THE TOP 10 WAYS TO PUBLICIZE YOUR COACHING
MONTH EVENT
You’re
putting a lot of energy into planning a great Coach Week event. To make
your effort really pay off, you also need to invest time in publicizing
your event. By getting the word out in a variety of ways, many more
people will get a chance to participate and benefit from what you have
to offer. Follow these Top 10 tips to greatly increase your chances of
getting a great turnout and generating opportunities well beyond your
event!
1.
Contact your local weekly newspapers
- Write
a press release describing your event. Use the ‘local press
release’ template provided here on the ICF-NE website. Make your press release as eye-catching and newsy as
possible by having a great headline and lead paragraph, emphasizing
the benefits for your audience, and giving clear logistics
information. Don’t forget to include your contact
information.
- Find
copies of newspapers for your area at your local town or county
library. Look for a section or ‘masthead’ (usually in the first
few pages or on the editorial page) that lists the editors of
various departments and/or explains how to submit news items. Some
editors prefer fax, some still want you to mail press releases, and
some now allow you to submit items online. Follow the instructions
given, call the editor, and/or see if they have a website that tells
you the best way to submit your material. If your newspaper also has
a ‘calendar’ section, find out how those items need to be
submitted … sometimes those are handled by a different editor or
through a different process.
- Send
your press release four weeks prior to your event, or even sooner.
Since weeklies only publish once a week, you may miss a cycle,
depending on when they receive your material, and you want to allow
enough time for people to schedule it in their calendars.
- You
may want to precede your press release with a phone call to let the
editor know you’ll be sending it, and/or follow up after you’ve
sent it to ensure they received it, ask if they have any questions,
invite them to the event, etc.
- If
your topic targets a specific audience (say, a business audience),
find the editor for that area and send them the release, rather than
sending it to the editor-in-chief. The department editor may take
more of an interest, and sometimes, this can trigger interest on
their part to write additional articles, or to at least keep you in
mind if they’re writing an article that pertains to coaching or
your topic.
- If
they publish your material, write or email a brief thank you note.
Offer to serve as a resource for them should they be writing
relevant articles in the future. Use this opportunity to begin
building a relationship with your local media contacts.
2.
Leverage advertising from your venue
Ask
the coordinator at your location (bookstore, library, etc.) about
advertising opportunities for your event. Some bookstores issue their
own press releases to local newspapers. Some libraries (and bookstores)
have newsletters or monthly flyers listing events. Some locations may
allow you to place a poster or sign in their location, or may allow you
to place a plastic display with flyers on their counters. Explore and
take advantage of all the options.
3.
Post flyers
Create a flyer. Post it in libraries, churches and synagogues, supermarkets,
coffee houses, your local gym … anywhere you see other flyers posted.
Ask your friends to post your flyer in their offices or break rooms.
4.
Send an email
invitation to your network
Your personal network is a key audience for your event. They already
know you, so they are more likely to come, and they’re more likely to
tell people in their network if they know someone who would be
interested in your topic. Attach your flyer or include the text in the body of your
email message. Don’t forget to include friends, family, and neighbors
in addition to your professional contacts.
5.
Look for cross-promotional opportunities with other professional
associations
Do
you belong to other professional associations? Take some flyers to your
next meeting and distribute them to attendees in addition to announcing
it and telling people one-on-one during the networking portion. If the
group publishes an email newsletter or emails announcements, write up a
brief announcement and ask the editor to include it in their next group
email.
6.
Snail-mail flyer to key contacts with a personal note
Everyone gets so much email these days, it’s easy for a message to
get buried or become part of the inbox ‘clutter.’ People don’t
receive as much ‘snail mail’ anymore, though, and some people
actually like it now – it’s different! So, identify some key people
in your network that you’d like to extend a personal invitation to,
and mail them a copy of the flyer with a handwritten note. Send a
friendly reminder a few days before or call them to say ‘Hope to see
you there!’
7.
Tell EVERYONE you know
As you go about your day, don’t forget to tell people such as your
hairdresser, massage therapist, PTO president, chiropractor, etc. These
professionals talk to dozens of people every day and are a great
referral source for your event. A casual comment by their next customer
could be a mental trigger to recommend your seminar. That’s how word
of mouth works! They may even invite you to leave flyers in their
establishment. Set a goal to tell 3 new people every day between now and
your event.
8.
Advertise your event on your website, in your newsletter, etc.
Think about what you already have up-and-running that could carry
publicity for your event. Newsletters and websites are perfect vehicles.
9.
Advertise your event in your email signature
How many email messages do you send every day? What if every email
message you sent carried a promotional message for your event? It can be
as simple as a line in your email signature directing them to a website
or to contact you, or a brief paragraph at the end of your message with
more details. Use your email more strategically, and word of your event
will reach even more people!
10.
Target your audience
Think
specifically about the kinds of people you want to attract to your
event. Who are your ideal clients? Perhaps it’s corporate managers,
women, small business owners, or creative types. Design your event
around topics of interest to your audience, then put yourself in their
shoes and brainstorm as many ways as you can think of to reach that
specific market segment through the associations they belong to, niche
publications they read, your personal network, places they might
frequent, etc.
Written
by Maria Sariego and
Michele Carbone of the New Jersey Professional Coaches Association.
***Many thanks to the New Jersey Professional Coaches Association
for sharing these Public Relations materials.
Adapted by Melissa Thornton, C0-VP Marketing and Communications, ICFNE |