One of the things I love most about working in public relations is getting to host fabulous events on behalf of clients. If there is one thing I’ve learned through party planning it’s that a PR girl needs a few key things to pull off a successful event: a great team, a detailed plan, flexibility and a good pair of pumps to withstand the night.

Our company recently helped with the grand opening for Atrium Ready-to-Wear, a boutique within a bridal shop offering designer cocktail and evening gowns. The owner of the boutique, Luvi Wheelock, has had much success in her first retail venture so the pressure was on to successfully introduce Houston to her second creation.

When it comes to event planning, no detail is insignificant. From the invitation font and the guest list to the sugar-rimmed cocktails and cupcakes toppers, nothing can be overlooked. Months in advance, The PR Boutique team gathered around our Tiffany blue table to brainstorm and map out a timeline for the grand opening. These are some of my favorite times at the office, where each co-worker’s unique ideas and personalities come out.

In order to garner coverage amongst several areas of media and spread the word to the boutique’s target audience, we decided to apply several strategies.

The first step was to plan a pre-event. We invited a fashion-focused non-profit to preview the boutique before it opened to the public. On the menu for the night were lite bites, cocktails and an exclusive sneak-peak at the soon-to-be open space. Social coverage was maintained by snapping pics of the prominent charity supporters. That night, Atrium established its plan to provide goodwill in the community by offering a percentage back to the charity of items sold.

For the grand opening, we turned Atrium into a must-see social and fashion affair. A personal appearance by renowned celebrity designer Prabal Gurung had the fashion media on alert. A schedule, timed down to the minute, mapped out press interviews with Luvi and the designer. (Note: always plan for flight delays from New York)

Atrium’s clientele is a unique, high-end demographic with an active social life.  To get this target through the door, we sought the support of three event chairs. These ladies were a great help in inviting their friends, generating social press buzz and above all, looked stunning in Prabal’s clothes. A highlight of the opening was seeing the designer give attendees hands-on fashion advice on what to purchase.  Another was seeing guests raise their (sugar-rimmed) glasses and cheers our client to her new business.

The result of all the hard work was an event that gained a plethora of media coverage, new boutique customers, a satisfied client and another pair of perfectly broken-in heels.

- Meredith Wierick

You can throw the best event of the year but if you don’t have the pictures to prove it-how will anyone know? Photography is one way to ensure that every moment of your fabulous event is documented. Good photos can capture the success of an event but great images can be sent to the media for post press coverage. Event photos can also be used in documents to show the success of your event to potential sponsors and attendees for next year.

Here are some tips on selecting the perfect photographer to shoot your event.

What is your budget?
Pricing can be a maker or breaker when choosing a photographer. Knowing the budget set for photography by your event planners or committee is key when beginning your research. Understand the levels of each package the photographer offers and the pricing of additional services provided by the company such as editing and processing.

Does their work work?
Liking the work of your photographer is key. Conduct research to make sure the photographer has experience with a similar environment.  For instance, you do not want to hire a photographer for a social event whose expertise is portraits. Determine what your mission of photography is and ask yourself can their general style give me that?

Be in the Picture

An important question to ask your photographer is if he/she takes names of those in the photos. If not, designate a publicist to accompany the photographer and capture the names of those photographed. This will ensure there are no misspellings and make it easier to submit the photos to the media.  Make a list of any must-have shots of the venue or guests and point them out to the photographer at the beginning of the night.

Turnaround Time

If your publicist will be sending your photos to the media, it is important to know submission guidelines and deadlines. Be sure and set a date with your photographer of when you will receive the photos, as to not miss any media opportunities. Ask how long the photographer will take for editing and how you will be receiving the photos-CD, website, flash drive?

After you’ve secured the perfect photographer, you can sit back, relax and enjoy your event knowing that your guests and event elements are being successfully documented.

In this new world of social media marketing, it can be difficult to know what type of content to post on your blog, Facebook, Twitter, etc. This post is meant to help you create better content for your audience.

The first step is easy. Make sure your content is relevant to your area of expertise. You would think that would go without saying. However, that’s not enough. Second, and more importantly, know for whom you are writing. Do this by creating “buyer personas”.

Create “buyer personas” for your target customers

We recommend creating a “buyer persona” for each group in your target market. This means create a detailed composite representative of each customer group you want to reach.

Let’s say you own an upscale women’s boutique. After brainstorming with your team, you break down your customers into three distinct groups: River Oaks Rachel, Newlywed Nicole and Cheerleader Charlotte. However, labels aren’t enough. Get detailed.

Let’s take one of these “buyer personas” as an example. The women’s boutique decides that River Oaks Rachel is 42 years old mother of two, whose kid’s attend St. John’s high school. Her husband is a prestigious Houston neurosurgeon. She drives 2009 BMW X3 and a carries a Luis Vuitton handbag that she just purchased on her annual fall weekend trip to New York she takes with her three best friends from college (SMU). She runs five days a week in Memorial park, eats a vegetarian diet, but loves to drink two glasses of Californian cabernet dinner. Her favorite TV show is Mad Men and she subscribes to Vanity Fair and Vogue.

Get as descriptive as possible so you feel like this person exists (you could actually base this on a real person). For further tips, check out this article on how to create “buyer personas”.

Is it interesting to your customer?

After creating “buyer personas”, now you have a litmus test for posting new content. The women’s boutique owner would ask herself, “Would this interest River Oaks Rachel, Newlywed Nicole or Cheerleader Charlotte?” If not, don’t post it! Is it self-promotional advertising that would annoy someone when they receive it in their Facebook feed? Don’t do it! Are you posting a viral video of a cat doing somersaults just because it’s funny? Stop right there!

Remember two things when trying to engage your audience via social media marketing:

1) Stick to you area of expertise
2) Keep it interesting for your target audience

- CF