Kirill is Founder and CEO of White Label PR, a global PR agency within gaming industry. He is an expert in B2B comms and brand strategy.
If you’ve ever tried pitching journalists, you know by now that they’re notoriously hard to reach. It’s no surprise, considering they get hundreds of emails per day.
To catch their attention, you might turn to the internet for help and find a lot of recommendations on how to make an impressive press release and accompany it with a catchy email. All these tips are useful, but sometimes the only thing that stands in the way of successful pitching is timing. The trick is to get your message in front of the right people at the right time.
If you want to achieve flawless timings when approaching journalists, here are nine tips and tricks on how to do it.
1. Approach in advance, especially when there’s an embargo on your story. Contact journalists 1-2 weeks before the embargo to give them ample time to cover your story. Highlight the fact that there’s an embargo but don’t hesitate to spill all the details. It’s best when publications are 100% ready to go live by the day the embargo is over.
2. Think about working schedules. Journalists are always in a rush. If they’re busy or on the go, they may see the notification about your email and immediately forget about it. Send your email before 7 a.m. or prior to lunchtime to catch journalists when they’re most likely checking their inbox.
3. Choose days for pitching wisely. Mondays are hectic, and Fridays’ happenings are usually forgotten by the first working day of the next week. Pitch on Tuesdays, Wednesdays or Thursdays for the best chance of getting noticed.
4. Do not pitch during major holidays. Besides the fact that people rarely check their inboxes over the holidays, it’s a sign of respect to avoid disturbing others during this time. Keep track of major holidays on your calendar to stay on top of timing. This is especially important when your communication goes beyond your country of residence because each country has its own major holidays.
5. Do follow up, but do it properly. When you’ve sent a pitch yet received no answer, a couple of days after sending the initial email, you should follow up once with a simple question or request, like “Any interest?” or “Let me know if you’re interested.” If there’s still no answer, follow up again with new information to add value. You can use social media like X (formerly Twitter) to follow up as well.
6. Respect time zone differences. It’s always best practice to reach out to journalists (and anybody else) during their office hours. Use tools like Calendly and World Time Buddy to avoid time zone confusion, or consider outreach software that manages time zones automatically.
7. Schedule emails. Use Gmail’s “Schedule Send” feature to schedule emails to go out at the best time for your recipient. This is another tool for helping you with different time zones, holidays and proper days of the week and all other intricacies of reaching out with perfect timing.
8. Text instead of calling. Of course, everyone has their individual preference for this. But, in short, getting a text is simply more convenient for the recipient. If a call is necessary, first send a message to let the journalist know that you need to call them, and ask what time would work best for the call. This protocol is especially important if you have no choice but to contact a journalist over the holidays.
9. Keep record of your pitching efforts. Track your outreach efforts within a spreadsheet to monitor response time and when you last reached out. This helps you be more precise with your pitches.
Pitching is not rocket science, but it still has its peculiarities. Reach out to journalists with all these tips in mind to maximize the chances of getting your message heard and making a lasting impact with your press release.
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