Running Public Relations Campaigns in Florida
Florida is a huge state with a population of 21.3 million – bigger than the populations of many countries! For this reason, any PR campaign must be sensitive to the different cultures that exist within the state. Broadly speaking, the culture of Florida is similar to the rest of American Southern culture, but as a coastal state, Florida’s urban culture has also been influenced by immigrant populations, especially those from Europe and Latin America. Cities such as Miami are now defined as a melting pot of different cultures.
Cherry Digital has run many Florida-specific public relations campaigns – we know the state well and its nuances. In fact, our study in 2019, based on 4 years of data found that the optimum day and time to send a press release in Florida is 10.12am or 2.14pm on a Wednesday.
The latest campaign the team at Cherry Digital put together for GearHungry.com asked Americans how far they’d be willing to travel to see family for Christmas, or whether they would have a virtual Christmas and video call their loved ones instead. The story included an interactive tool which allowed its users to compare the best ways to keep in touch with their friends and family over the festive period. The press loved the story and it featured heavily across the U.S. – the award winning Floridian publication Miami Herald featured the GearHungry story!
A campaign that the team ran for online mattress review site Mattress Clarity discovered how much sleep each state was getting on average. The study found that Floridians were getting the least amount of sleep in the U.S. The story was accompanied by an interactive infographic map of the US, which was the perfect tool to gain those valuable SEO backlinks. The campaign featured on Floridian publications such as WJHG and Chronicle Online.
Cherry Digital also created a campaign for Mattress Clarity that compared the percentage of Americans who wanted a sleep divorce from their partner (that is, sleeping in a separate bed). The campaign was highly successful nationally, and featured in Floridian publications like NBC 2 and abc 7.
Another successful campaign for Mattress Clarity investigated how often couples in America argue. Floridian publications Click Orlando and Miami Herald featured the story, and included a valuable backlink to the clients website, boosting their SEO rankings.
We ran an extremely successful local campaign for online security review website SecurityBaron.com, which showed the safest cities in each state. Not only did this story do exceptionally well across the whole of the U.S. but it was also picked up by multiple local publications in each state. In Florida the story was shared by publications such as Niceville, Crestview News Bulletin, NWF Daily News, Santa Rosa Press Gazette, The Destin Log, WFLA News, City of Gulf Breeze, Msn, Clay Today, Palm Beach Daily News, Palm Beach Post, 95.3 WDAE, WJNO, cbs 12, Wear TV, Rumba 106.5, CW35, Your Observer, Kix Country, OMNY, Village NPB, and City of PSL.
Below is a list of the most influential publications in Florida:
1: Tampa Bay Times
The Tampa Bay Times, previously named the St. Petersburg Times has won twelve Pulitzer Prizes since 1964, and in 2009, won two in a single year for the first time in its history, one of which was for its PolitiFact project.
2. Sun Sentinel
The Sun Sentinel is the main daily newspaper of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, as well as surrounding Broward County and southern Palm Beach County. Owned by Tribune Publishing, it circulates all throughout the three counties that comprise South Florida. It is the largest-circulation newspaper in the area.
3. Orlando Sentinel
Founded in 1876, The Orlando Sentinel is the main daily newspaper circulation in Orlando, Florida. Part of the Tribune Publishing Company, the publication has also been awarded a Pulitzer Prize for its journalism.
4. Miami Herald
Since its inception in 1903, the Miami Herald has won 22 Pulitzer Prizes. It is part of the Miami Herald Media Company (MHMC) and serves news, information and advertising solutions to the diverse South Florida region – the 15th largest market in the US with 4.8 million residents and counting.
5. Palm Beach Post
The Palm Beach Post was founded in 1916 and serves Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast in South Florida. As of 2019, the circulation of the newspaper is 45,478. The publication is currently owned by mass media holding company, Gannett – the largest US newspaper publisher measured by total circulation.
6. The News-Journal (Daytona Beach)
Started back in 1883, The Daytona Beach News-Journal is currently owned by Gannett and has a daily circulation of 61,000. It serves Volusia and Flagler counties on the east coast of Florida.
7. The Villages Daily Sun
The Villages Daily Sun focuses on coverage of local interest to Sumter, Lake and Marion counties in central Florida, and has a circulation of over 55,700. It is one of only two family-owned newspapers in Florida (owned by Villages media Management).
8. Sarasota Herald-Tribune
The Sarasota Herald-Tribune was founded more than 90 years ago in 1925. The publication – which has transformed into a larger media company called the Herald-Tribune Media Group – covers the Southwest Florida region. It has also won numerous Pulitzer prizes and other recognitions.
9. Florida Times-Union
Known as the oldest newspaper in the state, the Florida Times-Union began in 1864. It is currently owned by Gannett and is based in Jacksonville, Florida.
10. Collier Citizen
The Collier Citizen originates from Naples Daily News and covers the regions of Naples, Collier County and Southwest Florida. This publication is part of the USA Today network.
If you are a business based in Florida, and searching for public relations representation, please get in touch with us here.
