Press releases, media statements and opinion pieces have long been the backbone of most PR campaigns – and this used to be enough to secure high-quality coverage. But news consumption has changed dramatically.
The majority of content is now consumed online, and increasingly via social media, with people scrolling headlines at speed and deciding in seconds what to engage with. Attention spans are shorter, competition is greater and journalists are under more pressure than ever to produce engaging stories.
When stories have to work harder to stand out, strong visuals can be the difference between being ignored or published.
However, it’s no longer enough to offer any old visual. Success depends on creating visual assets that don’t just accompany a story, but actively enhance it.
Visuals matter more than ever
By 9am on a Monday morning, a journalist’s inbox is already overflowing with hundreds of new emails. Press releases, product launches, expert comments, reports and surveys are all competing for attention. With deadlines looming and only minutes to scan each pitch, most emails are quickly discarded. The stories that stand out are the ones that are easiest to turn into publishable content that will engage readers.
This is where strong visual assets make a real difference. When a pitch includes ready-to-use graphics, charts or illustrations, journalists can instantly see how the story might appear in their publication. Removing that extra step makes the story far more attractive to busy editors.
Visuals also help audiences understand complex stories. Research and technical ideas can be hard to communicate through text alone. Infographics, charts and illustrations turn dense information into clear narratives that readers can grasp at a glance.
Visual content is also far more shareable. As PR campaigns increasingly extend beyond traditional media coverage into social media and online platforms, graphics, short videos and illustrated assets are far more likely to be shared than text-heavy content. By creating assets that work across multiple formats and channels, PR teams can significantly extend the reach and impact of a single campaign.
How visuals turn campaigns into coverage
Not all assets are created equal. The most effective assets are those designed with media in mind, going far beyond stock photos to add real editorial value.
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Hero images: High-quality campaign imagery provides a focal point for the story and helps publications illustrate the topic quickly. These must be specific campaign images rather than stock imagery, otherwise, they lack the relevance needed to support the story.
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Infographics: These are particularly effective for data-led campaigns as they allow multiple statistics or findings to be presented in a clear, visually appealing format that journalists can easily embed in their articles.
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Illustrations: Custom illustrations can be useful when dealing with topics that are difficult to photograph as they can bring complex ideas to life.
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Data visualisations: Charts and graphs make research findings easier to interpret and often form the centrepiece of research-based PR campaigns giving journalists something substantive to include in their article.
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Short videos or motion graphics: Video content is increasingly valuable for digital publications and social distribution offering a more engaging way to communicate key messages and extend reach.
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B-roll footage: For broadcast outlets, B-roll is a vital asset, providing supplementary footage that journalists can use to illustrate a story. This could include behind-the-scenes clips, location shorts or action footage relevant to the campaign – anything that helps broadcasters bring the story to life without needing to film it themselves.
Understanding what different publications want from visual assets
When deciding on the types of assets you should pull together, it’s important to first think about the goal of your campaign. Do you want to make a big splash with the tabloids, or would you rather an in-depth article in The Times?
Different publications prioritise different types of visual assets based on their audience, format and editorial style. Knowing these preferences is key to developing assets that are genuinely useful to journalists.
Tabloid titles such as The Sun and Daily Mail tend to favour emotive and human-led photographs and shock images that tell a story at a glance, such as before/after pictures. These outlets are highly visual, so assets that are quick to understand and ‘thumb-stopping’ on a social feed tend to perform best.
Broadsheets like The Times and The Telegraph take a more traditional approach where visuals are used to support the written article. Their priority is credibility and authority - clean photography and unbranded charts or data visualisations are preferred as they support the story rather than shape it.
Publications with a strong digital presence, like The Guardian or The Independent, place greater emphasis on visual storytelling, using creative assets to capture attention and reinforce key messages. Thoughtfully designed infographics and data visualisations are particularly effective – especially if they are interactive. Videos can also be a good asset for these outlets, complementing written content and enhancing the narrative, while strong still imagery remains important across both their digital and print formats.
Across all of these publications, one thing remains consistent: visuals that provide insight, explain complexity or enhance storytelling are far more likely to be used than those that are shared for the sake of it.
Plan for visuals from the beginning
A common mistake is treating visuals as an afterthought. When they’re developed late in the process, they often feel disconnected from the core story.
The strongest campaigns integrate visuals from the very beginning. This could mean identifying key data points that can be turned into infographics, arranging for a photographer to take striking imagery that captures the campaign’s message, or even building the entire campaign around a visual concept – such as a short video, animation or piece of interactive content.
Early planning creates a more cohesive campaign package. And when done well, visuals become far more than supporting material; they become a central tool for communicating the story and capturing attention.
So next time you begin planning a campaign, don’t just ask what the story is. Think about the publications you’re trying to target, which assets will work best and who you need to involve to make it happen.
This article was written by Chloe Pumares, Senior Consultant, Missive. Find out more about Missive at www.missive.co.uk