Should a local media brand start on social media or with a newsletter?
Short answer
If you have no money, start on social. It's free, you can film casually as you go about your life, the numbers are public and video builds trust best. If you have some money, run the newsletter at the same time, since growing a list usually takes ad spend. Long term, a media company can't live on one channel.
I told Katie Myers on my podcast that newsletters aren't necessarily where you need to start: what she's doing, starting with social media, is the better way to start.
"I constantly say you cannot be one channel, you have to be multiple channels, because each channel has its own advantages and disadvantages."
Why start on social?
- It's free.
- It's casual. You're at a restaurant, you film it. You do it around your life.
- The success is public. Your follower count is a public number. A newsletter's success is private.
Video also builds trust. The best way to trust someone is to know them personally. If people can't, they need to really see who you are, and video does that best. There's no video in newsletters.
When should the newsletter start?
If you've got some money, I think it makes sense to start both at the same time. If you don't have money and you want to get involved, social is obviously the play, and you build the newsletter once you've had some success.
Newsletters have their own advantages in a lot of ways, of course. That's why the ideal media company ends up doing all of these things, not just one.
What does this look like for real operators?
Two guests on my podcast show the range.
| Operator | Social | Newsletter |
|---|---|---|
| Katie Myers, Localish Janesville | About 90,000 followers across platforms since February, about a million views a month | About 300 subscribers |
| Jacob Espinosa, Salem (city of about 180,000) | About 41,000 Instagram followers | About 10,000 subscribers |
Katie's reach comes mostly from Facebook and TikTok. Jacob made the same point I would: growing a newsletter usually needs ad spend, while social can start with a cell phone.
Why not stick to one channel?
Each channel does something the others can't. Social is free discovery and the best way for strangers to get to know and trust you. Newsletters have strengths social doesn't. You need more than one channel eventually. To grow the social side without a budget, see how to grow a local Instagram account for free, and for moving followers onto the list, why push social followers to a newsletter.
Answered by TJ Larkin. From Local Media HQ podcast conversations, client and partner calls, and my own notes, 2025-2026. Last updated .