If you think that your clients are building their first impressions of your practice when they walk through the front door, think again. Now more than ever, people search online, read reviews and use a variety of media – and they want to know more about where they will be taking their beloved pet. Local press can play a huge role in shaping trust within the community.
It’s not new for vet practices to share stories in the media. Being featured in local press has always been an excellent way for a vet practice to raise awareness among local pet owners, showcase services and highlight charity work, all of which can boost its reputation in the local community. From fundraising events and team achievements, to interesting cases and educational items, practices have many stories to tell that can be of interest to local audiences.
But how can your practice make the most of local media opportunities? And how can you make sure coverage is both meaningful and effective?
Local interest
‘Local media’ is made up of media organisations who have a regional focus near your practice. These newspapers, magazines, radio shows and websites often operate at a community level and concentrate on sharing news, updates and stories that are relevant to people in the immediate area. They might include community interest stories, fundraisers, events, business news or coverage of local issues and can be an effective way to reach your target audience of local pet owners who might actually consider bringing their pet to your practice.
Making the most of local media outlets can be an excellent way to build trust, convey expertise and get your practice name out there in the community.
Local media opportunities can also be harnessed to support wider business goals, with specific stories suited to different purposes.
Recruitment: Beyond just highlighting vacancies, sharing stories about existing team members and their successes can help to boost the reputation of your practice and show a commitment to supporting team members’ professional development. Showcasing community engagement stories can also help to give possible job candidates a sense of who you are as an employer and convey your team’s values and culture.
Awareness: Sharing team achievements, case studies and successes or seasonal advice can help to boost awareness of your practice within the community. Whatever you have to share through local media, consistency is the key to making sure that your local audience is aware of your presence and how your practice and its services can benefit them.
Positive perception: Sharing uplifting success stories, celebrating clients and their pets, and proving to be invested in and considerate of local people can all help to strengthen the perception of your practice in the community. Stories around charity work or community initiatives can land particularly well with local media and its audience.
Increased footfall: Showcasing expertise (in a way that is not too ‘promotional’) can naturally translate to increased footfall and enquiries. Getting coverage in local media can also help to highlight your website and make local owners aware of your presence so that they know who to contact when their pet needs care.
It’s important to remember that one piece of local coverage can often be repurposed. You can turn a newspaper feature into a piece for your social media, or share a snippet from the radio on your website.
Stories around local charity work or community initiatives can land particularly well with local media and its audience.
| The benefit of earned media In marketing and PR, we categorise media into three groups; paid, owned and earned. While all three forms of media have their place, earned media in particular carries a lot of weight. People often perceive owned media as being impartial, seeing it as an endorsement from an external person or group, giving it credibility. Local media falls into this category because it is an outlet that you don’t control or pay in the form of an advertisement, making it a great tool in your practice marketing tool box. |
Getting on the media radar
You might be thinking: “If I’m not paying the local media, how am I going to get them to share my content?”
Media outlets are very willing to share stories – as long as they are relevant to the local community, important for their audience to know about, interesting and timely.
What makes a story interesting?
While your team may find a specific surgery or case very interesting, remember that you are trying to appeal to local people with this form of outreach.
If you’re struggling to identify what the media might be interested in, consider:
- What would your next-door neighbour want to hear about?
- Is there anything important that local pet owners should be aware of right now?
- Have you got a unique story about a community initiative or event your practice is taking part in?
- Could local pet owners benefit from the special insights or expertise of a team member?
These are the sort of stories that are the most likely to be picked up by local news outlets.
Journalists and editors may receive thousands of news stories every week. Building a relationship with local journalists and media outlets also makes it more likely that they will notice and share your news. As they become familiar with you, your business and the expertise within it, and build trust in your credibility and reliability, they’ll know that the stories you share have genuine value for their audience.
Think of this relationship building like stoking a fire. You can’t throw everything at it all at once and expect it to light. Similarly, you should gradually nurture local media, building up from small interactions to bigger outreach. Don’t expect too much all at once.
How should you pitch your ideas to local media?
Once you’ve got your story, it all comes down to how you communicate it. Keep in mind that local media outlets are often very busy, and your story will be competing with other news stories.
• Highlight your key points: If you are emailing, put the nature of your enquiry in the subject line and the first sentence of your email. On the phone, introduce yourself and the reason for your call in the first 20 seconds.
• Offer something of interest: This doesn’t have to cost money. Offering a unique interview or quote from a member of your team can help local news outlets to feel that an element of the story can be unique to them.
• Supply enough information: Local media editors would rather not chase. If you have a story or press release written up, send over the whole document with your enquiry. Include pictures or images. Make it as easy as possible for the editor to use your story.
Making your coverage count
How can you turn local coverage into long-term visibility using your owned media?
Local media coverage can continue to deliver value long after publication. By sharing coverage through your own channels and maintaining relationships with journalists, you can amplify its reach and lay the groundwork for future opportunities.
- Be grateful: Say thank you for the coverage. If your story is used online, repostor like it to improve both the outlet’s reach and your own.
- Repurpose the content: Use the content for your own practice marketing. This may involve creating social media posts, emails or posters relating to the media piece. Don’t forget to credit the publication or journalist.
- Nurture media relationships: Media engagement should not end once a story has been published. Continue to build relationships with journalists by being approachable, responsive and professional. If you come across a story, local development or expert insight that may be relevant to their audience, consider sharing it. Being a trusted source of useful information can help strengthen relationships over time.
Most importantly, engaging with the local media isn’t a ‘one and done’ exercise. Every story is an opportunity to educate pet owners, showcase your team’s expertise and strengthen your practice’s connection with the local community.
Remember to always be on the lookout for new opportunities for your practice to work with local media outlets. It’s never too early to start looking for your next story.
About the Author
For more than 20 years, the Companion Consultancy team has been supporting veterinary and pet health businesses with their marketing and PR needs. Led by three vets who have lived and breathed clinical work, they know the intricacies of the veterinary industry like the back of their hands and are always there with advice, whether it’s a crisis or an opportunity.
Contact Companion Consultancy: www.companionconsultancy.co.uk
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