Why Great Visuals Attract Quality Writers

WHY GREAT VISUALS ATTRACT QUALITY WRITERS

I need writers, and you need writers – especially the good ones.

Writers pitch to me after I send out a media alert inviting them to join a press tour or attend a prestigious event. They outline all the reasons why I should include them, then it\’s then up to me to decide who will be the best writer to promote your product, and who I will put in front of you for approval.

But this is a two-way street. Your product, tour or event has to be something that can attract quality writers – the dedicated, talented ones, who will best be able to creatively and lovingly showcase what you\’re selling to a wider, targeted, relevant audience.

You can do that by making it visually attractive.

As a successful business looking for exposure that will translate into more sales, spending time thinking about – and producing – spectacular visuals, will ensure that what you are offering attracts quality of equal measure.

Aside from a compelling story or news angle, all journalists crave fabulous photos or videos to accompany their copy. According to Zabisco, 40% of people respond better to visual information than plain text. Sure, writers love words but these days when they\’re also looking to hook readers and keep traffic flowing, it\’s often the visuals on their websites or social media accounts that seal the deal.

Your photography has to be fabulous. Photographs will be posted on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram and Twitter, as well as viewed on hand held devices. They will prompt readers to \’like\’, comment and share. A good writer will always upload a photo to accompany their story, so make that shot count.

What will your visuals look like? Readers need to see people using and enjoying your product. An empty hotel lobby isn\’t as fun as a lobby, patio bar or pool that is full of people enjoying their surroundings, and a static bag of dog food isn\’t as good as a photo of a dog gleefully eating the food.

Better still, find some cash for a top quality video package, a creative element that is still sadly overlooked by many companies. According to Internet Retailer, viewers are 85% more likely to purchase a product after watching a product video, and posts with videos attract an astonishing three times more inbound links than plain text posts (source: SEOmoz).

While it\’s possible to capture footage on your iPhone, anyone serious about putting together an attractive publicity campaign needs to use a professional crew, who will do a great job. These things cost but the rewards are great.

Think on this: if a popular writer or blogger takes your video and does something fabulous with it (around 700 YouTube videos are shared on Twitter every minute), that clip could go viral, and before you know it, you\’ll attract more publicity than you\’ve ever dreamed possible (and the writer gets more traffic so they\’ll also love you).

These days, it really is a case of show not tell.

Photo Courtesy of m01229