Following Up On Emails To Journalists

Muckrack recently launched its State of PR report just a couple of months after the State of Journalism one which I missed because I was travelling.

When it comes to pitching, the study found that the majority (78%) of PRs believe one to two follow-up emails to journalists is acceptable. One in five say that three or more is acceptable. (Can I throw in here - please do not send me more than one follow-up!).

In my workshop and course I suggest that is it always worth following up that pitch – caveat here – if it's a good strong pitch that would work for the title. Please don't follow up on pitches that the journalist would never write about (I'm thinking of all the random emails that fall into my inbox, for example, sales of garden centre products, or Easter round-ups, which are far off the mark for what I would ever cover).

Many of the follow ups I receive don't even include my name (neither did the initial email, to be fair) and are such generic press releases – for example, 'Best university towns with pubs' – that sending and chasing is a waste of everyone's time. I do eventually end up blocking many.

Remember I'm in the same boat as yourselves – I pitch for a living so you have my sympathy. I know how tough it can be. And often I need to follow up myself, and it's only through being persistent and checking up on that initial pitch that I've secured commissions. But you have to learn to give up, renose that pitch and find a title where it'll work.

And just to add here: sadly, I and most journalists don't have time to respond to every email that lands in our inbox – although many times I have, explaining they're so wide of the mark, still, the following week another off-the-mark pitch will seep through.

Enjoy the rest of the week.

Thanks

Susie