Story pitching can be a duel between PR person and reporter. A new study from marketing firm PROPEL sheds light on how often reporters open pitches, when they open them, when they respond and what makes a good story pitch. This week’s episode summarizes the study’s findings along with some personal commentary.
HI EVERYONE. I’M ED GARSTEN AND WELCOME TO EPISODE 79 OF TALES FROM THE BEAT.
ONE PIECE OF RESEARCH I LOOK FORWARD TO RECEIVING EVERY THREE MONTHS IS THE QUARTERLY MEDIA BAROMETER FROM MARKETING COMPANY PROPEL.
IT’S GOT ALL SORTS OF USEFUL STUFF RELATED TO THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PR PEOPLE AND REPORTERS BASED ON nearly a half million pitches sent to journalists.
SOME WEEKS I FEEL LIKE I’M RECEIVING A HALF-MILLION PITCHES…AND THEY RANGE FROM EYE-GLAZERS TO RAZOR SHARP. THE TRICK IS SORTING THROUGH THE ONES THAT ARE PITCH PERFECT.
WELL I JUST RECEIVED THE Q2 REPORT FROM PROPEL AND IT’S SOBERING IF YOU MAKE YOUR LIVING PITCHING STORIES TO GUYS LIKE ME WHO DESPERATELY WANT GREAT STORIES BUT DON’T HAVE NEARLY ENOUGH TIME TO SIFT THROUGH EVERY STORY PROPOSAL.
HERE’S SOME OF WHAT PROPEL FOUND:
JOURNALISTS OPENED ABOUT 46 PERCENT OF THE PITCHES THEY RECEIVED BUT HARDLY EVER RESPOND TO THEM .
IN FACT, THE PROPEL STUDY FOUND REPORTERS WERE ONLY RESPONDING TO 3.43 PERCENT OF ALL THE PITCHES THEY RECEIVE. THAT SOUNDS LIKE A REALLY LOW NUMBER. WELL..IT IS. BUT GUESS WHAT? THAT’S AN 8.9 PERCENT INCREASE OVER THE RESPONSE RATE DURING THE FIRST QUARTER AND THE HIGHEST PROPEL’S EVER RECORDED!
WHY THE SPIKE? PROPEL SAYS IT’S DUE TO PR PEOPLE GETTING A LITTLE MORE STRATEGIC—SENDING FEWER PITCHES, BUT TARGETING AND PERSONALIZING THEM BETTER.
I’LL TELL YOU WHAT WORKS FOR ME. RECEIVING PITCHES THAT ARE SHORT, WITH SUBJECT LINES THAT TELL ME IMMEDIATELY IF THERE’S REAL NEWS THAT FITS MY BEAT AND AUDIENCE.
IT TAKES TALENT AND EXPERIENCE TO BE ABLE TO WRITE WELL CRAFTED PITCHES, BUT PROPEL SAYS THE INCREASING USE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE…A-I, IS A TOOL BEING USED MORE OFTEN TO HELP PR PROS IMPROVE THEIR PITCHES. AS LONG AS WHAT’S BEING GENERATED IS CLOSELY SCREENED FOR ACCURACY THEN I’M FINE WITH IT.
HAVING ANOTHER USEFUL TOOL IN THE RACK CAN NEVER BE BAD. BESIDES, WE ALL HAVE BRAIN FARTS ONCE IN AWHILE TRYING TO FIND THAT PERFECT WORD OR PHRASE.
BUT GUESS WHAT? IRONICALLY, STORY PITCHES REGARDING A-I DIE ON THE VINE.
DESPITE IT BEING ABOUT THE HOTTEST TECHNOLOGY AND THE SUBJECT OF THE MOST PITCHES, THE RESPONSE RATE FOR A-I RELATED STORY PROPSALS IS A DISMAL 1.43 PERCENT, DOWN 62 PERCENT FROM Q1.
WHAT A-I PITCHES WIN? “. If a communicator wants to talk about AI, it better be groundbreaking to break through the noise,” THE PROPEL STUDY WARNED.
SO TRUE. I RECEIVE SO MANY PITCHES WITH A-I IN THE SUBJECT LINE THEY START TO ALL LOOK THE SAME. UNFORTUNATELY, IT’S PART OF PR PLAYING THE SEO GAME. A-I IS A HIGHLY SEARCHED TERM, BUT IT DOESN’T MEAN STORIES WITH THAT TERM WILL NECESSARILY WIN EYEBALLS UNLESS THE DESCRIPTION IN THE SEARCH RESULTS IS COMPELLING.
I’LL ADMIT, I DON’T ALWAYS OPEN PITCHES RIGHT AWAY BUT PROPEL FOUND REPORTERS ARE STARTING TO DO SO SOONER…ESPECIALLY WITHIN A HALF HOUR OF RECEIVING THEM.
