Graphic elements improving external communications

It is well known that visual aspects are improving the way that companies do business, with visual thinking and other new processes improving the way public relations are managed. While these trends are important, it can be difficult to quantify exactly how these changes will affect the reach of your corporate communications. However, a recent…

It is well known that visual aspects are improving the way that companies do business, with visual thinking and other new processes improving the way public relations are managed.

While these trends are important, it can be difficult to quantify exactly how these changes will affect the reach of your corporate communications. However, a recent study from PR Newswire has revealed exactly how valuable graphic elements can be in corporate affairs.

The study tracked the number of views which different press releases achieved, depending on the content of the release, across the last three years. The study found that incorporating additional visual content can add considerably to the appeal of a press release.

In fact, multimedia press releases coupled with a highly visual microsite recorded a 5,092% increase in the number of views online.

Smaller increases were also recorded for releases which include smaller visual assets. For example, images that have just one visual element recorded a 92 per cent increase in the number of times they were viewed. Attaching a multimedia image took the process a step further, unlocking a 552 per cent growth in the number of views.

While these trends suggest that people really are becoming more engaged with visual content, companies have been slow to respond. Currently, only 14 per cent of press releases contain a visual element, making them a small minority.

At the same time, roughly half of the best-performing press releases contained visual elements alongside text, suggesting that these elements are really helping companies to stand out from the crowd.

PR Newswire suggest that the appeal of these visual elements lie in their ability to be distributed independently of the original content, taking on a life of their own. Visual elements also present the opportunity to develop new methods of communication and highlight themes which might otherwise be lost in the content.

For PR professionals, this trend highlights the importance of utilising visual elements alongside written text when communicating with the public. 

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