About 60 percent of journalist responses occur within the first four hours of a pitch sent to them, according to the Propel Media Barometer.

This information, states a release, coincides with an industry trend being noticed by Propel “of making pitches shorter and more succinct. In fact, 23% fewer pitches of between 500-1,000 words were sent in Q3 compared to Q2. There was also a 6% increase in the number of pitches being sent in the 50-149 word range compared to last quarter, and these pitches received an 8.3% response rate, which is the highest of the pitch length groupings. Meanwhile, while it was found that subject lines of 16 words or longer were getting the highest open rates, their response rates were less than half of pitches whose subject lines were between 6 and 9 words, with rates of 1.66% and 3.82% respectively.

“These factors show that journalists prefer to read succinct pitches with short, clear subject lines, something which is reflected in the response rate for the quarter. Overall journalist response rates have increased from the previous quarter, rising from 3.25% at the end of Q2 to 3.35% at the end of Q3. The past several years have seen a consistent downward trend in journalist response rates to pitches, making this uptick encouraging. However, many PR and communications professionals feel they’re still facing an uphill battle to obtain earned media coverage for their clients and companies.”

More in the Propel Media Barometer here.