The more preparation you put into any event before you go, the more you will get out of it, whether that’s a small social gathering at work or a huge industry event such as CES or SXSW for example. Fortunately, there are a number of PR strategies you can implement to get more out of your participation whether you’re an attendee, exhibitor, sponsor or session host (or even an online spectator).

1. 10 HIGH IMPACT
STRATEGIES SUCCESSFUL
PEOPLE DO BEFORE
#SXSW2017 TO STAND OUT
A Wise PR Guide to Visibility

2. In 2016, there were an estimated
70,000 SXSW trade show, exhibit and
party attendees over a 4 day period
with nearly 38,000 SXSW Interactive
participants (including 82 foreign
countries) of which 3,093 were
speakers at nearly 1,400 sessions.
THE CHALLENGE

3. HOW CAN
YOU STAND
OUT?

4. Follow these 10 strategies
consistently before SXSW to up
your game during and after in
ways that maximize your time,
energy and resources, not to
mention, help position you as
the go-to guru in your industry.
THE
SOLUTION

5. TIMING IS
EVERYTHING
Condition the marketplace
ahead of time to increase
your share of voice. Plan to
distribute a consistent
cadence of company news
and created content leading
up to the SXSW March 10th
start date.

6. MID-JANUARY
A Wise PR Guide to Visibility

7. HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY
With 200K to 300K
articles published
daily now, you need a
plan that involves
frequency and
quantity to capture
your share of voice.
Having a thoughtful plan and knowing what you’re going to contribute to
the conversation ensures you have something fresh and relevant that
highlights and builds on your expertise as the noise around SXSW heats
up.
Create a content
strategy. This can
include a blog post
series, Tip of the Day
tweets and LinkedIn
posts, etc.

8. YOUR WHO’S
WHO LISTCreate a personalized email and
social media Who’s Who list of key
reporters, bloggers, influencers and
other digital tastemakers who will
be at SXSW 2017. Start after CES.
These are the folks you want to
build rapport and visibility with.
Start making contact, sharing
content, etc., now.

9. #HASHTAG YOUR REACH
Give your tweets and posts added reach and visibility
with hashtags. Now is the time to compile a list of tags to
include in social media posts. You’ll be able to find the
conversation now, participate, follow and engage in it
real-time during SXSW. Include event hashtags, like
#sxsw, #sxsw2017, as well as other more niche tags
relevant to your expertise and audience.

10. LATE-JANUARY
A Wise PR Guide to Visibility

11. GET
FAMOUS
If you have news leading up
to SXSW or timed to SXSW,
you need to be on the radar
of print/digital reporters by
mid-to-end of January for
consideration, to give time
for their editors to be
pitched, approved, etc., and
be included as an expert
source. Period.

12. ALWAYS BE INVITINGThe opportunity for in person meetings with multiple people
in one place during a limited time is one of the benefits
valued by SXSW attendees.
But, as usual, timing is everything - and by that we mean the
early bird catches the worm. Create your short list of
reporter, blogger and influencer names with their contact
info in January. In early February start suggesting coffee,
breakfast or a drink and confirm with calendar invites.
Schedules are usually booked 2+ weeks out. After that, the
only way you’ll be able to meet your short list will be by
accident. Or ambush.

13. EARLY FEBRUARY
A Wise PR Guide to Visibility

14. TUNE INTO SXSW
MEDIA CHANNELS
Identify and plan to follow SXSW content and social media
channels, including their blog, Twitter feed and others where
they’ll be communicating all the goings on before, during and
after the event. Do this so you have the context to contribute
informed comments when you participate in the conversation.

15. CAN I GET A @MENTION?
@TechCrunch
@Digiday
@Mashable
@SXSW
Begin to build rapport
with your curated list of
SXSW reporter, blogger,
and tastemaker contacts
by commenting, sharing
and mentioning them in
social media now and
throughout the event in
real-time.

16. AT SXSW
A Wise PR Guide to Visibility

17. BREAK THE NEWS
Extend your news & content
strategy right through SXSW.
Cue up releases, plan daily
tweets, snag selfies with folks
from your key influencer list,
Facebook live stream and
v/blog posts. Even if you’re
not attending you can
monitor what’s coming out
and do your own round-ups
and takeaways.

18. BEYOND SXSW
A Wise PR Guide to Visibility

19. EXTEND WARMTH ALL YEAR
Follow up after SXSW and
tie up any loose ends.
TechCrunch Disrupt,
Cannes, Advertising
Week, CES and plenty of
other events are just
around the corner and
many of the same
experts attend those as
well. Keep the
connections and
conversations warm for
next time.

20. WHAT’S NEXT?
Thank you for viewing the Wise PR “take it with you” Guide to 10 High
Impact Visibility Strategies Successful People Do BEFORE #SXSW2017 to
Stand Out.
Now it’s time to put them into action. Here are a few next steps:
★ Brainstorm topics for a blog post series that can also do double
duty as Tip of the Day tweets, and other social media channel
posts - or as a download for lead generation.
★ Be sure to create your shortlist of influencers and hashtags so
you can start interacting as soon as possible.
★ Many of the plans and actions will build up and continue through
SXSW but an early start is key for achieving real impact.
★ Contact us with questions. Info on following slide or click here.
WAIT. We have one more question on the next slide before you go.

21. QUESTIONS? NEED HELP?
Need to ramp up your visibility for SXSW (or other activities and tent
pole events throughout the year) through content strategy and
marketing, and/or public relations and news coverage? Please
contact our team.
WISE PR
Call: 212.777.3235
Email: harrison@wisepublicrelations.com
Web: www.wisepublicrelations.com
Sign up for Words From the Wise newsletter
http://www.wisepublicrelations.com/#words-from-the-wise
Use our web form to tell us more about you
http://www.wisepublicrelations.com/#contact

22. Call: 212.777.3235
Email: harrison@wisepublicrelations.com
Web: www.wisepublicrelations.com
Sign up for Words From the Wise newsletter
http://www.wisepublicrelations.com/#words-from-the-wise
Use our web form to tell us more about you
http://www.wisepublicrelations.com/#contact