A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words
We have all heard the famous phrase, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” Interestingly, the quote came from advertising executive Fred R. Barnard, and, if you lead a creative agency, you know that it’s true. In a digital world full of clutter and lots of words, a good picture can cut through the noise while providing instantaneous communication.
The numbers don’t life: studies show that people remember 80% of what they see, compared to 10% percent of what they hear and 20% of what they read. That’s a huge margin, and a good reason to utilize images when you can. Pictures also draw the eye and engage the reader’s attention, making it more likely that they’ll revisit the text. This is key –a picture can get a reader to stop scrolling and pay attention.
Images are also great for cutting down on read time. With the average adult attention span at 12 seconds and shrinking, timing is everything. Pictures can be the “hook” that also helps readers process ideas faster. According to research done by 3M, the folks we can thank for Post-it Notes, visuals are processed 60,000 times faster than text, meaning you can get your story across quicker and more effectively with a picture. Long blocks of text simply don’t cut it anymore- no one has the time!
When pitching stories to media outlets, including images is a great idea. A good picture can break up blocks of copy while adding to your story. Plus, you’ll save the journalist from having to hunt down images to illustrate the story.
With every outreach to a reporter, think about including one of the following:
• Beauty shots of your projects in high-res jpg format
• Graphs and charts for survey data
• Infographics to instantly communicate data points
• Videos of activations or product demos.
An important disclaimer here is to make sure that your images are relevant to the content of the story and support your points thereby, maximizing recall, and drawing in the reader.
