As a local business, one of the best ways to become known in your local market is to be seen on the news. You know your industry better than anyone else, and you have built up a wealth of knowledge over the years that potential customers would be interested in. Here are our tips to get your product or company seen on the news.
Make a List of All Your Local Media Outlets
This is a small one, but is probably the most time consuming. You should start by making a list of all your local media outlets, as well as all the reporters, editors, news directors, and assignment editors at those outlets.
This will help you remember who you have reached out to, and can also help with social media advertising (more on that below).
Find the Right Contact
The first thing you will need to do to start pitching yourself to local media is to learn all about the local media. This includes TV, radio, and newspapers — but you should also learn about any local podcasters who might be interested in your topic as well. You shouldn’t just look for news coverage, but also consider reaching out to radio or TV morning shows or entertainment reporters.
The assignment editor at any local news outlets makes most of the decisions over what will run, but you should learn more about all your local reporters to see what kinds of stories they like to report on, and then reach out to them — whether on email, Twitter, Facebook, or at events they attend.
Start a Blog
Starting a blog does not have to be difficult – adding a section on your already-existing website can help you share your expertise on different tips and ideas within your industry. You are the expert, and your clients and potential clients can look to you for everything they need to know about your industry.
Anything that will help get people to your website without necessarily promoting yourself. You should become THE local resource for tips in your industry.
The other benefit of starting a blog is that when you are mentioned in the media, they will be able to link back to the tips on your website. Both the constantly-updated content and links to your blog will help the SEO value of your website.
Share, Share, Share
Once you have written your blog, do everything you can to share it on all of your social media channels. Encourage your followers and clients to share your tips as well, and to talk about the experience they had with you.
Use Social Media Advertising
Social media advertising can be an incredibly powerful tool for getting news coverage. We will cover it more in another post, but the reason you will want to use this is because of the opportunity to target lists and professions.
Targeting Media Lists
If you have a list with at least 100 contacts (email addresses or phone numbers), Facebook will search for those people on their platform and then you can target your stories to them.
Targeting Media Professions
You can also target professions in Facebook’s ad platform, including News Editor, Reporter, etc. Make sure to target only the region you are looking to reach, but then narrow that down with all the professions you are looking for.
Following up both targeting options with a phone call is incredibly helpful. Be careful not to mention they may have seen your story — Facebook has rules against letting people know you targeted them. We will go over the “how to” of targeting social media ads in a future blog post.