Promoting Your Events

Social Media: regular and pinned posts about upcoming events on platforms like Instagram and Facebook. Creating an event on Facebook makes it easy to share all the event details.

Letters/newsletters: hand-deliver letters or use local newsletters to share event information.

Posters/flyers: distribute flyers and posters around the community (e.g. at other halls, coffee shops, community boards, schools, gas stations, church notice boards, local restaurants, public library, etc.). Please note that you should always get permission from the staff/management of an establishment before posting a poster of flyer.

Email: Send event details to your community email list, if you have one

Phone call: personally call community members to spread the word

Websites: post event details on your hall’s or community’s website. Create an event calendar for your hall on your website, or have your event added to a calendar on your community’s website

Community calendars: There are multiple community calendars for upcoming events around the Island (ex. CBC). Be sure to add your events to these.

Here you’ll find a list of Media Outlets that may offer free promotion of your hall’s events.

https://www.marketingmo.com/campaigns-execution/event-marketing-get-the-word-out/

Always aim to have a balance between regulars and newcomers. Here are some tips:

Pre-event

• Do research: Survey your community to see what they want and create events around those ideas. This can be done with an online survey, or just by asking people in the community.
• Save the dates: Send our early reminders or events either by email or mail.
• Benefits: Let attendees know exactly what they can expect and what they can gain from attending.
• Facebook groups: Share events in PEI-specific Facebook groups like PEI PSA’s or PEI Community Events.

Post-event

• Feedback: send out a survey after an event to gather feedback and improve future events. Survey Monkey and Google Forms are great tools for this. Another way is to just chat with people during or towards the end of the event.

https://blog.printsome.com/get-more-attendees/

Writing up an attention-grabbing press release can be challenging, but a strong one can make a big difference when making an announcement. A well written release should inform the public and make it easy for journalists to tell your story.

Here are some tips to help you get started:

Tone:

• Neutral Voice: Avoid using first-person pronouns (I, we, us) and stick to the facts. Keep it formal, professional, and free of personal opinions.

Structure:

• Subject line: This is your first impression. Make it interesting by using action words, data or alliteration to grab people’s attention.
• Opening paragraph: Answer the 5 W’s: Who, What, When, Where, and Why. Get straight to the point in the first sentence or two.
• Body Paragraphs: Go into more detail about the information in the opening paragraph. Use direct language and provide context. Include a quote from the event organizer or a board member if it’s applicable.
• Boilerplate: At the end of your press release, include a small “About Us” paragraph. This should just be a small overview of your hall and what it does.
• Contact Information: Clearly list the full name, title, email, and phone number of the person the media can contact for more information.

https://www.newswire.ca/resources/articles/press-releases-guide