Visuals are becoming a huge part of the PR industry and are going to be a vital component to a successful PR strategy. This is because, according to a
New York University study, humans remember 80% of what we see and only 20% of what we read. This, coupled with the rise of social media, means that to get your message across, it has to be visual.
While text-based pitches may have made the cut in the past, they aren’t enough to get the job done now. Including visuals in your releases can be a great way to capture your client’s attention and keep their interest piqued. For that reason, it’s time you started using visuals in your PR pitches!
Here are some ideas worth considering for your next pitch:
1. Focus on videos
Videos that are short, punchy and packing a punch in terms of information will be more appealing and interesting than text-based press releases. According to
Omnivideo, one minute of video is more powerful than 1.8 million words. For this reason, videos are a great way to make sure that interest in you pitch stays piqued and that you don’t have people nodding off in the corner.
Most people would rather watch a video to gain information than read it off a piece of paper. The same goes for the people who will be receiving — and consider publishing — your pitches.
You can reach out to your client’s marketing team and see if they have product demos, tutorials, interviews or behind-the-scenes footage to include as part of your pitch. Using these types of videos can help showcase your client’s product or services to relevant online outlets.
2. Create media-rich content
Journalists are notorious for
never having extra time to spare, so sending them typical and generic pitches won’t cut it anymore. Using visuals in your pitch can therefore be the difference between it being a hit and your email ending up in the ‘deleted’ folder.
It is more useful to a publication if the entire story is provided instead of just bits and pieces. In this case, visuals are a really good way to get all the information in without being overly wordy.
Infographics are a great way to get your creative juices flowing. They can be time consuming but, they allow you to include all the information in a very visually pleasing way and without overloading the reader with
too much text.
You can also include a media gallery with high-quality images, as well as embedded social media posts. This will allow people to interact with your content on various platforms. For example, they can Like, share, favourite and view comments.
3. Consider your branding options
REMEMBER — branding is essential for your business! So ensure that the branding on your visuals is clear and consistent. Keep in mind that some publications are happy to share branded graphics, but others are not.
But, there is a loophole! Branding isn’t all about a logo; it also includes colours and fonts. Therefore, make your branding recognisable — if not through the logo then through the style, tone and colours of the graphic.
4. Utilise an online newsroom
TEKGROUP reported that 79% of digital journalists visit the online newsroom of both big and small businesses. Besides generating page views, you can localise and archive your pitches. By using an online newsroom, you have the ability to be more visual and brand your pitches. It also means that your pitch won’t end up in the spam folder as people will have to be actively looking for your content to access it.
If you do decide to use an online newsroom, it is important to keep it on-brand and easy to find.
Adding media-rich content with visuals allows for far more attention-grabbing opportunities compared to the plain-text pitch. These online newsrooms allow you to control how you want the pitch look.
This is why platforms such as
mypressoffice has become so useful for PR firms as they, in a way, have their own press office where they can publish their own press releases, link their social media pages and include company details.
How else do you think visuals can make your PR pitch a success? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.