There are many ways that video can be used in public relations and communications. Here I’m going to focus on one: A very effective strategy I use to attract media interest in my press releases is to include a video.
A perfect example of this is a recent UNC news release we did about a professor’s study that found promising results in a local domestic violence prevention program. To go along with our great article, I filmed an interview with the professor. I then went to Raleigh to film an interview on-site with the program’s coordinator, who is also an alumna of our School.
We captured about 90 minutes of video. I then reviewed all the footage, crafted how I wanted the story to unfold, selected the best sound bites, and edited the final cut down to about 3 1/2 minutes.
A video makes a news story come to life, and certainly makes it more interesting. But a big advantage of using it in public relations is that a news release with a video generates more media attention than one without.
In a video, media producers can see and hear how well someone presents himself — leading to increased confidence in booking them on air.
And this works not just for TV, but for radio as well. The professor and program manager were quickly booked by a radio station for an on-air interview in a news story, and were also featured guests on “The State of Things” on NPR for a show based on the topic of our press release. Another time, a radio station didn’t interview the professor but used an audio clip from the press release video I’d produced when they aired their news story.
The bottom line? In PR and communications, it’s always an advantage to show and not just tell.