When Is the Best Time to Send Your PR Pitch?

23
Aug 2020

You’ve got something new and exciting to tell current and/or potential customers about – that’s amazing! Once you’ve drafted your press materials explaining the news and you’re ready to send, you just need to figure out when. 

There will sometimes be extenuating circumstances that dictate when you’ll need to send your press release or media alert – like a product launch date, opening date, or the beginning of a specific offer or service. Below you’ll find additional considerations to assist in getting the most eyes on your announcements and updates.

 

Time of Day

Let’s start with the time of day. Depending on your coverage goals, this could change. Are you looking to get on the morning news? If so, before 6 a.m. local time is your best bet. If you’re on Pacific Time and are hoping to get on the big national news shows which typically broadcast out of New York City, 6 a.m. Eastern Time would be the goal distribution time. 

If you can’t make the morning time slot work, I’d recommend any time before 3 p.m. local time. This way journalists have time to see email in their inbox before the close of business (likely 5 p.m.) and if they are interested in writing a story, they aren’t rushing to draft something before clocking out for the evening. This early afternoon time slot also helps give local TV and radio hosts time to get the news packaged for the 5 p.m. drive-time and 6 p.m. nightly news. 

Anything sent out after 3 p.m. runs the risk of getting stuck at the bottom of someone’s inbox for the next day and considered old news. If it’s past 3 p.m. and you can hold onto it until first thing tomorrow – you should consider doing so. 

 

Day of Week

The day of the week you send your information out is just as important as the time of day. Tuesdays, Wednesday and Thursdays generally are the best days to send pitches. 

On Mondays, many journalists are cleaning out their inboxes and getting ready for the week. They’re also digging through any pitches and releases that came in over the weekend that they need to fit in ASAP. If you can help lessen that stress, always try to push to Tuesday morning. 

Fridays are usually when everyone is wrapping up their to-do lists and are getting ready to head out for the weekend. Don’t be the person who adds something to their list as they are already in weekend mode. Also, there are less open TV and radio segments over the weekend as most people are watching and listening before and after they head to work. While it may seem like the news cycle is always churning, weekend content on the web and social media  is usually prewritten on Fridays and scheduled for the weekend.

 

Current Events and Industry News

There will always be times when you are ready to send your press release, and something happens in your local area or within your industry nationally. This could be anything from a fire or a protest in your community to a large industry changing announcement that impacts the same group of journalists you were planning to send your release to. Anything that may steal space from your announcement and could prevent the media from covering your news should be taken into consideration. If you can, hold off sending your release until the news has cycled through or at least try to give it a few hours of space in between. 

Many things impact the best distribution time for announcements and press releases. When you try to follow the above suggestions, your company will be in the best place to ensure as many eyes as possible will be on your news. 

 

megaphoneIn a 2020 survey from Muck Rack, 64% of journalists stated their preference was to receive morning pitches while only 4% had a preference for evening pitches. 

At KWSM, our brand journalists specialize in multimedia press releases, online media placement, and influencer outreach. If your business could benefit from a boost in media coverage, we can help.

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