outreach strategy, they will then pitch the news from your brand to these outlets. They will then make sure your press release is published on platforms that will increase your visibility.
The expert writers and certified designers at Pressfarm can also write guest posts and design a media kit for you. With this content, you can boost your media coverage even further. Finally, the account executive at Pressfarm builds a custom media list to help you connect with respected journalists across different media outlets. By connecting with these media contacts, you can keep doing extended media outreach long after the team at Pressfarm has wrapped up your PR campaign.