Sauerkraut Brownies – A Publicity Success Story
If you’re planning a public event and want the world to know about it, you will need a multi-pronged event promotion strategy to reach the widest audience.
The first thing you should do is create a profile of your ideal attendee. How old are they? Do they have kids? Where do they live? What do they do for fun? What radio stations do they listen to? What do they care about? What do they read? Where do they spend time when they’re online? Answering some of these questions may help you determine where you need to focus your marketing efforts.
While it’s true that more and more people are looking to social media for their information, traditional advertising methods cannot be discounted. Contrary to popular belief, not everyone on the planet has a Facebook account (yet). Here a few traditional methods you should consider:
- Direct mail – create a mailing list of all of your family, friends, co-workers and colleagues; they should all get a direct invitation.
- Flyers – create a promotional flyer containing all the pertinent information regarding your event. It could be as simple as a piece of colored paper that is tri-folded and stapled for mailing, or it could be a more professional full color brochure, post card or rack card. Have the flyer available in PDF format so it can be emailed as well. Place stacks of flyers in doctor’s offices, salons, anywhere with a waiting room or counter. I’ve had some success with retail shops agreeing to put a flyer in each bag that goes out of the store.
- Bulletin Boards and marquees – local bulletin boards are a great place to get your event noticed. Think grocery stores, restaurants, beauty salons, churches, coffee shops and libraries.
- Yard Signs – This method is being used more and more to publicize church festivals and other local events. The key is to keep the message concise; just the name of event, the dates, and a web address or phone number is all you need.
- Newspapers – In addition to paid ads, make sure you’ve submitted your event to the community calendars and ‘To-Do’ sections. Is there a particular story or spin on your event that would make a great article? Newspapers are always looking for interesting content – try pitching your idea to the reporters that cover the local news.
- Industry Magazines – if you’re planning an antique show, your event must be listed in Antique Trader Magazine; if you’re planning an arts and crafts fair, be sure you list it in Sunshine Artist Magazine in order to attract quality artists. Get familiar with their submission deadlines; you’ll need to submit your information several months in advance of the publication date.
- Newsletters – do you belong to any organizations that publish and distribute regular newsletters (churches, clubs)? Ask them to put a blurb in their newsletter about your event.
- Radio and Television – Provide every news director at every station in your region with a fact sheet about your event, along with contact information for the persons that are available for an in-studio or onsite interview. I once convinced a local weather personality to provide a ‘Festival Forecast’ the day before our event. This little mention reached thousands of viewers, and didn’t cost a thing.
- Press Kits – The Ohio Sauerkraut Festival (ohiosauerkrautfestival.com) gets a lot of mileage out of this idea. They deliver packets containing fact sheets, flyers, and other advertising collateral in person to every radio and television news team within 100 miles of the Festival, along with some samples of the unique festival food including their yummy Sauerkraut brownies and pies. This gets the on-air talent talking about the festival every year during the morning, afternoon and evening news broadcasts. When preparing your press kits, don’t forget to include a treat especially for the front desk folks – they are the ones that will be sure your kits will be delivered to the right people!
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