So, we’ve gone over the nature of a press release and how to write one. Press Release Part 3 discusses how to add images that tie your words together.
Every picture tells a story.
Include an eye-catching photo that will draw attention to your press release when it’s published. Make sure you:
- Send it as a separate attachment
- Do not embed it in a Word Document. These are a pain to extract, and the quality is often poor and unusable.The best photos will be taken digitally. Some folks will scan a print and send that as an email, but the end result will be a copy of a copy, leading to poor reproduction.Make sure it’s sized correctly. A digital image that’s between 12-24” at its maximum length or height at a resolution of 72 dpi (dots per inch) is more than sufficient. Often news outlets get photos that are merely thumbnails (1”-2” at maximum) that can’t be enlarged without becoming distorted and unusable
- Make sure it’s in-focus and well-lit.
- Include the name of the person, or persons, seen in the photo.
- Provide the name of the person or organization in the photo credit
- Do not use any special filters or borders such as those seen often on Instagram.
Once you’ve pinpointed the perfect image to go along with your release, it’s ready to be sent off into the wild. What can you expect after hitting “Send”? Stay tuned for Part 4!