Media relations for small businesses

Local press, podcasts and trade publications can introduce you to thousands of buyers at once, and they reward businesses that bring them useful stories rather than announcements. Learn what makes an event business newsworthy, how to build a media list, write a pitch and handle coverage honestly.

Read the transcript

Media relations for small businesses.

Most small businesses think of press coverage as something that happens to other people.

In fact, local editors, producers and podcast hosts need a steady supply of stories, sources and seasonal angles, and the event industry is full of them.

What makes a story.

A journalist's first question is “why would my audience care, and why now?”.

Your new website is not news.

Build a short media list.

Twenty well-chosen contacts beat five hundred scraped addresses.

Look for the person who covers your topic, not the general newsroom inbox.

The pitch email.

Keep it short enough to read on a phone.

Lead with the story, not with you.

Be a source, not just a pitcher.

Much coverage comes from being the person a journalist calls when they need an expert quote.

To become that person:

Your media page.

Make a simple page on your website so a journalist on deadline can find what they need without emailing you.

A short company description in two versions, 50 words and 150 words.

That is the lesson. The worksheet and the quiz are just below this video.

What you will be able to do

• Identify newsworthy angles in your own business using common news values
• Build a targeted media list and write a short pitch email and media page
• Use coverage after it runs without overstating it, and keep sponsored content clearly labelled

Most small businesses think of press coverage as something that happens to other people. In fact, local editors, producers and podcast hosts need a steady supply of stories, sources and seasonal angles, and the event industry is full of them. The trick is to stop announcing things about yourself and start offering things that are useful to their readers. Coverage you earn this way, rather than pay for, is called earned media, and readers trust it more than an ad because an editor chose to run it.

What makes a story

A journalist’s first question is “why would my audience care, and why now?”. Your new website is not news. A trend you can see before anyone else, a useful guide, or a human story with a local face often is. Journalists weigh a handful of news values.

The last one is underused. You have data no journalist can get elsewhere: average guest counts, how far ahead clients book, which months are filling first. Shared in aggregate, with no client identified, it makes an excellent trend story.

Build a short media list

Twenty well-chosen contacts beat five hundred scraped addresses. Look for the person who covers your topic, not the general newsroom inbox.

• Community and neighbourhood outlets: local newspapers and websites, neighbourhood newsletters, community radio.
• City and regional media: lifestyle, food and business sections, local morning television and radio segments that need weekend and seasonal content.
• Cultural and language media: outlets serving particular communities, which often cover weddings, festivals and celebrations in depth.
• Trade publications: wedding, hospitality, meetings and events, and business publications that corporate buyers read.
• Podcasts and newsletters: hosts who interview local business owners or cover weddings, food or HR.

Record each contact in a simple sheet: outlet, name, beat, recent stories they wrote, how they prefer to be contacted, and your last contact. Read or listen to three of their recent pieces before you pitch. Nothing loses a journalist faster than a pitch that shows you have never read their work.

The pitch email

Keep it short enough to read on a phone. Lead with the story, not with you. Here is a template.

Subject: Story idea: why GTA couples are booking smaller, earlier weddings

“Hi Jordan, I enjoyed your piece last month on rising venue costs in the west end. I run Lantern & Lane, a two-person planning studio in Toronto, and I am seeing a related shift: across our 22 weddings this year, the average guest count fell from 128 to 96, and couples are booking about four months earlier than they did two years ago. I can share the anonymized numbers, explain what is driving it, and connect you with two couples who are happy to talk on the record. I am available for a call any weekday this week. Priya Shah, Lantern & Lane, [phone].”

Notice the structure: a personal opening that proves you read their work, the story in one sentence, the evidence, what you can offer (data, sources, an interview), and how to reach you. No attachments, no adjectives about yourself.

Follow up once, about four or five days later, with one new detail. If there is no reply, move on. Silence is common and not personal.

Be a source, not just a pitcher

Much coverage comes from being the person a journalist calls when they need an expert quote. To become that person:

• Respond to journalists’ requests for sources quickly and briefly, with a specific quote they can use.
• Offer seasonal tip sheets before the season starts: holiday party etiquette in early November, wedding budgeting in January, outdoor event weather plans in May.
• Be easy to quote. Answer in short, plain sentences. Have a number ready.
• Meet deadlines. If a producer needs you at 6 a.m., be there at 5:50.

Your media page

Make a simple page on your website so a journalist on deadline can find what they need without emailing you. Use this checklist.

