Toronto public relations photographer

What’s the difference between advertising and public relations?

Advertising is bought from a media outlet’s sales department. Public relations is free from a media outlet’s news department.

Guess which one has more credibility?

It's called the media blessing.

Advertising tries to get consumers to take action right away. Advertising wants consumers to spend money.

Public relations gives information to the consumer. Public relations creates awareness and goodwill for your company.

Public relations photography

Public relations photography, also called publicity photography, is not about selling a product or service. It's editorial photography that puts your company in a favourable light and increases your name recognition.

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary:

Publicity: information with news value issued as a means of gaining public attention or support.
Public relations: the business of inducing the public to have understanding for and goodwill toward a person, firm, or institution.

Good public relations photography is part of a two-way communication with the customer. The photography informs the reader about something they might want to know about a company or product and, in turn, it helps the customer respond positively to that company or product.

Where's the story?

For decades news editors have said, "If there's no picture, there's no story."

You can tell a story but it's more effective and more memorable if you show the story.

Every press release you send out should include a picture or two. And not just any picture will do. The photo must be immediately relevant to your story and it must be interesting enough to draw in the reader. Human interest is key.

Your press release and photography must both provide timely and newsworthy information. The photography must reinforce your message.

It's no secret that the best public relations photographer is one with journalism experience.

A good launch

Are you planning a brand activation or product launch? This might be held during another larger event or on its own at your location of choice.

If you are planning such an event, always think photography first. What can you do that will make a good picture? What is visually exciting? What will make people stop and look?

Pictures influence opinion, text doesn't. And influencing opinion is what public relations is all about.

Easy-to-read pictures work best. Photos that are easy to enter and quick to understand. People can get the message in just a brief look.

Pictures with people are better because we always look at other people's faces. A human element will always attract viewers. The exception to this rule is group shots. A large group of people in a photo will reduce the effectiveness and impact of that photo.

Over-branding a photo can also reduce the effectiveness of a public relations photo especially if it's intended for news media use. A good public relations photographer knows how to work logos into a picture so it makes sense.

When photos make sense because they have understandable meaning, the information will be better encoded and stored in our brain.

One more thing

Whether you know it or not, you are a publisher.

The easiest platform for publishing is social media. But since it's free, many companies don't think money or effort should be spent on social media.

Those who do make an effort are the ones that get noticed. They use original, interesting photos that draw people in. Advertising pictures are ignored while editorial gets noticed.

Put on your publisher's hat and think how you might inform and even entertain your audience.