COVID-​19 may be a national emergency, but Americans care more about how it’s affecting the areas they live in. According to research from Pew Research Center, 61% of Americans are turning to both national and local news channels for information about the virus, with 23% saying that they’re giving more attention to their local news.

46% of Americans say that local news outlets are major sources of news on the coronavirus pandemic. “In a survey conducted June 4–10, half of U.S. adults said their local news media get the facts right about the coronavirus outbreak almost all or most of the time, compared with 44% who said the same about the news media overall,” reports Pew Research. “Similarly, about half of Americans (53%) said their state and local governments get the facts right about COVID-​19 all or most of the time.”

Additionally, Pew Research found that Black Americans are local news’ primary audience and the medium’s most trusting consumers. Not only that, Black Americans are the American demographic that is following the progression of the COVID-​19 pandemic the closest.

With COVID-​19 being top of everyone’s minds lately, marketers should make the most of this situation and place their client’s ads where most Americans are getting their pandemic updates: local news outlets. However, local news is a broad term that encompasses numerous media forms. Which ones should your clients go with?

AudienceSCAN on AdMall by SalesFuel has audience profiles on 10 different local news media consumers, from radio to newspapers to TV and social media. Each profile includes information on the audience’s lifestyles, purchase information for the next year, and recent marketing influence data, including which forms of advertising inspired the most members of this audience to take action within the last month or year. Using this information, you’ll be able to form an ad campaign your clients can be confident in. Who knew COVID-​19 could actually be useful to businesses?