How to Use Multimedia to Set Your News Apart

Marketing and PR have changed in amazing ways in the past few years. New tech capabilities, speedier dissemination of news, and evolving social platforms all have the potential to generate visibility for your information. Multimedia has become just as important as the text of a release when it comes to conveying a clear and catchy message to the public.

Most PR teams understand that there is a need to create clickable pieces throughout both classic media and modern media, like Instagram and TikTok. Multimedia can increase the accessibility of news by breaking down technical language, presenting it in an easily digestible way, and generating clicks without sacrificing factual content. The use of multimedia by marketing and PR pros, especially videos, is only going to increase in the future.

8 Reasons Multimedia Should Not Be Ignored

People remember multimedia content more than written content.
Visual content is more quickly consumed vs. written content.
Photos, videos, and other visual content can be universally understood without translation.
Multimedia helps simplify complex stories.
Visuals make content more shareable on social media.
Visual content gets more engagement.

LinkedIn posts with images have a 98% higher comment rate on average.
Tweets with visual content are 3x more likely to get engagement.
Carousel posts on Instagram have a 3.15% engagement rate compared to the average 1.94%.

Multimedia content helps SEO.
Not only do viewers want visual content, so do journalists.

Business Wire can help tell your story and maximize the impact of your news through a range of options.

Multimedia News Releases Increase Impact, Views, and Engagement

Smart News Releases can include any number of asset types. Our in-house Photo Desk can accommodate all kinds of formats and file types to further your message:

Photos/Graphics - Static images that can simply and effectively tell a story. Images can show a new HQ building or a close-up of a product you are launching. Photos are the easiest kind of asset for media to use, making them a good option to advance your message. Infographics and visuals such as charts or data sheets can summarize complicated info and help the reader visualize the data in a memorable way. Keep in mind that while Business Wire can work with images of any size, smaller images will not be ideal for print media. To increase the potential for reporters, consider using images that are at least 2400 pixels in height or width.
Animated GIFs – Short, interesting, animated images are an on-trend type of multimedia. More than just a basic, flat image, an animated gif can show off what a product is capable of in just a short burst.

Videos – Textual content is always important, and combing the text with a well-presented video can take your strategy up a notch. Videos of any length can be used; however, we recommend clips that are 5 minutes or less. Different media points and social media platforms may require different video lengths, and most studies show that user engagement peaks at around 2 minutes.

Tell Your Story with Interactive News Content

An Interactive Media asset takes various types of content and layers them together into one clickable asset. Basic news releases get about 30 seconds of passive attention. An Interactive Media asset typically sees a 30% increase in views. Business Wire’s Design Desk team collaborates directly with clients to integrate hot spots and other information into the asset, allowing your team to drive engagement in a specific way. Your team will also get the final asset back for your own company’s use, further increasing your potential asset’s results.

All multimedia files posted through Business Wire are not only downloadable, but they are sent out to roughly 4,000 membered news organizations worldwide through the AP Network, as well as Yahoo, and AFP. Business Wire is also the only wire service that sends videos to the AP Video Hub at no additional cost.

No matter what type of multimedia you use with your text release, you need to be able to track its impact. NewsTrak Reports provide usable data on which platforms are driving traffic to your news release, plus key audience view and engagement metrics. You will also see viewership and download counts specifically for your multimedia.

Text-only releases have served PR and marketing teams well in the past. With so many new options and enhancements, integrating multimedia into your press release is the next step in taking a great strategy to new levels.