Three reasons why the press aren’t picking up your pitch
If you've done PR before, you're probably familiar with the deafening silence from editors at times. Over our 25+ years in the PR industry, we've uncovered a number of reasons why the press may not be getting back to you and here are the 3 most common reasons for their radio silence.
1. Relevance
Around 20% of the time the reason for not hearing back is that your pitch is not relevant to the publication. Before reaching out & hitting send, do your research on the last 3 issues to determine if your angle or product aligns with the publication's focus. It could be the price point, angle, or aesthetic that's off.
2. Availability
Another 30% of the time, editors don't respond to your pitch because their upcoming features are already filled. Editors plan their content well in advance, often up to 6 months ahead, and if they've already covered a similar topic or brand recently, they may not have room for your pitch. This is especially true for profile press, where feature opportunities are already limited.
3. Timing
But the biggest reason for not hearing back from the press? Your product or angle may not be relevant at the precise moment it lands in an editor’s inbox, but that doesn’t mean it never will be. Editors receive a flood of pitches weekly and can only respond to those they are able to feature right away. However, they will often keep your pitch saved for future reference if they think it could be useful for a future article. Don't lose hope if you don't hear back immediately; it could be months or even years before they circle back to you.
Understanding why the press aren’t getting back to you is crucial to knowing what steps you need to take in order to avoid them in the future. To discover our top 6 actionable steps you can take to make sure your pitches are never ignored again, check out our latest YouTube video.
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