Propel PRM Reveals Real-Time Journalist Response Rates to Media Pitches

What’s it going to take to get a response to a media pitch? Let alone secure a published article.

We used our public relations management (PRM) software to pull data on over 700,000 media pitches our clients have sent to journalists over the course of the past year. This data revealed information that can add a new, valuable perspective to your pitching strategy.

Of course, everyone is aware that one or two pitches will usually not do the trick, except with your most friendly contacts, which are limited. What is a bit more difficult to understand, however, is just exactly how many pitches it might take to get a response, and then ultimately to land a published article. Knowing this information might just spare your sanity…

Statistically, we found that journalists respond to roughly 3.27% of the pitches they receive. This means that, on average, it takes about 31 media pitches to journalists to get a response to any one of the pitches you send (in general… not all to the same journalist!). 

See a visual representation of this data in the chart below:

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Similar to a business sales funnel, these funnel-style charts can tell you exactly what numbers you should aim for so that you can expect pre-determined results, rather than play a numbers guessing game.

Now, this is not to advise you to throw spaghetti at the wall and see what sticks. It is crucial not to sacrifice quality for quantity when sending out media pitches in bulk. While our PRM statistics do show that a considerable quantity of media pitches is necessary, quality and personalization should also remain top-of-mind.

So… don’t get discouraged just yet! Allow numbers to do the talking while you work on content strategy. Ultimately, try to line up your pitching quantity with these statistical funnels to come closer to the results you want to achieve by bringing the odds of gaining a journalist response in your favor.