Promote your Event
The AONTAS Communications Team will be working to get national and regional media coverage as well as running a local and national advertising campaign. The 2012 advertising calender will be made available soon. The AONTAS Adult Learners' Festival provides an ideal opportunity to gain publicity for your organisation and the important work you do in relation to adult learning. Here's how you can promote the activities of your organisation during the festival:
- Write a press release outlining your involvement in the festival
- Develop case studies: be prepared to let the media know about real life success stories from adult learners
- Contact local journalists to tell them what your organisation is doing to mark the Festival, suggest ideas for articles to them and invite them to any events you are holding during the week of the Festival
- Arrange interviews with your local or community radio station
- Be aware of deadlines - check with each paper what their deadline is for receiving press releases
- Write letters to the letters pages of local and national newspapers, highlighting issues of importance to adult learners or pledging your support for the Adult Learners' Festival
- Forward AONTAS press releases to local media contacts
- If your organisation has a website, include a paragraph about the Festival on its homepage, with a link to the official Adult Learners' Festival site, www.adultlearnersfestival.com
- If your organisation has its own newsletter or magazine, use it to publicise your involvement in the Adult Learners' Festival
- Word of mouth is one of the most powerful and cost-effective ways of getting your information out. Personal recommendation - especially from an existing learner and someone people can relate to - can be a real motivator for others to join in. You can ask them to inform friends, distribute leaflets or tell their story by being a case study. Remember to tell your work colleagues, family and friends too! Word of mouth can be particularly effective if your target group aren't confident with literacy or if English isn't their first language
Target Audience
By deciding your target group at the beginning, the process of attracting your audience is made much easier, as you can then concentrate your efforts on reaching specific groups of people.
Look at:
- Where your audience go - eg shops, doctors' surgeries, local church, local chamber of commerce, local welfare office
- What they read - eg newspapers, newsletters, and websites
- What they listen to - eg radio, other people within the community
- Speak to your target audience and ask them where they would pick up information. Don't just hand them out or display them in your own venue. Be creative - why not try the local takeaway!
How to Write a Press Release
The press releases on the following pages can be used to help you and your organisation gain publicity for activities you organise for the Adult Learners Festival. These are sample press releases and are intended solely as guidelines for groups that are organising Festival events. Simply modify the template press release to include details of your organisation's name, the event you are organising, the date, the venue, etc. and send it to your media contacts.
- Press releases should always be typed and, preferably, should be e-mailed to your media contacts, rather than posted or delivered by hand. Never include a press release as an attachment, always include it in the body of the email
- Press releases should be consistent in appearance: you could put your organisation's logo at the top of every press release you send out. Underneath the logo, put the words 'Press Release' and list your contact details and the date and time of the release. At the end, type the word 'ENDS'
- Your headline should be attention-grabbing, short and to the point
- Emphasise events that promote photo opportunities, or supply them with photos
- yourself
- The first paragraph should 'hook' the reader - again, it should be short and get straight to the point of the press release. The rest of the press release should answer the questions: who, what, why, when, where and how?
- If publicising an event, make sure to include details of time, place and who to contact for further information
- Use quotes from the people involved in your organisation (e.g. the Director or CEO or an adult learner) to emphasise the points you are making in the press release and make it more interesting
- Use direct and simple language throughout the press release. Do not use jargon,
- abbreviations or acronyms
- Keep your press release short and to the point - try to keep it to one page, if
- possible
- Include background information about your organisation, or the contents of the press release, in a 'Note to Editors'
- Follow up your press release with a phone call to the journalist
Click herefor a promotion workshop on how to use press releases and social media
