Worst pitch of the week: Timing

No screenshot on this one because it was a lot of the same issue.

It’s the last Wednesday of the month, which means it’s time to talk about the best and worst pitches of the week (sort of).

Let’s start with the worst. This week brought in a lot of pitches that didn’t really align with our coverage areas. I get that media databases like Cision aren’t always up-to-date, but I do think that’s part of the PR professional’s role.

When I started my career, my first job out of college was at Fleishman-Hillard. Back then, we had to manually build media lists—which meant calling every outlet on a regular basis to confirm that reporters still covered the topics we were pitching. If someone moved beats or jobs, we’d ask what they were covering now and where they went. And if they were open to it, we’d keep in touch. That kind of legwork made a big difference.

Now, on to one of the best pitches I received recently. It came from a PR firm I hadn’t worked with before, and while the email was brief, it was incredibly timely. They were the first to offer an expert on customer experience in the aftermath of Southwest Airlines announcing their changes in baggage fees–just hours after the Southwest news broke. While several other firms sent similar pitches the following day, this one came in early enough for me to schedule and conduct an interview that same evening. The story ran the next morning.

That kind of timing matters. The pitch didn’t need bells and whistles—it simply let me know they had someone available to speak on a topic that was dominating headlines. That’s all it took. Now, that expert is flagged to our colleagues as a go-to source for future stories, and the PR firm is on my radar in a good way.

Bottom line: You don’t always need a lengthy press release. Sometimes, a well-timed, relevant email is all it takes.

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Stay tuned for a random essay on the second Sunday of the month.