“SHOP LOCAL” Theme Makes Holiday Sales Jingle

The Citizen
Pittsburgh, PA

The 2020 holiday season presented more than its fair share of obstacles for small businesses and the community newspapers serving them. Faced with a challenging season, locally owned publication The Citizen incorporated pages from Metro’s fully templated Shop Local special section into their regular weekly newspaper, in lieu of the stand-alone section they typically dedicate to local holiday shopping. Publisher Connie Rankin notes that the “shop local” theme is very popular with their advertisers, who are primarily small, locally owned businesses. In spite of the pandemic, the theme’s popularity helped the publication secure holiday advertising from a variety of local restaurants, retailers and services.

SOLD In Print & Online
The Citizen personalized this Metro “shop local” promotion to anchor a local business directory in 2019. Rankin reports it was a big success because they were able to easily combine print and online ads for a special holiday package that attracted new advertisers.

Metro Loves Customer Requests!
The Citizen utilizes Metro creative and editorial features to meet the unique advertising needs of their local businesses throughout the year. Hopeful for a post-pandemic upswing following last year’s unprecedented holiday season, Rankin emailed Metro’s Client Services team with a request for “back to business” materials geared toward spring and summer reopenings. Her request prompted a collection of layouts dedicated to helping local advertisers get back on track, available to all Metro clients at MetroCreativeConnection.com.

Connie Rankin
Editor & Publisher
The Citizen
Pittsburgh, PA
thecitizen.us
412-766-6679
the.citizen@verizon.net