The Secret to Making Your Pitches Stand Out

When writing a pitch to a journalist, the story and the story angle are the key elements as to whether your pitch is successful.

That is not to say that your relationship with the journalist, your subject line and your pitching style won’t affect your chance of success, just that the story is the central focus.

Getting to know your contacts, what sort of content they write and how this interfaces with their audience is also important in knowing what story to pitch, when to pitch it and how to pitch it.

But beyond this, there is another secret to making your pitches stand out against your competition and give your story the edge - high resolution photography.

A photo can speak a thousand words, it can evoke emotion or memories that resonate with a reader - a journalist is no different. If your photography stands out, so might your story.

You only have to look at Instagram and the accounts you do and don’t follow to see this in practice in real life.

So what is PR photography and why is it so important?

PR photography is all about choosing the right image to accompany your pitch, whether that is a press release, media call out or feature article or interview.  This is all part of the retainer services offered by Roam Generation - we create a Media Kit to convey your brand, your personality and what it is about you that makes you stand out from the crowd.

We select photo’s that set the tone of your brand, prompting curiosity from your audience and match these with a story to propel you towards the front page.

Photo selection is an art unto itself!

But what does the perfect shot look like?

Firstly, high resolution images are a necessity and should ideally available in both landscape and portrait options, this gets you ahead in the game in having images that suit all publications from online to print - to being blown up on billboards!  They also convey professionalism and quality, which speaks volumes about your credibility and authenticity as a brand.

Photo’s should tell a story that resonates with your brand and ethos - what are they illustrating? And what do they say about you? Do your photo’s set the scene, do they emphasise your subject with a range of close up’s or landscapes? Do they include action shots that capture the essence of your business?

Much like using words, with images, it is important to set the scene, choose an angle, create an action and tell a story.

And our biggest tip?

You are the face of your brand, your audience wants to know your story; how you got started and what inspired you - nothing supports that better than having access to your own professional headshots.  A mix of relaxed and formal, in action, doing business or chatting to your team - having all options available to us allows us to tailor each pitch with ease.

And don’t forget that it’s important to keep updating your library of images, not only so exclusive photos can be offered to journalists but to keep your brand fresh, up to date and inline with new emerging trends in photography.

With high quality images, comes a powerful tool for driving engagement and influence of your brand, helping to get your content noticed, read, shared and remembered - we, as Publicists, just need to make sure it is used in the most effective way, with the maximum impact made out of every image shared.