Love at first sight: the power of PR photography

Like what you see? Why you should make the first move with quality PR photography

LIKE ALL good love stories, it’s the first glance that sets the wheels in motion. Some say attraction is fate, others a case of being in the right place at the right time.

Although some forms of attraction cannot be explained, others can most definitely be influenced, not least when it comes to first impressions. Present Cinderella with a handsome, clean-shaven prince and she’ll go weak at the knees.

This theory can be applied to many things, including capturing the attention of the media.

But how easy is it to really make editors swoon? One way to stand out is to be picture perfect. After all, the cliché is true: pictures do say a thousand words.

A Tale as Old as Time

Revisit your childhood. All your favourite books had pictures or even a colourful cover fronting the story. These images helped guide the story along and gave a more in-depth understanding of elements including plot and characters.

Unlike the hundreds of pages in a novel, there is only so much room that an editor has to play with in a print publication. This is where an image becomes important – it can condense so much more into a small space than standard text.

More importantly, an image is what will catch your eye. Flicking through pages or scrolling down websites, a high-resolution, well-composed image will stop a reader in their tracks. You could say it’s like love at first sight.

Romancing the Media

Without a doubt, images play a vital role in getting your voice heard, so helping you to cut through in a competitive and noisy media environment.

Journalists are looking for pre-packaged stories, complete with high quality imagery. By supplying this, your story is more likely to be snapped up and used online and in print.

In a survey of more than 100 media influencers commissioned by Holyrood PR, around 85% of journalists said that free-to-use, high quality images grabbed their attention and helped a story make it into the printed product.

But it goes much further than that – images can help even the least promising material appear more “sexy” to the media.

Even someone who loves you deeply is liable to switch off if you start droning onto them about the latest ISO accreditation at your company.

However, when our client Eagle Couriers earned ISO approval it was a big deal for the company – so coming up with eye catching photography was one of the most important elements that allowed us to turn unpromising material into media gold – https://www.holyroodpr.co.uk/sexy-public-relations-part-3-digging-for-victory-with-eagle-couriers/.

Instant Attraction

The key to success in story telling – particularly in these digital days – can be summed up in one word: shareability.

Powerful images offer instant gratification, which is why social media posts on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn and Snapchat can get an instant reaction – often before the viewer has even read the caption or any accompanying text.

One of Holyrood PR’s most recent examples of quality photography is the launch of the Learn to Swim campaign.

https://www.holyroodpr.co.uk/imagegallery/olympic-swimmer-duncan-scott-helps-scottish-water-make-a-splash-with-pr-photography/

Of course, these images made a splash when rolled out across Scotland. The images supported the media release perfectly and were awarded more space than text in titles such as i and the Daily Record.

That’s crucial, because online news stories with the most powerful accompanying images are the stories which will be most widely shared online.

Getting your news seen is also now much more of a digital affair. With the rise of social media sites such as Instagram, it’s more important than ever to makes sure images are up to scratch.

A staggering 500 million people use Instagram every day, meaning photo sharing sites are not to be sniffed at. Images are important on other sites too, from LinkedIn to Facebook, to turn heads.

Edinburgh Children’s Hospital Charity’s name change last year was a hit online, making use of stand-out imagery to push their ‘Humans of New York’ inspired posts.

https://www.holyroodpr.co.uk/why-us/pr-case-studies/kids-hospital-charity-success-pr-case-study/

If you are in business then the chances are you could do with creating sparks that lead to satisfying clinches or rewarding long term relationships – whether with new or existing customers, employees, investors or a host of other people important to your success.

So, take a leaf out of Cupid’s book and fire an arrow of quality images towards your target. Then sit back and watch as the sparks begin to fly.