Better PR: Use Images
Photos are best...
Today’s tip:
Use our emotions
I received the following press release from my friend Amanda at Pella Regional Health Center. Take a look at it and I’ll meet you below.
Pella Regional to Host Baby Fair September 16
PELLA, Iowa– Pella Regional Health Center will host a Baby Fair on Saturday, September 16 from 9 am to 12 pm in the Main Entrance Lobby at 404 Jefferson Street in Pella for new or expecting parents, or those who recently had a baby. Grandparents and caregivers are also welcome!
Attendees may tour the beautiful boutique-inspired Family Birthing Center, learn about resources available to them, and ask questions to our medical providers and staff.
Free admission
Grand Prize Drawing for a Graco Pack 'n Play!
Breastfeeding Education
Childbirth Experts
Healthy Pregnancy Tips
Infant Safety Information
Car Seat Education and Installation
Giveaways
Vendor Booths
Photo Booth
AND MORE!
Updates and additional information can be found at www.pellahealth.org/BabyFair. For questions or more information, call Amanda Drost, Public Relations Coordinator, at 641-621-2362 or adrost@pellahealth.org.
It’s a great press release, in part because the topic is wonderful. Most of us are fans of babies, and even if you aren’t, there is something to learn here. First, I’m thinking of how hard Amanda’s team had to work to pull of this event. Lots of organizing here. But, it’s so important to get this word out, especially in rural America where the options for women to give birth is shrinking. And the information being shared on healthy pregnancies, breastfeeding, and infant safety is so important.
As I’ve said before, attaching photos to a press release is important for those of us who work/ed in news. This press release didn’t have one, but it still worked.
I went to the Pella Regional website and saw that in their news announcement there, they had a photo of a baby. Here is a screenshot
And there is a baby!
Looks great on the website, but I can’t use it. Its format won’t work, and I don’t like including graphic information in a photo. Picky, aren’t I?
Regardless, the press release worked. All of the local media will use this story.
Grade: A
There is one thing I would like to add.
Substack has now influenced how I suggest you use photos. I’ve always said to attach photos. But now, I think you should lead with a photo if possible to capture our attention. Your photo helps tell the story. Use it to capture our emotions.
I would use a “real photo” obtained in the context where your event will take place. However, stock photos also work, like the one I used above.
I’m an anthropologist who worked in commercial radio news in Iowa for nearly 20 years. I’ve retired from radio to move on to other adventures, including PR consulting. I have bylines on stories about politics and culture in the New York Times, TIME, USA Today, the Iowa Capital Dispatch, the Des Moines Register, the Kansas City Star, and many, many more. I have appeared on CNN, MSNBC, NBC, Iowa Public Radio, WNYC in New York City, and WGBH in Boston, among other national and international network television and radio programs. My work has been featured on Fox News and in the New Yorker, among others.
I’m part of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative, and write about politics and culture at Deep Midwest: Politics and Culture and my observations on nature and people at the Cedar Bluffs Natural Area, Mahaska County, Iowa, at Cedar Creek Nature Notes.
Now I’m writing Better PR here. I’ve seen tens of thousands of press releases over the years, and as a member of the media, I know which pitches work and which don’t. My focus here is on nonprofits, but the lessons I share here will work for business and industry as well, as you can see from this post. I will pull examples from nonprofits, for-profits, and the government because there is much to be learned.
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