So you’ve got a great story but will a journalist print it? Do you need that killer shot to help grab the headlines? After all a picture paints a thousand words – or does it?
chocolate cheesecake recipe
Take the food industry. What’s going to get your attention? With or without an image for that mouth-watering new recipe? There’s no doubt that a feature with a professionally shot image will make you feel hungry. More importantly, it will secure more coverage.
mouth-watering ice cream
As a marketer, I’m convinced of the need of quality photography. Clients need a little more persuasion. Here are my top five tips for use of PR images.
- Eye candy – a great shot of you, your team or new product will grab a journalist’s attention and secure those column inches.
- Portfolio toolbox – consider carefully a variety of shots that will suit a range of media needs. Take food again – a shot of someone eating the product for a magazine, cut outs on a plain white background for an exhibition, close ups of packaging for your website.
- Photoshoot – find a professional photographer that specialises in your business or understands what you want to achieve. They will have the all-important lighting, props, creative know-how to help paint the picture you need.
- Keep it real – if you can’t afford a photoshoot, avoid the Photoshop route. It will look cheap and nasty and undermine your brand values. The picture will say a thousand wrong words! And please don’t be tempted to steal someone else’s photos.
- High-quality – forgive me for getting technical, but journalists won’t use your photography unless it is high-resolution, over 300 dpi (dots per inch) and at least 1MB. Don’t forget to check you can send them by email too and they won’t clog up the editor’s in-box!
Remember, someone in the office with a digital camera who’ll do it for free will not earn you free publicity.
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