Boost your positive ratings by using PR photography to ensure your business is the picture of success

WHAT IF we told you that arranging regular photoshoots of your people, your customers and your products and services could make your business more likeable and more popular?

In fact, what if we went a step further and told you that your business could enjoy up to a 36% boost in positive sentiment in media coverage of your business, all thanks to PR photography?

You don’t need to bring in big name photographers like Annie Leibovitz or David Bailey to achieve game-changing outcomes. Working with any of a large number of affordable, professional photographers can help you achieve these remarkable results for your business.

Here we’ll show you how creative-yet-uncomplicated and affordable images can help you smash your business goals. We painstakingly measured the PR results for a client over dozens of photography jobs – and proved conclusively that stories with pictures were measurably more positive in tone and sentiment (see the graph above).

We already knew for certain that any story can be better told with accompanying pictures and that quality images can earn you greater media coverage. But we carried out more detailed research – and our findings showed that images can really make a business more likeable.

Over 12 months working with our client, Banks Group we set out to discover the difference that photographs make to the positive tone of media coverage. During that year we arranged 40 separate photo assignments for the company. This resulted in a host of eye-catching and colourful images to help the business tell its story in the media.

See for yourself a selection of the images from the 40 separate photoshoots we arranged for our client – everything from beekeeping kids, bowling veterans to outsized diggers and ice skating champions.

While there was definitely more coverage, we wanted to go a step further and find out if those stories in local newspapers also helped put Banks in a more positive light and carried a greater positive sentiment.

So, we carried out a comprehensive evaluation of all the coverage achieved for the Banks Group (like the newt-related coverage in this picture), measuring whether stories were positive, negative or neutral. Then we compared the scores of stories with pictures, compared to those stories without any images.

Our findings revealed that the 71 separate media releases issued on behalf of Banks over the period generated an impressive 321 items of media coverage. Of those items of coverage, 116 of the articles included accompanying pictures (36%).

The results were conclusive. Overall, the articles with supporting images achieved a net positive score of 220 – meaning and average positive rating of 1.9. Meanwhile, the 205 items of coverage without images achieved net positive score of 284, or an average rating of 1.4.

That a whopping 36% increase in positive tone for stories accompanied by imatges –  a clear margin of difference between stories with images and those without (see the table, included).

We were delighted with the results, which showed the power of photography not only helped Banks enjoy great media coverage – those pictures also resulted in a much more positive sentiment.
There was a further welcome boost – when our photographic campaign on behalf of Banks Renewables earned a sought after Silver in the 2015 PR ‘Oscars’.

Yep, that’s right, we picked up a gong from the Chartered Institute of Public Relations for Best use of Photography in the annual Pride Awards – and all because we were able to demonstrate that creative photography can actually make a brand more likeable.

We are living in a visual age, so we’d encourage you to check out the rest of our essential guide for businesses on getting the most out ot Visual Communications.

DO YOU WANT YOUR BUSINESS TO BE THE PICTURE OF SUCCESS?

The key to great photography is to come up with inventive ways to visually capture a story in the most impactful way possible.

Countless businesses have realised their picture potential, helped by the creative spark and intelligent application provided by Holyrood PR. We’d be delighted to help you unlock your picture potential of your business in the same way.

If you wanted to know how to make your products and services more popular and more likeable, we’d love to discuss what is possible. Get in touch to find out how our range of services, including photography can improve your image and boost your bottom line. You can get us on 0131 561 2244, or fill out the simple form below and we’ll get straight back to you: