Ask most PR agencies and they’ll tell you the best time to drop a release is at 9am EST on Monday morning. Why? They’ll tell you that journalists arrive at their desk fresh from the weekend ready to hit the ground running. So what better time to share your earth shattering story. Right?
In reality, its probably the worst time to drop a release. Why? Because everyone does it. I spoke to an expert at BusinessWire who corroborates this. “The vast majority of releases go out between 8-10 Eastern on Monday morning. PR agencies think that reporters then have the rest of the week to follow-up on stories”.
Let’s apply the laws of supply & demand here. Monday morning journalists are drinking from the proverbial firehose – high supply of news and limited journalist bandwidth. Hence there is a much smaller chance that your message will get through.
The advice given to me by an outstanding PR professional, Dan Gould: buck the trend. Send your release out on Wednesday or Thursday. Send it out in the middle of the day. Look for the “white space” – the lull in news and activity. Furthermore the media world has changed. Its a 24/7 world and journalists are continuously tracking news, not just Monday morning after their first cup of joe.
Agree? Disagree? Would love to here your thoughts below
(Pssst…please don’t share this tip otherwise it will lose its effectiveness 🙂
Great! I agree with your analysis. Another strategy that I find helpful is sending the release on Monday and do a more personal follow-up on Wednesday.