As you prepare to bring your new product or service to market, it’s likely you will want to make a big splash. It’s only natural after investing so much time into making your new offering a reality.
For the right products or stories, one valuable way to quickly raise awareness and generate buzz is to attract the press to a launch event. However, capturing media interest and attracting reporters to your big launch is a task that should not be taken lightly, especially in today’s ever-changing 24/7 news landscape.
Getting your launch right is critical. When planning your event, it pays to remember five key tips.
1. Know your target media
Do you have a clear idea of where, how and when you want your launch to be covered? It’s essential to understand clearly who you are pitching to, what each media outlet is interested in and how they report on news. Doing your research at the outset and knowing the different needs of individual media inside-out is crucial to a successful pitch.
2. Be clear on what’s ‘unique’
The press will want to know one thing above all others: why should they be interested? It’s very important to consider exactly how newsworthy your new product or service is, as well as what is unique about it. It’s vital to find strong, topical angles that resonate with national, regional or specialist media. These angles need to be highlighted and sold in to the media ahead of your launch; to attract the press, your event needs to stand out from the crowd.
3. Think about what the press needs
Media-facing launch events need to be carefully planned with the press firmly in mind. Think hard about your venue, access, timings and who will be available for interviews and photo opportunities on the day itself. Don’t just assume that a launch event is the best way to communicate your story – sometimes a well-planned series of exclusive previews can work better.
4. Tell your story through pictures
The value of still and moving images should not be overlooked. It has always been the case that a striking photograph or bit of video footage is key to bringing a story to life, but this has never been more important than now. We live in a world where we all access the news through scrolling social feeds, and as such imagery has greater power than ever before: according to Twitter, tweets containing a photo garner 313% more engagement than those without. It’s really important to carefully stage photocalls at your event with your target media in mind that will capture the essence of your launch visually.
5. Be willing to go the extra mile
All news desks will be looking for that little something extra; an exclusive angle or snippet that will make their coverage of your launch event unique. Identify your priority target media and then offer them exactly that – whether it’s the chance of a rare interview with your company’s founder on a particular hot topic linked closely to the current news agenda, or the opportunity to sample and write about your new offering before anyone else.
Achieving widespread media coverage at your launch event can provide a big launch pad to success. Supporting your launch with integrated PR, social and content marketing is crucial to making sure that your brand or product can stand out from the crowd and thrive.