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As the media landscape is undergoing a transformation driven by social media, artificial intelligence (AI), and the demise of many traditional print newspapers, local businesses have more tools than ever to reach current and prospective customers. But rising above the digital noise requires a more nuanced media strategy than ever before.
Michael Henrich, Chief Strategist at Henrich Communications, spoke at a Sudbury Chamber of Commerce “Lunch and Learn” event on January 21, and provided an energetic and actionable set of recommendations to a full room of local business people at Sudbury Point Grill.
Henrich walked the group through an overview of owned, earned and paid media — a framework frequently used by public relations professionals to conceptualize media strategies. Owned media would include a company blog, earned media includes media coverage, and paid media includes ads like many businesses run on Facebook or Google. Henrich walked the group through the utility of each type of media, then drilled into the finer points of earned media.
One new, but very prominent, change in the media landscape is the ascent of Large Language Models (LLMs) like ChatGPT and Google Gemini. Henrich explained that these LLMs are increasingly training on the content published by local news outlets — meaning steady media coverage can ensure that these models respond with accurate and complete information about a business when users ask relevant questions.
For further reading on the unique relationship between local news and LLMs, Charles Sennott’s groundtruth substack recently ran a deep-dive article on the topic in the wake of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s plans to shut down.
Henrich also put the traditional press release into modern context — pointing out that they are still relevant, but aren’t the news coverage drivers they used to be. He recommended issuing press releases for major announcements, but not getting carried away with them. He also provided a handy framework for how to structure press releases.
Henrich emphasized the importance of a strategic approach to media relations at a time when newsrooms are stretched thin, and local news outlets have limited resources. A few key recommendations included:
- Think harder and longer about the story you are taking to the media. Even if you think you having a “boring” business, there’s almost always a way to connect your business to a broader trend or news cycle. This is a technique Henrich called “newsjacking.”
- Build a media outreach list based on the reporters who are covering topics relevant to your business, but don’t forget to include news desks and editors that can be reached through a general contact form or email address.
- Once you get interest from a journalist, make sure your responses are fast, and most importantly, make sure the experience of scheduling an interview is as painless and efficient as possible for the journalist.
Henrich encouraged the room to think creatively about how they can create content that makes it extremely easy for a busy journalist to write a story about their business. That could be as simple as taking a video and some high quality pictures at an event you attended, and packaging those up with an idea for a story.
Another suggestion was to utilize the op-ed or opinion sections of newspapers and digital news sites. He suggested the OpEd Project as a useful resource for small businesses to learn how to write and pitch op-eds.
Most importantly, Henrich encouraged the attendees to make the most out of every bit of media coverage they get, and every bit of content they produce. Videos can be chopped up into smaller segments and reposted on social media for weeks or months, for example. This process of propagating each element of earned and owned media across media channels maximizes the benefits for the business, without requiring larger-scale content production.
As promised, attendees left with a clear set of steps they could take back to their businesses and put into action.
More tips, tricks and best practices are available on the Henrich Communications blog.