After decades in business, we at Fort Lauderdale- and Aspen-based public relations firm Durée & Company, Inc. have learned the art of creating effective media pitches. What exactly is a media pitch? A media pitch is a short communication, typically an email or direct message, suggesting a news story to a journalist or editor at a publication, radio station or broadcast network, according to Muck Rack. Having a strong media pitch is important because it explains why the information you are presenting is newsworthy.
While the goal of creating the ideal media pitch is to generate third party editorial coverage, there are many factors to consider when media pitching. After all, earned media is becoming harder to achieve due to a decrease in newsroom resources, distrust of the media and increased “fake news,” and more.
A recent study done by Propel, a public relations management platform, found intriguing statistics to consider when crafting and distributing media pitches to journalists:
- Out of every weekday, journalists responded to the most pitches on Tuesday (27.73% of all journalist responses are received on Tuesdays). On Tuesdays and mid-week, journalists tend to be more focused and productive, and open to new ideas.
- Approximately 66% of all pitch responses happen the same day the pitch is received. It’s important to be ready to answer a journalist and possibly interview the same day the pitch is sent.
- The time it takes for all stories to be published increased in Q2 2023. This coincides with mass journalist layoffs and dwindling media resources. The journalists who are on the job get very busy with many tips and pitches to sift through. The majority of news placements are now typically published within seven days, whereas in Q1 2023, the majority of news placements went live within three days of a pitch being sent.
- Journalists are responding well to more positive news surrounding the economy, with pitches mentioning “growth” being opened 96.24% of the time and being responded to 7.2% of the time. Readers are looking for happier stories regarding the economy, and journalists know it.
- Pitches mentioning “strikes,” “layoffs,” and “energy decline” are receiving less responses from journalists. See point No. 4. Readers want happier stories about the economy.
- Journalists are responding to 16.59% of podcast-related pitches, a 10% increase over Q1 2023. This is more than five times the response rate for the average pitch. According to Insider Intelligence, by the end of 2025, there will be over 144 million monthly podcast listeners in the U.S.
At Durée & Company, not only have we garnered the experience and know-how about crafting effective pitches by doing it day in and day out, but we also developed insightful pitching strategies and continue to stay on top of industry statistics to know what journalists are looking for and the best way to get their attention. Contact us today if you would like to learn more!
About Durée & Company, Inc.
Founded in 1999, Durée & Company is a full-service, well-respected and highly creative public relations and marketing agency serving a diverse client base of local, national and international consumer brands, landmark industries, business leaders and philanthropists from its offices in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and Aspen, Colorado. Practice areas include nonprofit, hospitality, business, lifestyle, health and wellness, legal, real estate, yacht and marine as well as cannabis, psychedelics, and other emerging industries. Durée & Company is a member of PR Boutiques International™ (PRBI), an elite professional organization of global public relations professionals. To learn more, call 954-723-9350; go to dureeandcompany.com;
cannabismarketingpr.com; or psychedelicpr.com. Join the social conversation and follow Durée & Company on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn at @DureeCoPR.
