How to Get Press for a Small Business

Generate earned media coverage for your small business using newsworthy angles, media relationships, and measurable PR tactics.

  1. Identify your newsworthy angles. List concrete business milestones: revenue growth (50%+ year-over-year), employee count increases, new locations, product launches, or industry firsts. Journalists need numbers and trends, not opinions. A $2M ARR SaaS company hiring its 20th employee is more newsworthy than a $200K company with big plans.
  2. Build your media contact database. Target 20-30 reporters who cover your industry, local business reporters, and trade publication writers. Use tools like HARO (Help a Reporter Out) to identify active journalists seeking sources. Track their recent articles and preferred story angles. Most small business coverage comes from local business journals and industry trades, not national outlets.
  3. Draft data-driven press releases. Lead with the strongest number in your headline. Include revenue figures, percentage growth, job creation numbers, or market share data. Keep releases to 300-400 words with quotes from you and ideally a customer or industry expert. Attach high-resolution photos and relevant graphics.
  4. Time your outreach strategically. Send releases Tuesday through Thursday, 10 AM to 2 PM for maximum open rates. Avoid Mondays, Fridays, and major news cycles. Follow up once after 5-7 business days. Local business reporters typically work on 24-48 hour deadlines while trade publications plan 2-4 weeks ahead.
  5. Measure coverage impact on revenue. Track website traffic spikes, lead generation, and sales attribution from press mentions. Use UTM codes for any links in digital coverage. Quality local business journal coverage typically drives 15-25% website traffic increases for 48-72 hours post-publication. Calculate customer acquisition cost against coverage reach to determine ROI.