What is timeliness?

Timeliness: For reporters, it’s one of the most important elements of a story. It can determine whether your big announcement has five journalists writing about it or none. But what is timeliness exactly, and how should you utilize it in your PR strategy?
According to dictionary.com, to be “timely” is to be “occurring at a suitable time; seasonable; opportune; well-timed.” In the media world, a timely story has some sort of “hook” that makes it relevant to the day’s news and events. Timeliness answers the question “Why am I hearing about this now?” for the public.

For example, a story about an organization’s new mental health initiative would be timely in May, which is also Mental Health Month in the United States. A story about a new snow-removal program in August would not be timely; the public doesn’t care about snow programs during the summer months.
Having a sense of timeliness is essential for getting your stories noticed by the media, so it’s important to make sure you make the timely element clear in each pitch or press release.
Here are a few tips to help ensure your pitches have timeliness:

• Make sure your pitch or press release answers the question, “Why is this important right now?” If the answer is not clear, rework your approach.
  
• For announcements that don’t have an obvious hook, try to create one. Did your CEO receive an award last week? See if there will be an award ceremony and pitch the story around the ceremony instead. You can also broaden the issue and connect with national or even international events.
  
• Being timely takes a lot of foresight, so make sure your team is constantly looking ahead. It’s less stressful to prepare for an event in advance, than to rush a press release the day-of and risk missing out on that essential timely element.