SEEMS QUICK, BUT THE STUDY SHOWED 4.33 PERCENT INCREASE IN THE NUMBER OF PITCHES OPENED WITHIN 30 MINUTES…THE BIGGEST JUMP OF ANY OF THE TIME FRAMES EXAMINED IN THE STUDY.
FOR ME, IT ALL DEPENDS ON A FEW THINGS. FIRST AND FOREMOST, THE QUALITY OF THE SUBJECT LINE AND IF IT APPLIES TO MY BEAT. SECOND, HONESTLY, WHO SENT IT. THERE ARE SOME PR PEOPLE I WORK WITH OFTEN….TRUST THEM…ENJOY WORKING WITH THEM..AND EVEN IF I’M NOT SURE ABOUT THE SUBJECT, I’LL GIVE THEM THE BENEFIT OF AT LEAST OPENING THE PITCH AND RESPONDING ONE WAY OR THE OTHER….RELATIONSHIP BUILDING.
HERE’S A HEAD SCRATCHER. THE STUDY FOUND THE DAY MOST PITCHES ARE SENT IS TUESDAY. WHY TUESDAY? DOESN’T SAY. PEOPLE STILL SLEEPING OFF THEIR WEEKENDS? WHAT DO PR PEOPLE THINK WE REPORTERS DO ON MONDAYS? IN THE OLD DAYS, I’D SAY A GOOD GUESS WAS HAVING COUPLE M ARTINI LUNCHES WITH SOURCES TO GET THEM TO LOOSEN UP. YOU TAKE SOURCE TO LUNCH NOW AND IT’S ALL ABOUT FLAVORED ICE TEA OR MAKING THE LIFE CHOICE OF SPARKLING OR STILL WATER. IT AIN’T RIGHT.
OK…I SOMETIMES LIVE IN THE PAST, BUT IT WAS DAMN FUN. WELL…THE STUDY FOUND THAT, INCREDIBLY, REPORTERS MOST OFTEN ALSO OPEN PITCHES ON TUESDAY…BUT THE MAJORITY OF RESPONSES DON’T COME UNTIL THURSDAY! AGAIN…NO REASONS GIVEN BUT PERSONALLY, I DON’T HAVE A FAVORITE DAY TO RESPOND, ALTHOUGH I’M PARTIAL TO WEDNESDAYS , BECAUSE THAT’S THE SAME DAY I PUT OUT MY HOUSEHOLD TRASH. COINCIDENCE? NAHH…I’M JUST BEING A WISEASS. I HAVE NO SPECIAL DAY TO RESPOND. I DO WHEN I DO DEPENDING ON WHAT ..I’M…….DOING. PROFOUND, RIGHT?
JUST LIKE THE PROCESS THAT TAKES YOUR BIG MAC THROUGH YOUR SYSTEM TO ITS FINAL DIGESTING PLACE, THERE’S A PERISTALSIS TO THE WHOLE DEAL…HOW LONG IT TAKES FROM A STORY TO GO FROM PITCH TO PUBLICATION.
PROPEL’S STUDY FOUND 50 PERCENT OF STORIES ARE PUBLISHED WITHIN THREE DAYS OF THE INITIAL PITCH. I GUESS THAT HAS A LOT TO DO WITH HOW TIMELY THE STORIES ARE. I LOVE THE REACTION WHEN I TELL SOMEONE I JUST INTERVIEWED I’LL HAVE THE STORY LIVE ON THE FORBES WEBSITE WITHIN THE NEXT TWO TO THREE HOURS, DEPENDING ON THE SUBJECT AND COMPLEXITY OF THE STORY. THAT ALL COMES FROM BANGING ‘EM OUT AT WARP SPEED OVER THE YEARS FOR CNN AND THE ASSOCIATED PRESS.
SO WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED FROM PROPEL’S Q2 MEDIA BAROMETER? ALL THE STUFF WE’VE TALKED ABOUT HERE ON TALES FROM THE BEAT OVER THE LAST MANY EPISODES.
KEEP PITCHES SHORT..TO THE POINT, TIMELY, RELATED TO THE REPORTER’S BEAT AND AUDIENCE AND ABOVE ALL…CONTAIN ACTUAL NEWS.
YOU WANT ME TO OPEN YOUR PITCH, THROW IT OVER THE PLATE. I DON’T BITE ON CURVE BALLS, CHANGE UPS OR SLIDERS BECAUSE THAT REQUIRES GUESSWORK AND I’M TOO BUSY TO PLAY GAMES.
THAT’S TALES FROM THE BEAT FOR THIS WEEK. THANKS SO MUCH FOR LISTENING. I’M ED GARSTEN AND I’LL BE BACK WITH MORE TALES NEXT WEEK. TAKE CARE.
Tales From the Beat 