Journalists are always busy, so media events and press conferences can be difficult to arrange. However, if done correctly, they can be a highly effective way of getting the right information to the right people.
The Challenge
If you’re an industrial business, getting the press together in the same place so that you can make an announcement is great – it’s controlled, its time-efficient and it’s a great networking opportunity for you. But think of it from the other side.
The journalists and editors are not getting an exclusive scoop, they’re sat next to their biggest competitors and they’re thinking about 50 things in the office they need to get done before deadline.
What’s more, your key press contacts may be based far and wide, across the country or even internationally, so finding a time and location that works for everybody is almost impossible.
All of this can make organising press conferences a hard task. The PR team at Molokini has recently arranged several successful press briefings for clients in various industries, whether it’s at a show in Belgium, a factory in Italy, an aircraft hanger in Germany or a notable location in Northern Ireland.
Here are some tips for a successful press briefing from the Molokini PR team
“This year we have held some press briefings at international events, such as TOC Europe in Rotterdam and IMHX 2019 in Birmingham, which we knew many of our media contacts would be attending. This approach helps us ensure that we can get more of the right media in front of our clients’ messages. However, we also made sure that the events did not conflict with any other notable press conferences and chose the day when we knew most press would be attending – picking the right time and date is crucial. We’ve also had good success bolting press briefings on to our clients’ existing customer and dealer events, which gives a great atmosphere and buzz.”
Hannah, PR and Digital Marketing Manager
“Send your invitation out in good time if you can. We’ve organised successful last-minute press events, but generally we find that invitations that go out about a month before are best. This gives plenty of time to follow up, and follow up again, and again! As well as making sure the invitation includes the essential information – where, when, who etc. – we generate interest in press briefings by giving a hint of what will be announced at the event in the invitation (without ruining the story of course)”
Emma, PR and Digital Marketing Executive
“We deal with the media day in day out which helps us know who to invite and what will be of interest to them. Many of our clients work in very specific industries, so it’s quality over quantity with press briefing attendees. We’ve had great results from press events with just a few carefully selected editors and journalists, as well as those attended by lots of press.”
Meg, PR and Digital Marketing Executive
“We have handled many international events which bring press from Russia, Africa, Australia, the Middle East and all over Europe, together in one place. It’s really important to cater to all journalists’ different needs. For instance, do they need support in their own language? And are materials available in their native tongue? Is their local contact or territory manager attending the event?”
Nik, Operations Director
“Be prepared. Things shouldn’t feel too scripted, but the speakers need to be clear on all the points to be covered and any presentations should be short and succinct. We always have in-person or online briefings with client speakers before the event to prepare them, including how to deal with tricky questions. We also make sure we have professional press packs with information and images ready to go straight away, as they are usually the first thing the attendees ask us for. Quality press packs still work very well for the particular industries that we work in.”
Hannah, PR and Digital Marketing Manager
“Try to avoid just presenting a deck of slides. Include demonstrations or a chance for the visitors to get their hands on your product – showing something is far better than talking about it. Moreover, never have a press briefing just for the sake of it! Yes, we’ve held press briefings that have delivered great results but we’ve also secured some high-quality, on-message PR coverage from arranging one-to-one media interviews, placing exclusive features or arranging advertorials. Marketing is about choosing the most appropriate channel for both the message and the audience, and this applies to press briefings too.”
Nik, Operations Director
With decades of experience in organising successful press events and marketing campaigns, the team at Molokini are experts in PR for the materials handling and logistics industry, manufacturing sector, industrial equipment businesses, and more. Get in touch to find out how we can help you with your next press event or PR campaign, or to discuss how we can provide an outsourced marketing solution.