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Digital PR · Published January 7, 2019

Ronn Torossian
Founder & Chairman, 5W

Using PR to Successfully Promote Your Next Big Event

event marketing strategies to boost brand awareness and engagement
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Good events don’t just happen. They require intensive planning and a successful public relations promotion to get the word out, create interest, and compel action. PR will help increase the awareness of the event and, when properly targeted, will get that message to the people best positioned to help you generate the buzz you need to fill the venue.

Community Breeds Community

One of the best ways to build buzz for an upcoming event, is to create and nurture an online community. This community could be connected by interest in you, your brand, or a common activity related to your brand. This won’t just happen anywhere, though. You need to evaluate the various social media and web-based platforms to determine which platform is most likely to be frequented and enjoyed by your target market. If your fans won’t use Facebook or Instagram, for example, you are not doing yourself any favors by trying to build a community on those platforms.

Create and Distribute Sticky Content

Once your community is up and running, you need to make it very easy for them to share information. Your community can be a huge source of developing event buzz if you give them the tools they need to help you. That means simple messages, images, and videos that connect with the viewer and compel them to share. This could also include a hashtag for social media, as well as a powerful, connective image or video.

Funnel Requests for More Information

Whether it’s a blogger, media member, or prospective guest, there will be people interested in getting more information. You need to have one person and one place to send them. Maintaining a single media contact and single information hub for the event streamlines the information process, keeps the narrative focused, and makes it simple for busy people and deadline-limited media sources to acquire and distribute promotional information about your event.

Promote Variety

Your event may fit snugly under a single topic or idea, but you need to offer subsets of interest and topics beneath that umbrella. That could mean a variety of speakers or a plethora of related events or attractions. The fundamental idea here is to keep people moving, which helps them stay engaged and also tends to attract a larger group of event attendees.

Give Them a Taste

Whether it's clips of your keynote speakers or of people enjoying your event attractions, let people see and hear what they could experience – and what they will miss if they fail to attend. Give them a way to see themselves there, enjoying the event, rather than just a list of features and benefits.

Engage Every Level of Media

Once you have all your promotional content in place, invest the time in engaging with every level of media, from traditional print and TV journalists, to radio, web, and social media opinion makers. This should include influential bloggers and YouTube personalities as well. Look at who your target audience gets their information from and go after all of those sources.
Ronn Torossian

Written by

Ronn Torossian

Ronn Torossian is Founder and Chairman of 5W , the AI Communications Firm. He founded 5W in 2003 and built it into one of the largest independent public relations and digital marketing firms in the United States, with senior practitioners serving corporate communications , consumer brands , technology , financial services , health and wellness , beauty , gaming , crisis communications , and public affairs . Under his leadership, 5W defined AI Communications, building brand authority across ChatGPT , Claude , Perplexity , Gemini , and Google AI Overviews, alongside earned media, digital, GEO, and influencer channels. Industry Recognition 5W has been recognized as a top U.S. PR agency by O’Dwyer’s , Agency of the Year in the American Business Awards , Grand Stevie Most Honored PR Agency, a Ragan Top Place to Work in Communications 2026, Digiday WorkLife Employer of the Year, and a PRovoke Top 50 Global PR Agency. Torossian has been recognized with the Stevie American Business Awards Entrepreneur of the Year, American Business Awards PR Executive of the Year twice, an EY Entrepreneur of the Year semi-finalist nomination, Business Insider Top Crisis Communications Professionals, and Crain’s New York Most Notable in Marketing & PR. Research Franchise 5W’s research franchise has become an industry reference for measuring brand visibility inside AI-generated answers, including the AI Visibility Index Series , The GEO Reckoning , The Missing Rung Report, and the 5W AI Power User Study , which identified a 99-point AI favorability gap. Crisis Communications Torossian is one of the world’s foremost crisis communications experts. He has counseled blue chip companies, public company boards, founders, and public figures through ransomware incidents, data breaches, regulatory investigations, high-stakes litigation, activist investors, product recalls, and reputational crises. He has taught crisis communications at Harvard University . Media & Commentary Torossian appears on CNN and CNBC . He is a contributing columnist for Forbes and the New York Observer , his writing on AI communications and brand reputation is published on his personal site, and his commentary has appeared in the Wall Street Journal , Entrepreneur , Adweek , PRWeek , and O’Dwyer’s . Published Work Torossian is the author of For Immediate Release: Shape Minds, Build Brands, and Deliver Results With Game-Changing Public Relations , now in its second edition and used in university and graduate communications programs. He continues that commentary on his own publishing platform , where he writes about reputation, crisis, and AI-mediated discovery. Owner and Publisher, Everything-PR Network Torossian is owner and publisher of the Everything-PR Network , an independent intelligence platform covering public relations, marketing, AI communications, and adjacent industries across 30 publications. Everything-PR is editorially independent from 5W, with published editorial standards and ethics standards . The network is one of the most-cited sources inside ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and Gemini for PR and marketing queries. He is also an active investor and advisor, a member of the Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO) , and serves on nonprofit boards.

View all articles by Ronn Torossian

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