1. A short company description in two versions, 50 words and 150 words.
2. Founder bios and two or three high-resolution headshots, with the photographer credited.
3. A selection of event photos you have the right to share with media, each with a credit line.
4. Topics you can speak on, such as wedding budgets, corporate events or cultural celebrations.
5. Past coverage, linked.
6. A direct phone number and email for media, answered quickly.

Worked example: what one placement produced

Priya sent the pitch above to 14 contacts. Two replied, and one ran a feature in a city lifestyle section, with a quote and a link. In the following month, Lantern & Lane’s website showed 640 visits from that article, and 19 inquiries named the article as their source. Five booked, at an average of $6,500.

• Revenue traced to the feature: 5 multiplied by $6,500 equals $32,500.
• Time spent: about 10 hours on data, pitching, the interview and arranging couples.
• Inquiry rate from article visitors: 19 divided by 640 is about 3 percent.

These are illustrative numbers, and most pitches produce nothing. The point is that one well-placed story can match months of other marketing, and that you only know it worked if you ask every inquiry where they heard about you.

After the coverage

Thank the journalist, share the piece, add it to your media page and send it to your partners. When you describe it later, be accurate. “As featured in” should mean an editorial story actually featured you, not a paid listing or a comment you left on their website. If the outlet’s article was sponsored content you paid for, call it that.

In Canada and the GTA

The media landscape. The GTA has an unusually wide spread of media. Alongside the large city outlets and the public broadcasters, CBC and its French-language counterpart Radio-Canada, there are dozens of community newspapers and hyperlocal websites covering individual neighbourhoods and suburbs, and one of the largest multicultural and multilingual media sectors in the country, with print, radio, television and online outlets serving South Asian, Chinese, Filipino, Caribbean, Portuguese, Italian, Korean, Persian, Tamil and many other communities. For vendors who serve a particular community, these outlets often deliver more relevant readers than a big-city daily, and they are more likely to cover weddings, festivals and celebrations as real news. Ontario’s French-language media, including TFO and Radio-Canada’s Ontario programming, reach francophone communities in Ottawa, Sudbury, Northeastern Ontario and parts of the GTA.

Timing. Pitch seasonal stories four to eight weeks before the season. Wedding budgeting and trend stories fit January and February, around the wedding show calendar. Holiday party stories fit October and early November. Summer and late December are slow news periods, which makes it easier to place a good local story. The cultural calendar also creates hooks: Lunar New Year, Ramadan and Eid, Vaisakhi, Pride in June, summer festivals, Diwali and the December holidays all generate event coverage, and editors appreciate sources who understand the traditions behind them.

The rules that apply

Sponsored content must look like advertising. Many outlets sell sponsored articles, advertorials and paid podcast segments. They can be good value, but clause 2 of the Canadian Code of Advertising Standards says “No advertisement shall be presented in a format or style that conceals the fact that it is an advertisement.” Make sure a paid piece is labelled as sponsored or paid, and do not later describe it as editorial coverage.

Claims about your coverage. The Competition Act treats “a representation to the public that is false or misleading in a material respect” as reviewable conduct (section 74.01), and the general impression counts. Putting a national broadcaster’s logo under “As seen on” because you once appeared in the background of a segment, or calling a paid listing a feature, risks a misleading impression. Keep a record of each piece of coverage, and describe it as it was. Using an outlet’s logo can also raise trademark questions, so a plain-text list of outlet names with links is the safer habit.

Photos you send to media. Under the Copyright Act, the author of a work is its first owner, and since November 7, 2012 that is true of commissioned photographs too. So the event photographer usually owns the images you want to send. Get permission for media use, and make sure the outlet credits the photographer. The author also has moral rights, including the right to be associated with the work by name, and those rights cannot be assigned, only waived. The CIPO guide to copyright explains the basics.

Clients in your stories. A client’s name, photo, story and event details are personal information under PIPEDA. Before you offer a couple or a company to a journalist, ask them, explain which outlet and what kind of story, and let them decide how they are named. Aggregate data from your bookings is a good alternative, as long as no individual client can be identified from it. Corporate clients often have their own media policies, so ask their communications team before you mention them.

Liquor in coverage. If you hold a liquor licence or a permit, the AGCO’s advertising guidelines still apply to promotional material you produce, including media kits and sponsored pieces: no promotion of excessive consumption, nothing aimed at people under the legal drinking age, and no link between drinking and social or professional success. A private event held under a Special Occasion Permit may not be publicly advertised at all.

This is general information, not legal advice. Check the source or a lawyer for your situation.

Worksheet

Download the worksheet and complete it for your own business, using Lantern & Lane as the model where it helps. Keep it with your marketing plan. It takes about 10 minutes.

Download the worksheet (PDF)