By Cassy van Eeden and Remy Raitt

Event press releases, however, are different from your run-of-the-mill media release. A press release in anticipation of an event needs to be convincing enough to get people to book tickets and attend. So, how do you craft an effective event press release?

The basics

While it is important to ensure you include the fundamentals of a good press release, there are some additional areas that need to be covered in an event press release. Information such as date, time and venue are paramount.

"As a rule of thumb, I like to include the most important details – date and venue – right up front,” says Renee Fortune, copywriter and social media manager at World Wide Creative. “And then expand on them in the last paragraph by repeating the date and venue and including the time, price and other details,” she says.

Fortune explains that event press releases should be more of a conversation than a hard sell. “I’ve read some ‘shouty’ press releases that demand that I ‘book now to avoid regrets’. After a press release like that, what I do regret is the time I wasted, which could have been better spent on cat memes,” she comments.

Quotes?

Quotes can make or break pretty much any press release. But are they necessary in event press releases?

“There are instances when a press release can do without a quote because there may be a number of points to get across,” says Fortune. It is also possible that excessive quoting can detract from the overall message.

However, if you are going to include quotes in your press release, make sure the people you are quoting know that you have a deadline to meet.

Catherine Barker, account manager at Plato Communications says: “Once you have sourced [a] quote, be it on the night or day of the event or early the next day, it’s important that your client is aware that you will require swift approval on the additions to issue while the news is still ‘fresh’, so to speak.”

Post event

So your event was a massive success and people are raving about it. But that isn’t where your press releases stop. Your post-event communications are just as important as your initial press releases.

“What I think can really make or break a press release is how timeously and effectively it is issued post-event,” says Barker.

Fortune says your post-event press release should be sent out as soon as possible, preferably the day after the event.

Of course, as Barker points out, “this depends on the type of media you are working with as well as the type of event”. She agrees, though, that having the press release out within the first 24 hours after the event is ideal.

To embargo or not to embargo

One way to ensure your post-event releases are distributed timeously is to prepare them before-hand and send them out embargoed. But this, of course, depends on the type of media you are targeting and the nature of your event.

“Embargoed press releases are a good idea if the information is sensitive and can only be released at a certain time,” says Barker.

But as Fortune argues, embargoed press release are “great, if you’re stuck in the 90s and social media isn’t scooping you anyway”.

Barker adds that journalists may be annoyed if they can’t publish something straight away, which could mean that your press release isn’t published at all.

Do you craft press releases for events? Share your tips with us in the comments below.