While influencing people through communications has been at the core of human evolution since the dawn of time, the PR industry as we know it, is credited with being created around 1900. For almost as long, PR has been “Branded” as an intangible art and reporters often refer to PR professionals as “telemarketers” or “spin jockeys,” among many monikers. While some industry innovators have tried to “rebrand,” the lack of empirical data to support any theories provided the grounds to discredit these perspectives, until now.
Did you know that only 3.27% of reporters respond to PR pitches (Source- Propel PRM’s Q2 ’21 Media Barometer)?
All PR agencies agree that reporter response rates are low industrywide, but at (INSERT COMPANY/AGENCY NAME HERE), they do it far better. If a reporter responded for every time that has been said, the response rates would be increasing; not declining.
Pose that same 3.27% stat to reporters and they argue that it is too high; countering that they only respond to 1% or less of the PR pitches they receive.
“There’s battle lines being drawn, nobody’s right if everybody’s wrong.”
For What It’s Worth by Buffalo Springfield.
Empirical Data has arrived to PR, are we open to learning?
Finally, objective data proves not only is the response rate to PR pitching extremely low; it’s getting worse by the day! In Propel PRM’s Q4 ’21 Media Barometer, they analyzed 1.4 million pitches globally and compared the data with the three previous Media Barometers from the last 12 months.
Did you know, in the face of the first empirical data on pitch success rates, the PR industry has regressed significantly in all important categories. Reporter response rates plummeted more than 32% from a high of 4.62% in Q3 ’20 to 3.49% in Q3 ’21. Open rates didn’t fare much better, dropping from 36% in Q3 ’20 to 28% in Q3 ’21.
The summary following this data point says it all. “The Q3 2021 stats tell us that, on average, PR peoples’ pitches are becoming less effective in scoring the media coverage that we’re all after.”
Think about that for one second. For an "ideas" industry that is wholly reliant on reporters agreeing to coverage to be "successful" in media relations, PR professionals have regressed in the face of seeing "proof" that the PR pitch process (and relationship with reporters in general) is "broken" and in need of an overhaul.
Strategic agencies did fare better, but even they couldn’t avoid the regression trend. The best agencies saw a decline in both reporter open (45.04% in Q3 ’20 compared to 44.51% in Q3 ’21) and response rates (8.89% in Q3 ’20 compared to 8.70% in Q3 ’21).
With this proof that bucking the trend is possible, why aren’t more embracing the opportunity?
Behind the numbers lies a PR Evolution!
Contrarians argue that reporter open and response rates are but two of many hurdles present in media relations before generating Earned Media coverage. Also true, before any story is secured, a reporter must both open and respond to the pitch. That conclusively proves that both opening and responding to a PR pitch are the essential first steps toward generating the valuable Third-Party endorsements that are exclusively present in PR; specifically Earned Media.
If you want to change the “outcomes,” you have to be “open” to changing the “process.”
Pitch writing and PR professionals approach to pitch distribution is entirely broken. The more than 96% of pitches that don’t get responded to are proof of that. These pitches are typically written without the reporters’ audience in mind. Rather, they communicate exactly what clients want to see in resulting Earned Media coverage.
All Earned Media is PR, but Not All PR is Earned Media
-The journey to improving reporter open and response rates begins with an overhaul of how pitches are written and distributed.
-The journey begins by consuming the content from targeted reporters and outlets; not initially going to a list building service or media database.
-The journey begins with sacrificing “Spray and Pray” tactics; replacing with a “Quality over Quantity” approach.
-The journey begins with all on the PR team being involved and accountable for pitching; media relations success is everyone’s priority and responsibility.
This journey requires being “opening to change;” the day we stop learning is the day we stop breathing.
Nobody can deny this reality any longer. PR professionals are each faced with two options- to “Be the Change” or resist the overdue evolution that is knocking at the door.
The choice is yours.