How to Reach Out to Local Media

Building relationships with the media and pitching your story ideas or company news can be the fastest way to grow your Press and Public Relations Campaign. Reaching out to the media tends to be where businesses struggle. In this article, we take a look at why local media is a fantastic place to start. We then talk about best practices and tips to reach out to local media so you can leverage their power and grow your business.

Why Local Media?

When it comes to building relationships with the media you may want to connect with Lester Holt at NBC but chances are there are thousands of others trying to do the same. The competition is stiff to connect with big-name journalists.

This isn’t the case for smaller local media reporters, journalists, and media representatives. They don’t have as many gatekeepers and they’re likely still working on building their career. In short, they’re easier to engage with. They’re more likely to respond. And there’s another benefit that is often not talked about...

Local news, if it’s compelling enough, often makes it to the national level. So it just makes sense to begin building relationships locally and for that to happen, you’ll want to establish a media relationship strategy for local media. You’ll want to begin reaching out to them.

1. Network and make a name for yourself. Get involved in your community. Speak at engagements, attend events, and get yourself out in the public forum. That way, when you do introduce yourself to a media rep, they are more likely to know your name. And, media reps are often at these events so it puts you in the right place at the right time. Networking also helps you meet new people who may be connected to the media. You can leverage your connections.

2. Get to Know Them. Learn who your local media reps are and do your research. Follow them on social media, read their stories, and learn all that you can about your reporters. This way, when you do get a face to face, you’ll have a lot of information to talk about with them.

3. Help Them Out - There are many ways to help a reporter. You can share their content on your social sites. You can quote them in your content and link to their content. You can feed them stories or information to help them write their stories. Finally, learn to write exceptional press releases and pitch your stories, announcements, events, and information to your local media reps. Establish yourself as a professional, engage with the media when it makes sense, and support their careers by providing excellent story ideas, information, and promotion. Building relationships with your local media is a great way to build your company’s press and PR.