What are the Best Days and Times to Pitch Reporters?

PRESS RELEASE

Journalists Half As Likely to Respond to PR Pitches Sent Thursday or Friday

Research from Propel reveals 12-1 PM is best time to pitch reporters

Tel Aviv, Israel – Propel, the PR productivity platform, has released research  that shows reporters are 90 percent more likely to open a PR pitch sent between 12-1 PM rather than 9-10 AM. The second most effective hour to pitch is 6-7 PM, when pitches are 40 percent more likely to be opened than those sent between 9-10 AM. The findings shatter a common misconception that pitching reporters first thing in the morning is a best practice.

Pitches sent Monday through Wednesday are almost double as likely to get a response than those sent on Thursday or Friday. Interestingly, Thursday is the second most active pitching day of the week (25 percent of the week’s pitches), despite reporters’ low engagement with Thursday pitches.

The Propel study additionally reveals that 54 percent of email pitches are not opened at all. For pitches that are opened by journalists, more than half are opened within the first hour of receipt, and 80 percent are opened at some point the same day. After the first day, without following-up, the odds of a pitch being opened plummet to less than one in 10.

“The data is clear. PR professionals should adjust their pitching habits and send more pitches on Tuesday and Wednesday, and less on Thursday and Friday. Pitches are 50 percent more likely to get opened, and 100 percent more likely to be responded to, if sent Tuesday or Wednesday!” said Propel co-founder and CEO Zach Cutler. “Following the data and pitching during the most engaged days and times can significantly increase effectiveness of media relations efforts.”

Below is a breakdown of the daily open rate of pitches sent:

• Monday: 43 percent of pitches sent are opened
• Tuesday: 62 percent of pitches sent are opened
• Wednesday: 59 percent of pitches sent are opened
• Thursday: 39 percent of pitches sent are opened
• Friday: 35 percent of pitches sent are opened

This graph shows how long it takes reporters to open pitches.

The Propel pitching effectiveness study is based on 2,150 unique PR pitches emailed to reporters in 2019 across dozens of users from a variety of PR agencies.

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