One way companies can get additional public relations exposure is through promoting their events. And the best way to tell the press about that event is through writing and distributing a press release about that event.
Table of Contents
- The Goal of a Press Release for an Event
- Find the Newsworthy Aspect of Your Event
- Writing an Event Press Release
- Distributing Your Press Release
- Event Press Release Examples
Event Press Releases – Keys to Success
There’s a difference between holding a successful and successful promotion of that event and you can have one without the other. Here are the keys to the portion of the event promotion that will come through issuing and distributing a press release for that event.
The Goal of a Press Release for an Event
Many people have a mistaken concept of what makes a press release successful. They think it was successful if the media printed their press release word-for-word. But that’s not really the goal of a press release.
A press release is designed to get a journalist to write their own story about your event. The purpose of a press release for that event is to give the media the key information they need to:
- Decide whether this event is newsworthy and applicable to their audience
- Start writing their story.
Ideally, the press release should trigger a call from the journalist to find out more about the subject of that press release so they can craft their own story.
Find the Newsworthy Aspect of Your Event
The first, and most important, step in writing a press release is to find something that makes it newsworthy and interesting to journalists and their audiences.
For example, the party celebrating the groundbreaking for your new factory isn’t news. Nobody cares about a party. What is newsworthy, and interesting to both the media and their audience, is the number of new jobs that the new factory will bring to the community.
Likewise, the fact that your company is sponsoring next month’s First Friday In the Park concert probably is not newsworthy (after all, someone was going to sponsor it.) Possible newsworthy aspects of that event could be:
- The donation of the proceeds from that concert going to building a home for one of your city’s homeless people.
- The bringing back a musician to perform at it who has now hit it big, but hasn’t performed in your city since their early days playing gigs in the local bars, and their story.
- Your funding of x tickets to allow at-risk youth to attend the concert for free.
- The long-term commitment your company has to sponsor local civic events and the community at large.
- Etc.
The more newsworthy your story, the more likely it is to be covered. Figuring out that hook and extending it throughout your story is what will contribute to the success of your press release.
Writing an Event Press Release
The next key is to write your press release in the traditional press release style and format. There’s a definite format you should follow and reporters expect a press release to contain certain types of information in certain orders. We don’t recommend deviating from that style.
To make this easy for you, I’m going to give you a free press release format you can use to craft your press release. And, I’m going to give you multiple different examples of successful event press releases, to use as models as you write your own press release.
Download Your Free Press Release Template
The first step is to download a copy of our free press release template, which will make everything easier.
Here’s a free press release template in Microsoft Word format. (No opt-in or email address required.)
And here’s a press release template in Google Docs format.
Formatting Your Event Press Release
The links above give you an excellent template you can use to write press releases on any subject.
Any press release should contain:
- A release date – which is typically “For Immediate Release,” but it could also be a date/time in the future indicating the earliest time that this information can be made available to the public.
- A headline designed to draw the attention of the journalist and communicate the newsworthy hook for your press release
- Optionally, a second headline, emphasizing the newsworthiness of the press release
- A dateline (when and where the story originated)
- The body of the press release
- Complete contact information for the person the media can contact to get more information for their story
- Three hash marks (# # #) at the bottom that denote “THE END” in journalistic parlance.
Here is a complete, step-by-step manual for writing a successful press release, including:
- How to format your press release
- How to craft a compelling headline
- How to write the body of your press release
- How to use quotes correctly in a press release
- How to end your release for the greatest impact
- How to make sure your press release doesn’t incur any SEO penalties and other problems
- Examples of specific dos and don’ts to guide you in writing a strong, effective press release
Still unsure of your capacity to create an amazing press release? Let our professional editorial team write one for you.
Key Elements you may Want to Include in a Press Release for an Event
The information above focuses on the elements of a successful press release on any subject. Here are some key elements that you may want to consider using in a press release promoting an event:
- Why this event is newsworthy
- Date and time of the event
- Why people will want to attend the event
- What will happen at the event
- Featured performers/guests at the event they won’t want to miss
- Things they will learn or receive from the event
- Quotes from event leadership, giving alternative news angles reporters may want to consider
- How this event will impact the community, including charitable aspects of the event
- How to get tickets, RSVP, or other details they need to know to attend the event
- About the event (event boilerplate language)
- History of the event
- Sponsors of the event
- About the company (company boilerplate language)
- Press contact information
Distributing Your Press Release
Now that you’ve created an amazing press release for your event, how do you get it into the hands of the appropriate journalists, media outlets, and influencers to get the publicity you desire?
First, virtually every event has a local aspect and most attendees will likely be from the local area. You will definitely want to send your press release to the key media personalities in your local market.
But many stories also have a much wider reach. While it’s unlikely that people will travel thousands of miles to attend the grand opening of your new factory, the fact that you are building a new factory, and that you’re doing so because you’re growing, releasing new products, improving your competitive posture in the marketplace, etc. are all newsworthy stories. Many event stories should also be promoted to a wider audience than just your local media sources, including trade and other news organizations and influencers.
Which raises the question – how do you know who to send your event press release to? And how do you get their contact information?
You could easily spend days compiling the contact details of every journalist, blogger, influencer, and other media figure who covers your industry and products.
Roughly 60% of that list will be accurate. And next week, some of those contact details will change.
Then you must figure out how you are going to deliver your press release to each of them. (That’s also no small achievement; after all, we make our living doing just that!)
What if you were to save yourself all that time and effort and just let us do it for you? (Plus, you get lots lots more when you choose eRleases.com to distributes your press releases!)
eReleases.com is the #1 distributor of press releases for small businesses. We invite you to consider using our service to distribute your press releases to those who are most likely to cover your story.
Learn more about why you should use eReleases to distribute your press releases (and to get a first-time customer discount) here.
Event Press Release Examples
Earlier, I promised to give you event press release examples you can use to get ideas and use as a model as you write your own.
Here are three examples:
Example #1: Event – Webcast – Auction
Example #2: Bicycle Ride Event
Example #3: Real Estate Virtual Event
More Event Press Release Examples
Announcement of upcoming investor event
Holiday shopping event announcement
Announcement of participation in multiple outside events
Friends and family shopping event
Upcoming events plan announcement
Focus on the Newsworthiness of Your Story
My final piece of advice is to focus your press release on the most newsworthy aspect of your event.
Nobody cares that you’re having an event. What they care about is how it affects them.
This may require some creativity, and possibly even some redesign of your event to ensure there is something that makes it worth reporting on by the media.
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Don’t Forget That You Need To Distribute Your Press Release to the Right People
Even the best press release is useless unless the right people receive it! That’s our specialty – custom distributing press releases to the reporters, editors, bloggers, and influencers most likely to pick up and publish your press release, or even better, to write their own story about you. Learn more about our press release distribution services here.
Want more example press releases? I’m happy to help…
Press Release Examples Across Several Industries
Finally, here are some tips and training to help you write an amazing press release:
Additional Press Release Resources
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Directory of Examples & Templates
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What is a Press Release?
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Click for Press Release Template & Format (including a blank press release example)
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Click to Learn How to Format a Press Release (+ Free Template and 80+ Examples)
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Click to Learn How to Write a Press Release
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Click to Learn How to Submit a Press Release
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To Write a Press Release Yourself or Not?
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80+ Example Press Releases
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Of course, you could always have us write and distribute your release — starting at a special combination price for new customers. Click here – Press Release Writing
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