According to an article from Steven Kurutz in the New York Times, January is the best month. Whether it’s because the post-holiday season slowdown allows restaurant workers to take a breather or the seasonal transition means good sales on clothing, the first month of the year has many benefits for a reset from the crazy year before. But is this true for PR and media?

Recently, OnePitch held a meet-up event with journalists and PR professionals in San Francisco. We asked the question: “Do you agree that January is the best time of year for PR?” Here’s what they had to say. 

Is January the best month for PR and media relations?

While January can be a time of reset for many, the PR world kicks off a new year with a bang. Cathrine Roque, Account Associate at Highwire PR, shared that January can be a nice restart, but stress can creep in.

“January is refreshing — though, I understand where stress comes from.” 

Starting the new year with stress isn’t ideal, but it makes sense when you consider that some of the biggest events in consumer tech are held in January. CES, the biggest tech show in the world, starts at the beginning of the first month of the year. Whitney Jencks, PR Manager at Zoox, was feeling the pressure of CES. 

“I just got back from CES, so stressful!” 

Zapporah Turner, Senior Account Executive at TEAM LEWIS shares the same sentiment as Whitney.

“Just got back from CES, too — very stressful! But a good week with lots of exciting updates.” 

Others felt the pressure of executing big plans or a new project in January to kick off a ‘fresh new year.’ Rachel Moten, Account Executive at Infinite Global, pointed out how January can be a mixture of renewal and pressure to make good on the promises you set back in December.

“January is refreshing, though work can be very stressful. Trying to make good on the promises/projects you stated the year before. You can reinvent yourself anytime, though, so I don't feel too much pressure in January for New Year's resolutions.”

Trevor Harrington, Public Relations Coordinator at Zoox, also feels that the refreshing feeling of a new month and year can mean the previous year’s work bleeding into the new year.

“January is more stressful at work because of work that bleeds into the new year. Personally, I feel January is a fresh start.”

Stress can come with a full schedule, but a full schedule doesn’t mean you’re stressed. Zach Mora, Account Coordinator at Gravitate PR, told us that January can start off with a bang. 

“January is not stressful, but very busy with work. New biz and projects.”

Kristen Hull, Senior Account Executive at Infinite Global, sees the potential of a new month and a new year. 

“I feel like January is a neutral month — I see both sides of the argument, but after the holidays, it feels slower getting back into things.“

Like Kristen, Bryanna Walley, Senior Account Executive at Gravitate PR, is optimistic about the first month of the year because it gives her reasons to celebrate.

“January is exciting! My birthday is in January, so it's a great time to see people!”

PR tip for February: Start early

PR pros aren’t the only ones very busy at the beginning of the new year. Even as January starts, journalists are already looking months ahead. Jill Schildhouse recommends that PR pros need to think ahead for their pitches.

This is a tip we hear repeatedly from journalists on our podcast, Coffee With a Journalist. On a recent episode, we spoke to Anna Tingley, editor at Variety, about Valentine’s Day gift guides. Anna encourages PR pros to get their Valentine’s Day pitches out well before the new year begins, if possible. 

[00:16:14] BB: “Jumping around, just to hop on that and I'm thinking about like the best pitches here, you already have up, Anna, your gift guides for Valentine's Day. It is a solid month out. It's January 16th right now, so we are one month total out. When do you like to get gift guide pitches?”

[00:16:34] AS: “For Valentine's Day, for example, I mean, as soon as January 1st. I mean,

not that I'm necessarily going to be checking my email on January 1st.

But it's never too early because, again, even if I'm not ready to sift through those, that'll be just like a day where I sift through and do my holiday gift guides. So it's never annoying to me that people are pitching that because I love having as many products to kind of go through when I'm putting those together, so like two months in advance. 

I mean, Valentine's Day is a little bit different because you don't really want to be receiving Valentine's Day stuff when you're already in the slog with Christmas and stuff. But one or two months because, really, I mean, especially when you're buying things online, you need at least a month to shop through those things. So I like to get them out as soon as possible.”

New year, new you

Whether you think January wins the award for ‘Best Month’ or not, it comes with a mixture of excitement, slowness, and stress. But don’t worry, journalist Almara Abgarian got the ultimate pitch with the answer for any of your January blues. 

Happy January! 

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Want to explore opportunities to expand your outreach efforts? Check out how OnePitch can help you identify and track the right list of journalists to pitch simply by uploading your initial pitch or press release.

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