Thinking back to the mid 90’s—in the days before email and when sending faxes was common—I remember calling a New York Times reporter at the end of a workday after a decision came down in a large bankruptcy case. I was representing an attorney who was not the lead counsel on the case. I called the reporter the moment the matter was decided to offer immediate commentary by my client who was standing by on the case’s outcome.
The next morning, when the story was published on the front page (above the fold on the right-hand side, arguably the sweet spot) my client was the only attorney sourced for the story; he effectively “beat out” the lead counsel from a much larger national firm who was not quoted in it.
Decades later, this client mentioned that this news coverage in The New York Times had “impacted the trajectory of [his] career.” I credit this opportune timing to several factors:
1) my client gave me a heads up that the decision was expected imminently;
2) we had prepared two lines of comments, depending on the outcome of the case;
3) the client had cleared his calendar and was on the other phone line on standby, ready to speak to the key reporter covering the case.
Fast forward to today, when lead times are now sometimes minutes long, not hours or overnight until the paper is printed. That’s why in the current PR environment timing often matters just as much as the news you want to publish or the commentary you wish to share with a reporter.
The current media landscape is unlike anything we have ever seen.
Reporters carry a heavier load, with more and rapidly changing beat responsibilities, insane deadlines, and an exhaustive demand to keep up with the velocity of the day’s news. News cycles are dramatically condensed and run 24/7, social media posts and other digital channels have upped the ante, and reporters and readers/viewers alike are coping with information overload amid a highly fragmented industry.
As a result, even some of the best pitches and storylines we have worked with don’t get the traction they deserve. Editors even apologize at times for being too busy or short-staffed to give a story idea that we pitched the attention it might warrant. In these instances, I truly believe it comes down to timing.
My clients have heard me say time and time again that it is so important to “be the first to the dance” to get the media’s attention. While messaging and targeted media have always been a priority for PR practitioners, timing is at least as important and strategic as your story idea and the targeted media you selectively decide to pitch.
If you (the industry expert or company spokesperson) aren’t ready to comment when hard news breaks—to be the first at the dance—the impact and quality of your insight or your industry recognition and standing may be secondary to your opinion on the matter.
For that reason, I counsel my clients to make sure their spokesperson/expert is ready to jump on breaking news to offer context and commentary. Also, don’t just send an email offering your expert as available for a phone interview. Provide a few top-line thoughts to show the reporter how your expert can truly contribute to their story. Those topline thoughts in writing) may be just enough to comprise a quote or two that the reporter can easily drop into their story that is already in the works.
Timing is now a strategic aspect of any media relations effort.
We’d like to believe that a good story would always find a home. However, even with tactical planning around timing, it’s easy to see how one story can get bumped because something else occurred that is grabbing public attention (positively or negatively) or piquing the public’s curiosity.
Of course, you need a good story idea. But timing your story pitch means reading the stories your targeted media is covering at the moment AND “reading the virtual room.” For example, is your announcement about a new hire or practice area launch going to get the attention you are seeking when a major merger of two firms within your industry is announced that day? Is now the best time to pitch an evergreen story about estate planning basics when an interest rate increase was announced earlier that morning or the stock markets are hitting new lows?
Over the years, we have learned and revised our views about when the best times are to pitch a story. Questions we’ve asked ourselves include:
Are Friday’s a good day to pitch a story to a weekly publication?
What about during the holidays? Is anyone really fielding pitches at those times?
What else is happening in the world right now?
Is the client’s story idea something we can sync nicely with the news of the day or is it tone deaf to what is taking place around us?
The rules have changed.
Clients ask about the “rules” about when it is best to pitch a story. Technology has changed the rules of engagement. Everyone is connected, even when they are on vacation, so they are reading their newspaper back home over their morning coffee and catching up on trade media coverage while sitting on the beach in late August. As a result, pitching a story in the days before Thanksgiving or July 4th, or teeing up a pitch on a Sunday night to ensure your news is at the top of an editor’s inbox when they start their day on Monday morning, are all considerations around timing in the current environment.
Conversely, you may want to hold off on issuing your news release right after a long holiday weekend until later in the week to avoid being caught in the tsunami of news releases that everyone else has held back and that an editor needs to sift through before they even have their morning planning meeting.
Sometimes we tell a client that it is not the right moment in time to share their news. As long as the information is not considered material information to the stock or it bucks compliance requirements of some sort, you should rely on the experience and recommendations of your PR counsel who can better time your announcement for maximum consideration and impact.
At the end of the day, timing your news is not science. There are really no absolutes. And there are no definitive assurances that the timing of your pitch will supersede anything else. But trusting your PR counsel to offer guidance around timing of your story idea or news release is a good step in the right direction.