The power of PUBLIC RELATIONS photography-10 tips for building your “image”

Photography is an important tool for creating and building individual and corporate identity that is often under utilized, and from my point of view as a professional photographer certainly under appreciated.  Photography has always been an effective public relations tool. My experience goes back thirty years to the days of setting up darkrooms in all kinds of locations and hustling wet prints to the nearest wire service office.  Today with our powerful digital photography capabilities and the infinite requirement the internet has for content its value as a PR device has never been so great.

I would argue that all enterprises and individual entrepreneurs should incorporate photography into their PR and marketing programs.  Listed below are ten suggested ideas and methods for utilizing public relations photography to build your “image” and enhance your personal brand.

  1. Prepare a set of high quality photographs in advance to anticipate a media request or public relations opportunity.  Having some shot “in the can” that illustrate your products, facilities and key personnel that are ready to send will help you capitalize on unexpected  publication offers.
  2. Business portraits and headshots are essential for any entrepreneur.  Having a professionally created portrait of your company personnel is necessary in building a personal connection via social media.  The business mantra that “people buy from who they know “is still true today and your portrait online is a powerful method to become “known”.  These shots are great for business notices and identifiers for blog postings and other marketing material.
  3. Headshots are great for some uses but having an environmental type portrait will work best with editorial outlets.  Images of the person in their work environment or in a setting that adds information about them are better illustrations for editors.  Environmental portraits provide context for the person and more readily transmit a narrative to the viewer.
  4. Make the investment in professional photography services. Digital cameras are common and seemingly in every device you can imagine, truly anyone can take a picture. The distinction for the purposes of your brand is that snapshots will not enhance your image.  Professionally conceived and created photography literally presents you in the best light.  Hire a pro to achieve professional results.
  5. Provide editors and media outlets a good variety of images to select from.  The more options they have in layout and design choices the greater the likelihood your images will be published.  A mix of portrait (vertical) and landscape (horizontal) orientated photos, shots with negative space for headlines and copy and unique points of view are all appreciated by editors, so give them what makes them happy!
  6. Follow submission guidelines carefully.  Sending an image correctly formatted and prepared according to the publications requirements is essential.  Send the photography and illustration incorrectly and you will not get published.  Using a pro photographer adept with photo editing tools and familiar with the process can be critical to avoiding submission problems.
  7. Use images that tell a story and specifically match up to the narrative you are providing with the press release content it is accompanying.  Your visual content is critical to convincing an editor of your value for publication. Photos get stories printed and most importantly read so send out complete packages.
  8. Make sure to correctly caption and keyword  your images to take advantage of the SEO potential photography has as online content.  Image file meta data is searchable text that can be enhanced to maximize your branding and messaging online. Once again using a pro photographer familiar with this process will justify the investment in will add power to your imagery.
  9. Make sure you fill the frame.  Avoid using photography that has a lot of vacant area that makes the subject smaller and distracts the viewer.  Well designed and composed photographs capture the viewer’s attention so take care to use the whole image area well.
  10. Take chances with your photography and show unusual viewpoints and scenes.  Often a story will get published simply because the photography is so attention grabbing.  The same visual impact that gets the editor’s attention works doubly on attracting the viewer to your messaging.

I provide photography for business , shot either on location or in my studio facility in Nashua, NH.  My experience with public relations assignments and live action coverage has ranged from tropical jungles to corporate boardrooms.   For more information about PR photography or any of my other photography services for business contact me at info@testoftimephoto.com

Follow Me on Pinterest
This entry was posted in Business Photography, Digital photography tips, Public relations photography and tagged , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post. Both comments and trackbacks are currently closed.