This question is something that our marketing team deals with on a weekly basis when looking to get our clients the best coverage. The short answer is: There are no best days.
However, there are bad days to contact journalists. What constitutes a “good” or “bad” day to reach out varies depending on a whole slew of factors, including the individual reporter, industry, and news flow that week.
Before sitting down to pitch a journalist, startups first need to make sure that their story is newsworthy. This means that you actually have an interesting and significant piece of news to announce, like a launch or funding. You also want to have a well-written pitch and press release prepared in advance. If all these boxes are checked “yes,” then you are ready to start strategizing about when to reach out.
To help you maximize your chances of coverage, here is a quick breakdown of the days and times that we have found generate more traction during our outreach process:
The earlier, the better
Journalists, whether they write for online tech publications or small community papers, have deadlines to meet. Regardless of the day you choose it is always a good idea to contact them in the morning with the story, giving them ample time to write it or contact you if they need more information before publishing it. If you have not heard anything, try following up in the afternoon of the same or a later day, depending on the urgency of the announcement.
Tuesdays to Thursdays
Although articles are published throughout the week, the biggest stories tend to be written from Tuesdays to Thursdays. For many of the journalists we contact, Mondays are their days to catch up on emails, and organize and finalize stories for the week ahead. Fridays are the tail end of the news cycle and there is little chance that they will pick up a new story. We’ve found that contacting journalists on Tuesdays and Wednesdays usually generates the best responses, as these days are in the heart of the workweek and reporters are on the hunt for quality content.
Follow up on Fridays
Journalists can receive hundreds of pitches every day in their inbox, so following up on your email is a good practice to help your story stand out from all the noise. Be patient and don’t follow up with hours of your initial pitch — that will just annoy the recipient. Our team likes to follow up with journalist on Friday mornings, after the rush of the week has passed and they have time to respond to your initial email. This is also a good time for journalists to give you feedback on the story, if they are looking for another angle, or if they need any more information.
Combining a great pitch and press release with good timing can help you land your story in the publication of your choice. But, as we’ve outlined before, take the right steps when contacting journalists, and don’t spam them. Take the time to research their beat and the types of articles they write. All these factors will help you and your startup get the most attention for your announcement.
