The Art & Science of Timing a Pitch

In a meeting with a potential client a few weeks ago, the topic of an article that your company should have been in--but wasn't--came up. This is a cringe-worthy moment that has happened to pretty much every PR person. The fact is, no matter how much we try to work our contacts and pitch our clients, there are lots of reporters working on lots of stories--unbeknownst to us.

However, there's a special art and science we combine to increase our chances of getting featured in a relevant story, and this special combination is the reason that many companies hire a PR person, when it comes down to it. 

The science piece is in consistency. This means coming up with relevant, creative angles to consistently pitch to the right reporters, writers and producers working at outlets that serve your target demographic. While targets will not pick up on every pitch, by virtue of being in touch with them regularly with good ideas, we're keeping your company top of mind and helping to cement the brand and its messaging so when a relevant story does come up, we have a better chance of being part of it.

The art piece is the way we identify reporters and producers that are relevant to the client, and how we time our pitches. We look for people who, as we call it, are covering around the subject, but haven't covered the topic yet. If someone's already covered your topic, they're likely not doing another story on it anytime soon, if ever (with the exception of breaking or developing news that is covered excessively). Here, our job is to get you in front of the reporter with how you can fit into future stories--pitching other relevant angels and introducing your brand so you're not left out again.

But the magic really comes when we can find someone who's writing around a pitch topic we're working - someone who'd clearly be interested in it, but hasn't covered it yet. That's what we, as PR people, spend our days figuring out and it's the reason most people outsource their PR work. That timing - coming in with a fresh idea just as a writer is thinking about a topic - isn't an accident. It's the result of studying and following the right people to get in touch at just the right time.

The tricky part of PR is the inability to guarantee results. Those of us who have been doing this awhile can pretty quickly get a sense of a good story, of something that's going to fly with the media versus something that won't - we can guess. But the real work comes in tracking down, identifying and timing these pitches. If you're DIY'ing your PR efforts, we suggest you spend extra time tracking the outlets and writers who are most interesting to you and ensuring that you're keeping on top of what they're working on and when an opportunity might open up.