Propel Media Barometer: Q2 2021
Now that our clients have sent over 1.2 million pitches using Propel Public Relations Management (PRM), we’re able to reveal some of the biggest question marks about the media pitching process.
In the Propel Media Barometer, we pull aggregated anonymized data that can determine what the media is looking to cover today, and what the best ways to interact with which journalists prove to be.
For the Q2 2021 Media Barometer, we were eager to uncover everything you should know about media pitching best practices, based on our research.
Read below for some of the highlights from this quarter’s findings…
The Top 10 Most-Pitched Topic Categories
As we wrap up the first half of 2021, we could only imagine how much the media coverage landscape has shifted across the board. That brings us to today’s conversation!
We dove into our PR software, and pulled pitching data from July 2020 – July 2021 for a full 12 months of insight. See the top 10 most-pitched topic categories:
The Best Time of Day to Pitch Journalists
Our data reveals that journalists open the majority of the media pitches that they receive at 11 a.m. (13.11%). From here, the open rate follows a relatively even curve, but leans more strongly toward the right. In other words, journalists open the most media pitches between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m., and they generally open more pitches in the afternoon rather than in the early morning. See the chart below for a full breakdown.
Note: The x-axis is displaying hours of the day across a 24-hour period.
Relative Pitching Activity by Hour
Despite the opening activity hours shown above, it is important to note that comms teams are currently sending the majority of their pitches at 9 a.m. While they are on the right track, it may be useful to adjust outreach timing to match up more closely with the peak open-rate times (i.e., closer to 10-11 a.m.). See a full breakdown of pitching hour volume in the chart below:
Note: The x-axis is displaying hours of the day across a 24-hour period.
Relative Pitching Activity by Hour:
Key Takeaways
To read the full Q2 2021 Media Barometer, click here!
And to learn more about Propel PRM, book a demo with our team below.
