In today’s hyper-digital world of information overload, journalists and editors simply don’t have time to cover every piece of content they receive. If you’re not able to craft a cunningly effective press release, the likelihood of locking down earned brand exposure is little to none.
Here are 9 stats to keep in mind in 2019 when pitching to the press & creating press releases.
Shout out to 10 Yetis PR for providing most of these stats!
Summary of the stats & key takeaways:
25% of UK journalists have to write 7 stories a day!
Source: 10 Yetis Digital
Takeaway: Don’t forget that journalists are under pressure too! Make their lives as easy as possible by keeping pitches and press releases very simple and easy to read with all the facts necessary for them to cover your story.
100% of journalists said press releases were their number one way of finding stories
Source: 10 Yetis Digital
Takeaway: The press release isn’t dead!
61% of reporters prefer pitches in the morning to other times of the day
Source: MediaPost
Takeaway: Send your pitches in the morning for the best chance of pick-up.
68% of journalists use Twitter to find stories
Recommended for You
Webcast, January 16th: The Latest in Growth Hacking: Link Retargeting
Source: 10 Yetis Digital
Takeaway: 1) Keep this in mind from a crisis-comms perspective. If your brand is caught up in a crisis, consider how it is being discussed on social media and the fact that a journalist may shape their story based on this. 2) Consider announcing news and updates on social media.
74% of journalists use Twitter to research a story they are working on
Source: 10 Yetis Digital
The hashtag #PRrequest has been used more than 200,000 times in the last 12 months
Source: Meltwater
Takeaway: Keep an eye out for PR requests that are relevant to your company on Twitter. If you have access to media monitoring software, you can set up a boolean query with the hashtag #journorequest alongside keywords around your industry to find only the most relevant PR ops!
Typos & missing contact details is the most common source of frustration for journalists
Source: 10 Yetis Digital
Journalists often have more than 300 emails waiting for them each morning
Source: HoustonPR
76% of journalists say that they feel pressure to think about their story’s potential for sharing on social media platforms
Source: BentoBox Media
This was originally posted on Meltwater UK‘s blog on 22nd November 2018.
