Intro: Best Time to Send Pitch Emails
When is the best time to send pitch emails to reporters and journalists?
When we launched marketconsensus.com (soon to be merged with advisoryhq.com), we pitched over a hundred journalists and reporters as part of our strategy to build exposure and gain website traffic.
Through trial and error, we discovered that the best time to send pitch emails to reporters and journalists was between 8am and 11am.
Initial assumption
Initially, we assumed it was best to send the pitch before 7am. This way, the pitch message would be one of the first emails a reporter or journalist sees and reads when they get to work.
However, we later realized that a lot of reporters are in the habit of checking their emails when they wake up or on their way to work. At that time of the morning, there are probably already hundreds of emails in their inbox (those that arrived overnight from PR firms in India, Europe, etc.).
Image Source: Best Time to Send Pitch Emails
For example, one morning when Alyson Shontell of Business Insider opened her work email, there were about 600 unread messages in her inbox!
In general, most reporters just hit delete, delete, delete on pitch emails that hit their inbox.
This is one key reason why 8am-11am is a great time to pitch ideas to journalists, as it allows you to avoid the early morning “rush hour pitch deletion.”
Also, your email message is more likely to catch a journalist’s attention as Outlook, which is used by most reporters, beeps when new emails arrive (unless the reporter has switched off this feature).
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What is the best day to send a pitch?
Monday is normally too busy for everyone and is not a good day to send a pitch. Fridays are normally slower paced, but most reporters are using this day to catch up on meetings and emails or wrap up loose ends.
They don’t want to start doing the research or interviews required to write about your product, blog, or company with the weekend in full view. As such, we don’t consider Fridays to be a good day to send out a pitch email either.
The best days to send out your pitch emails are Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays.
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