Get Featured in Saskatoon StarPhoenix

Being local does not make Saskatoon StarPhoenix easy to get into. A community newsroom has limited reporters and limited hours, so stories about businesses, practices and organizations often wait behind news that has to run today. A guaranteed placement removes that uncertainty: the piece is arranged with the publication in advance, you approve the draft, and it publishes on thestarphoenix.com inside a written window, usually four to six weeks. It is a real article on the site that you can put in a proposal, a deck or a profile.

What Saskatoon StarPhoenix covers

What does a local news publication cover? Whatever matters to the people nearby. For Saskatoon StarPhoenix, that means news for readers in Saskatchewan: the kind of reporting on local government, business, schools, roads, real estate, events, sports and community life that larger outlets leave alone. A story earns its place by being relevant to the area, not by being big. Its reporting is published at thestarphoenix.com.

Local reporting treats a community as a set of people and places with names. In that setting, an opening, an expansion, an award, a new hire, a charity drive or a new service is news, provided it is told with facts. Owners, professionals, nonprofits, event organizers and creative people with a local tie are all familiar subjects of this kind of coverage.

Who reads Saskatoon StarPhoenix

A local audience is small compared with a national one, and far more relevant to a local business. Readers of a publication like Saskatoon StarPhoenix live, work, shop and vote in the community it covers in Saskatchewan. Many of them are deciding where to spend money, whom to hire and which organizations to support close to home.

If your customers are local, local news is the most direct press there is. Being featured in Saskatoon StarPhoenix puts your name in front of people in your own market and gives you a news story to use in marketing, on your website and in conversations with prospects. For out-of-area companies, it signals a commitment to the community.

Why a presence in Saskatchewan is worth having

It is easy to treat Saskatchewan as an extension of a larger market, but buyers there pay attention to their own press. Coverage in Saskatoon StarPhoenix meets them where they read. It supports local credibility, helps nearby customers and suppliers recognize you, and gives anyone in Saskatchewan who researches your company a relevant result. For a company from outside the country, that local footing takes time to build otherwise.

Those who want visibility in Saskatchewan are often businesses serving several provinces, from manufacturers and builders to software companies and clinics. Entrepreneurs and executives building personal reputations are also common. So are foreign brands that are entering the Canadian market and need local recognition.

Local news runs on specifics. A story that says a clinic opened on a named street, hired locally and offers a service the area lacked will hold a reader. A story that says a company is passionate about excellence will not. Before anything is written, the facts, the place and the timing need to be clear.

We start by choosing one of the angles below. Most businesses and practices have two or three that would work, and the best choice is usually the one with the clearest local connection and timing.

What weakens a pitch

• A national message with a town name added. Local readers can tell when a story was not written with their community in mind.
• Jargon. Industry terms that work in a trade magazine lose a general local audience, so plain language serves the story better.
• Overstated community ties. If the connection to the area is thin, say what is true and build the story on something else.
• Everything at once. A feature that tries to cover history, services, awards and future plans together leaves readers without a clear takeaway.