Showing Clients When Niche Media Is Top-Tier Coverage

Clients are addicted to big logos – New York Times, CNBC, The Wall Street Journal. But communications professionals? We’re addicted to results. That means learning how to show clients that it’s not 1995 anymore – and that sometimes the most impactful media coverage happens in outlets with as few as 1,000 readers, listeners, or viewers.

In short: niche press is top-tier press. And in three episodes of Cracking the Comms Code, we tackled how several types of niche media coverage drive value you can prove to even the most resistant client:

• Substack columns, podcasts, and LinkedIn, with guests Shannon Tucker and
  Annie Moore
• Local and regional media, with guests Jacqueline Policastro, Dave Levinthal, and
  Owen Caine
• Trade media, with guests Alex Dudley and Grace Williams

Why Local Media Still Matters

In July, Nieman Lab reported that one in three U.S. counties now have zero journalists. Yet the outlets and journalists that remain play critical roles in informing target audiences of what is happening in their community. Our conversation took place on Election Day and covered how to use local and regional media to spread the word about political, public affairs, and business narratives.

Each panelist brought a unique perspective. Jacqueline built two media shops before becoming Principal of Policastro Communications. Owen Caine is Assistant Vice President of Federal Legislative Affairs for the National Association of Realtors. And Dave Levinthal is a Contributing Editor at NOTUS.

Here are 4 takeaways:

1. Local media remains essential despite newsroom decline. Local outlets still shape elections, influence policy, and impact business visibility because national outlets simply aren’t able to tackle what matters most – like the school board election, a local tax issue, or when a local business makes a new hire.
2. People trust their local news because reporters live in their communities — they show up at schools, parades, and town meetings, fostering credibility that allows them to ask tougher questions and hold leaders accountable.
3. Policy and political outcomes depend on local coverage. Lawmakers and lobbyists pay close attention to what local outlets report because it reflects their constituents’ priorities. National commentary is predictable; local stories influence municipal, county, state, and federal officials.
4. Businesses benefit from local storytelling. National media won’t care if your business opens, closes, or is caught in a scandal. But your customers will. Local and regional media coverage humanizes brands, connects companies to communities, and helps prevent reputational damage by engaging buying audiences early.

Stop Chasing Vanity, Start Winning Trade Media

The trade media discussion ranged from start-ups trying to build a brand to established companies trying to save brand reputation during a crisis. Grace is SVP of Client Relations for PANBlast; Alex is Executive Vice President and Head of Crisis for MikeWorldWide.

The conversation focused heavily on how to take what PR professionals know and turn it into language clients can grasp, such as:

• There are more trade outlets than national media outlets – and they're easier to get into. This is especially important for start-ups that want to quickly create differentiation and reach investor, customer, and other stakeholders.
• Trades want deep dives into important lessons, narratives, and insights. Nerd out to build credibility and drive leads – and to create a strong foundation for credibility with Big Media journalists, editors, and producers. In a crisis, you can often protect credibility with core stakeholders by having a know and trusted spokesperson spread your narrative through trade press
• Trade media drives a ton of LLM and SEO attention and credibility

And here’s the best part of all with trades: a lot of the competition is whiffing with national media. Meanwhile, smart brands are stacking up the trade wins, creating marketing opportunities to drive more value for each placement.

The most niche of all: micro-targeting Substacks, podcasts, and LinkedIn

The final conversation tackled the most niche media of all – the importance of reaching audiences of only a few thousand important stakeholders through niche media like Substack journalists and influencers.

Here are three takeaways:

1. Proving podcasts: Smaller, niche podcasts often outperform national outlets by reaching the exact audience that matters. Shannon, a Vice President at Next PR, pointed to how a client (finally) listened to the niche strategy after it wasn’t the national media that created a direct inquiry – it was the small podcast that mattered to customers.
2. Substack: Substack isn’t just a replacement for op-eds — it’s a platform for direct influence by reaching those who have built tremendous trust with loyal, topic-specific audiences. There is an immediate authenticity with these audiences, as opposed to hoping someone reads a national byline from a reporter they’ve not heard of before.
3. LinkedIn: LinkedIn is powerful but oversaturated. Success comes from being consistent, original, and combining posts into the overall content plan. As Annie, a Senior Director at Dezenhall Resources, put it, “content is king, but distribution is queen.” That’s especially true when repurposing niche placements to reach audiences across multiple platforms – or repurposing posts to become media and newsletter opportunities.

Whether you’re tackling public policy like Annie or broader business challenges like Shannon, the core mission is the same: show clients how micro-placements create sustained influence and impact.

The Proven Perspective

Each panel drove home the single point that every client needs to know: earned media is only valuable when it drives the right outcomes for the right audience. In an era when attention is fragmented, proving value is harder – so we must be prepared to show relevance and impact with every placement.