With the changing landscape of the Worcester media, how do you and your brand or business stay relevant?
As president of the Public Relations Society of America’s (PRSA) Greater Worcester Chapter, this is a question that keeps me up at night. With a 24-hour news cycle, fewer local beat reporters, shrinking newsrooms, and distrust of journalism in general, the pressure is real.
I don’t want to date myself, but there was a time when Worcester media had more than a dozen traditional media outlets, the most robust coverage, plus a journalist for almost every beat. Many of my pitches and press releases found good homes. Fast forward to a decade later, there is almost half of that media, and you have to fight tooth and nail for very little ink, keyboard space, or a 10-second soundbite.
This isn’t just a local trend; it’s a national trend, too. Every national outlet used to employ a higher education reporter, a science reporter, an economy reporter, but now a single reporter might cover all those beats. Just look at The Washington Post: It cut an entire sports section.
So, what do you do with the limited media you have at your disposal? Keep showing up. It’s about consistency and long-term strategy. Your most important audience is in your own backyard. You need to keep going back to your key messages in order to resonate with your (or your clients’) audiences.
Make sure on your website, your FAQs, your press releases, your social media, your earned media all have your key messaging. For example, if Polar Beverages (full disclosure, I drink a lot of Polar seltzer) sees Spindrift showing up in coverage where they expect earned media with key phrases like “Made with real squeezed fruit,” “Health Conscious,” “Better for you,” Polar shouldn’t change its key terms to get coverage back. The company wants to make sure its channels are consistent with its key messages: “Heritage/since 1882,” “Family Owned,” “Worcester,” “Nostalgia.” It may need to take inventory to make sure these key words and phrases are showing up on all these channels, which leads to another important element of media strategy.
I recently completed Muck Rack’s fundamentals of generative engine optimization certificate. According to Muck Rack, GEO is the practice of increasing the likelihood that your organization, spokespersons, and core narratives appear in responses generated by AI-powered search platforms. By the end of the course, I realized PR is in the driver’s seat with GEO. GEO is about making sure your or your clients’ expertise shows up in AI-generated answers. When Claude, ChatGPT, and other large language models look for answers to prompts, they search for clear headlines, short sentences, easy to read FAQs, a reputable and credible source, and expert citations. Many LLMs cite niche, trade publications since they don’t have access to major media outlets like the New York Times or Washington Post. You don’t need to entirely change the way you do things; instead you need to be consistent and intentional with your messages and key words across channels.
Another facet of media strategy is to pay attention to your audience. Who are you trying to reach? If you are a manufacturing company and want to target the Worcester business community, then the Worcester Business Journal is a good bet. Additionally, MassMEP’s blog, podcast, or newsletter might be a good option. If you are a new beauty brand opening up in the Woo, you might want to look at smaller trade publications in Massachusetts, an influencer, or a podcast that reviews beauty products. Smaller, niche publications get a bad rap with senior executives, but if that’s where your audience is, it’s in your best interest to meet them there. We know your boss always wants the front page of The New York Times, but how does that reach your audience?
Once you have your audience down, pay attention to local as well as national media. Sometimes, especially on local NPR, a story will get picked up by national programming, and in turn, many local reporters want to localize national trends. Keep a pulse on what is gaining traction at local and national levels and how you or your clients fit in, or don’t. If they fit in, you can newsjack that story; if they are bucking the trend, it could be part of a bigger narrative.
To stay visible in shrinking media markets, keep focus on your key messages, audience, and channels. Remember, image and reputation are not built overnight. They take time and a long-term strategy.
Cristal Steuer is president and the accreditation chair of PRSA Greater Worcester and associate vice president of TVP Communications, a national public relations and crisis communications agency focused on higher education.
