Let’s face it, when most people think about PR, they think about getting featured in national publications that are seen by thousands of people. While there is nothing wrong with thinking big, it is just as important to secure coverage in local publications. After all, these new sites usually have dedicated and highly engaged audiences that may become your future customers or clients.

In this article, we will discuss the opportunities that local PR can give to businesses and how to leverage regional publications to expand your reach. 

What is Local PR?

In a nutshell, local PR is all about telling stories that resonate with people in your community. In other words, it involves all of the aspects of traditional PR but at a community level.

There is no better way to build brand loyalty and trust than by establishing connections and relationships with your local community. The local media are constantly looking for stories and events happening in the area. So, it makes sense for businesses to take advantage of this and promote what they are doing. Not to mention, building relationships with your local media will mean that journalists and editors are more likely to come to you when they need a story or comments.

Benefits

If you are still unsure about focusing on local PR, here are some of the benefits of targeting the media in your area.

Higher Return on Investment

Journalists and editors at national publications receive around 63 pitches a day. This makes it challenging for businesses to cut through the noise and get the attention of media contacts. 

But the good news is that tailoring your campaign to a smaller, more niche audience can increase your potential return on investment. This is because it usually takes less time and money to get your story seen by local journalists. Plus, the fact that you live in the same area makes it easier to build meaningful relationships. Of course, you still need to create a great story that has an interesting hook to earn a spot in the media.

Stroger Community Relationships

If your business has a presence in the local area, it is a good idea to target customers who can easily visit your stores or attend any events you host. Generally, local publications have loyal readers that want to support businesses that are members of their community. On top of that, this means that your campaign is more likely to be a success and improve your bottom line.

Strategies

Understandably, every business wants to see their brand name up in lights. But it is important to not approach local PR like a national campaign. Here are some tips to get you started.

1. Know What Matters to Local Audiences

The secret to a successful local PR campaign is having the nose for a story that matters to your community. Not every story is relevant to a particular community so it is important to establish what part of your story or brand people in the local area are interested in.

Remember that the local news is not just about firefighters rescuing cats stuck in trees. Local publications also cover stories about businesses supporting charities, commissioning research or simply conducting business in the area.

2. Host Events in Your Community

Hosting local events provides a great opportunity to connect with both those inside and outside of your industry. Plus, if you can get journalists to attend your event, they may give you the coverage you are looking for.

Even if you are just attending an event, you should still use this as an opportunity to network and expand your business’s presence. Whether you are volunteering, sponsoring an event or making a donation, it is important to get your name out there and show your community that you care.

3. Find a Local Angle

Even if you are working on a national campaign, it is worth finding an angle that will connect with your local audience. For example, if you have conducted a survey with consumers, it makes sense to break this data down by where respondents are from. You can then share this data with local journalists and editors.

4. Tailor Your Pitches

When contacting local journalists, it is important to tailor your pitches and press releases so that they focus on the local as opposed to the national angle. Local journalists will usually ignore pitches that are not specific to their area. Simply including the area name in the subject line or heading can significantly increase the chances of journalists reading your pitch.

Examples

Here are some brands that have mastered local PR and strengthened their presence on a regional level.

1. Premier Inn

With hundreds of hotels across the country, Premier Inn is one of the UK’s largest hotel chains. They analysed hashtag data from Instagram to find the most beautiful cities by night. The cities with the most posts under their dedicated hashtag were crowned the most beautiful. Instead of just focusing on the national press, Premier Inn shared its findings with a number of regional publications. This led to them landing coverage in local publications, such as the Blackpool Gazette, Glasgow World and the Liverpool Echo.

2. Greater Manchester Divorce Lawyer

James Maguire is an experienced divorce solicitor based in Greater Manchester. He spoke to Manchester Evening News about the craziest reasons why his clients’ marriages have ended. While this topic is exciting, the publication would not have picked it up if the solicitor was not based in Manchester and did not work with clients in Manchester.

3. Puppies.co.uk

On behalf of our client Puppies.co.uk, we conducted a survey to find out how the cost of living crisis has impacted dog owners. We broke the data down by region and shared our findings with journalists in the areas that had been hit the hardest by rising dog ownership costs. This led to Puppies landing coverage in local publications, such as The Argus, Chad and the Suxxess Express. To learn more about how we secured local coverage for Puppies, read our case study.

Key Takeaways

Local PR is all about understanding how the media works in the regions you are looking to target. You need to understand how your business fits into the local media landscape and can offer value to journalists and readers in that area. If you can create stories that people actually want to read and share with others in their community, you will be successful.

Secure Local Coverage Today

If you are looking to increase your local presence, get in touch with us to find out how our local PR specialists can help you build relationships with your community.