Get Local Media Coverage For Clients (Or Even For Yourself)

As a marketing consultant, you likely focus on social media, SEO and email campaigns. But do ever think about how to get local media coverage for clients, too?

While these are traditional marketing methods are great to develop your client's brand, and get them in front of their target audience, you shouldn’t dismiss the effectiveness of local news.

Hasn’t Traditional News Viewership Decreased?

To answer most simply, yes, people have stopped watching the news as often.

However, they are still getting their news from local news sources. They are just going about it differently today.

Traditional local news is becoming less relevant, but the eyeballs are still there if you take social media into account.

For example, many news anchors have their own social media channels with tons of traffic and a large following.

So, although it looks different today than in years past, through the use of search engines, mobile applications and social media, individuals still look to their local news outlets for their news.

James H. Mahon, a reporter for WDEF News 12 in Tennessee, explains this shift in traditional viewership below:

Local news, despite dwindling viewers, has a huge catchment area.

The reach of local news through social media is growing.

With the use of live streaming, Periscope, Twitter and Facebook audience reach is actually bigger than ever before.

Also, local news is still traditionally considered a trustworthy source.

Plus, reporters and anchors can be reached quickly through their Twitter and Facebook accounts, making them more accessible than before.

6 Tips to Get Local Media Coverage For Clients

You probably would love to get local media coverage for clients, but what's the best way? The following 6 tips will help you get moving:

1. Contact Reporters Via Social Media

Reach out to local reporters via their social media accounts. A great place to start is Muckrack's Media Outlet Dirtectory.

They have a massive list of journalists, their beat, social media accounts and more.

Go here, and type in your city in the search box like I did below:

Select the TV station you want to target, and you'll get a set of results like this:

Then, you can look through the list, and get the social media account info for the journalist you want to contact.

This is crucial, because you want to make certain you are contacting the right reporter for your client.

In other words, don’t contact a sports reporter to do a piece on a local hair salon.

With one exception...the morning traffic reporter for KPRC in Houston.

This rule does not apply to Jennifer Renya.

Even though she is the morning traffic reporter, I will reach out to her for all stories first.

In all seriousness though...

Be very careful...following proper etiquette is critical for success.

Interacting With Reporters The Right Way

Find the reporters you’re targeting—The first thing you need to do is add reporters to your network on Facebook. A lot of times, reporters will include a link to their Facebook profile at the end of their stories or somewhere on their bios.

Share their stories—Reporters are always thankful when people share their stories and help drive traffic to them. You can also leave nice comments on their wall whenever they write a story you enjoy.

Pay attention to what they share and post—By analyzing the type of content a reporter shares and posts, you can learn more about his or her interests so you can tailor your own stories to be more attractive to that specific reporter.

Be ready to jump on opportunities— You need to make sure you’re ready to pounce on any relevant opportunities that might arise when a reporter is looking for a source and your client is qualified.

Don’t spam them— You shouldn’t constantly be harassing reporters over Facebook, and you certainly don’t want to send them pitches irrelevant to their niche. You’ll quickly turn into a pest in their eyes.

Facebook is crawling with reporters, editors, bloggers, and other members of the media.

These peopl...