Communications Corner: Boost audience engagement with your communications by including photos and videos

Think of your utility service as a product you’re trying to sell to your audience. Now, put on your marketing cap. How should you go about getting potential customers to buy what you have to offer? Steal a sound selling strategy from the pros: Use photos and videos.

Statistics show that people pay more attention to a message if it includes a photo and/or video. Here are just a few compelling numbers to note:
​

• Articles with images get 94% more total views.
• Adding a photo and a video to a press release increases views by more than 45%.
• Consumers who watch product videos are 85% more likely to buy products, compared to those who do not watch product videos (TMG: We Capture).

Example of a message with an image

The photos and videos don’t have to be award-winning worthy to be powerfully persuasive. With the popularity of camera-equipped smartphones and social-media sharing sites such as Instagram and Facebook, people have grown accustomed to amateur photos and videos. And actually, testimonial-type photos and videos from participants may be more convincing in selling your message to others because the images and footage come across as more genuine than anything professionals might produce.
​

• Encourage your employees to take photos and videos of projects or issues. Make your employees into roving photographers and videographers.
• Have a way for customers to easily submit images and footage of positive, utility-related interactions. Consider creating a designated email address to gather submissions.
• Determine ways to share what people contribute. You might include an image in your newsletter or on your website or social media pages. Another idea: Put together a poster with the image and some compelling copy. If you have a video, include a Quick-Read Code (QR Code) on the poster and throw the footage up on a YouTube channel so others can check it out using their smartphones.